October PHD Report

October ended with a rainy day, very autumn like weather.  Something we didn't get much of till after mid-month.  It really seemed like we had an endless summer, so I find myself very surprised to be in November and realizing there are just 2 months left in the year.  

With the start of a new month, it's time to review what actually got done the previous month.  So it's time for the October PHD Report sponsored by Ms. P Designs.  My October report has a finish on it. 

My 4th finish, Squared Away (SoScrappy) was started in 2018 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge sew along that year.  It took me forever to figure out what do do with the blocks.  I'm happy with how it came together. It's a gift for one of My Girl's college buddies.  

 In addition to the finish this month, progress was made on several other projects.  Celtic Solstice, the 2013 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, has moved from an incomplete set of blocks in August to quilt top just needing the final two borders.

Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) was started in 2019 as another Rainbow Scrap Challenge project.  I've been working on these blocks steadily for about 3 years now as my leaders project.  The teal blocks are all sashed.  That just leaves me to finish all the purple blocks and sash those. I may have to bump these blocks up to a priority project to get all the blocks finished by the end of the year.  

Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker) is quilted. It just needs to be trimmed, a label made and bound.  This project will probably be my last finish for 2026. 

The 2026 Guild Block of the Month project is coming to an end.  The instructions for quilt assembly go to the guild in November.  I gave everyone the December block back in January as it was a lot of flying geese.  One of the flying geese borders was on by the end of October.  There's been more progress since then. 

All the September blocks are finally finished for the Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs).  Just in time for the November clue to come out. All the pieces for the October blocks were cut before the end of the month. I've finished some of the October blocks since, but I'll still be playing catch up in November. 

  

The progress graph shows a lot more color in the middle section, but there are also lots more bars that go all the way across the chart in the top section. 

I'm hoping to add a bit more color before the end of the year. At least one more finish and hopefully at least two more projects to finished quilt top.  This year has definitely been better than last year in terms of finished quilts. I'll take that.  

To Do List for the Week of 10/2/2026

Just a bit under 2 months left in 2026.  It's the time of year that if you haven't reached your goals, you have to decide what part of them can you actually make progress with.  The holidays will be busy with the seasonal stuff we do with and for our families.  I'm trying to keep an attitude of what gets done, gets done, what doesn't can wait till next year.  

That last week in October went way too fast, but I still did really well at working through what was on my to do list.  

To Do List for 10/27/2026

1. 2026 Guild BOM: Work on assembly ✔

2. Glowing Hearts: Finish quilting borders ✔

3. Marigold Mystery: Finish Sept, start Oct blocks ✔

4. Celtic Solstice: Continue making blocks for pieced border ✔

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue making purple blocks ✔

It's been a while since I've managed to check off everything on my list.  You have to go back to August for the last fully checked off list.  So it was definitely a good week. I'm hoping for another good week.  I'm close to finishing one quilt and getting two other projects to finished quilt tops. 

To Do List for 11/03/2026

1. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish borders

The pieced borders have been added to the top and bottom.  The narrow purple border has been added. All that's left is the dark blue border.  So this should become a finished quilt top before the end of the week.  Once this is ready for this month's guild meeting, the BOM for next year will be my priority.  

2. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Make label and binding

I've got a start on the label. It definitely needs more work, but it's getting there.  Hopefully I can get the quilt sandwich trimmed this week too.    

3. Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish Oct blocks

All the square in a square blocks are finished and I've gotten started on the uneven 9 patch blocks for October.  Hopefully I can get caught up this week, because the November clue comes out this Thursday.   

4. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Continue assembling pieced borders

 

I finished making the triangle in a square blocks last weekend, there were only 4 left when I sat down at the machine on Sunday.  The first pieced border is almost assembled. I'll focus more on this project once the guild BOM is a completed quilt top.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter):  Continue making purple blocks

Not sure how many are left to make, probably around 12.  The goal is to get the 3" purple blocks made this month and get them all sashed next month.  The project will probably have to move up in priority to make that happen.    

That's my list for this week.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

The Quilting Part

The first day of November was overcast and chilly.  Not cold, just chilly enough to want a sweater most of the morning. Today looks to be much the same, though based on the forecast we have a chance of severe storms this evening.  Definitely a day to get my sewing machine time in during the afternoon. 

I spent part of my sewing time yesterday getting end of the month photos of where all my projects are.  I was finally able to get a full on shot of the completely quilted Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker).  

I haven't taken the time to trim off the excess batting, that should happen this week. It is hard to see the quilting unless you blow up the picture a bit.  I decided to quilt just a couple of sets of double lines in the border, like a frame. It's pretty similar to what I did in the sashing, though that was single lines.  I also basted around the outside edge to make trimming and adding the binding a bit easier. The border was quilted with teal thread. I considered using the same yellow I used in the blocks, but just liked the teal better.  

I've started making the label. After consultation with My Girl, we took inspiration from an old Janis Joplin song and decided to call my version "Pieces of My Hearts".  The binding still needs to be cut and sewn. The same dark blue used in the sashing will be the binding. This should be close to finished by the end of the week.  

This is the third quilt I've used my walking foot to quilt.  I learned a few tricks with this one that should make the next one go a bit faster.  Linking up with Patchwork & Quilts, as well as, Sew & Tell Monday.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 44 of 2026

 

Halloween and time change on the same night doesn't seem fair, even if we do gain an hour of sleep.  Maybe the little ones with sugar over doses before bed will sleep them off with that extra hour, but I doubt it.  It will take us a few weeks to reset our internal clocks.  It's also the first day of November.  Which I'm equally not prepared to acknowledge.  So let's dwell on last week shall we? 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Oct = 30/31 days
• 15 minute days/2026 = 297/304
• Success rate = 97.70%

There was a lot of progress in October, even with me missing one day.  It may not be as good this month and next with the holidays. I'm OK with that.  I'll still make some progress, but it's easy to temper expectations around the holidays.  To many other things to get done.  I'm hoping to keep my success rate above 90, but we'll see how that goes.  

How are you doing on your 2026 goals.  Will you reach them this month or have you given up on most of them as lost causes?  

To Do List for the Week of 10/27/2026

This is the last to do list for October.  I'm not panicking, but feeling a bit uncomfortable that the end of the year seems to be spiraling in on us faster than I'm ready for.  It's time to start thinking about Christmas and I just don't want too.  Maybe it would help if it felt like fall. We still need to run the air conditioning in the afternoons it's so warm.  

The warmer weather hasn't kept me out of the sewing room, there was pretty good progress on the to do list.

To Do List for 10/20/2026

1. 2026 Guild BOM: Work on assembly ✔

2. Glowing Hearts: Continue quilting ✔

3. Celtic Solstice: Continue making blocks for pieced border ✔

4. Marigold Mystery: Finish Sept, start Oct blocks - progress

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue working on teal/purple blocks ✔

There was progress on each to do last week. Maybe not as much progress as I'd like, but each project is closer to the next milestone.  This week's list is pretty much the same as last week's.  

To Do List for 10/27/2026

1. 2026 Guild BOM: Work on assembly

The center, first pieced border and sashing the blocks went pretty fast.  Half the final white border has been sewn on.  But I still need to to sew the flying geese together for the final pieced border and then there is a purple and a blue border to add. I'm hoping to get most of that done this week.  We'll see how it goes.  

2. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Finish quilting border

The heart blocks are all quilted and so is the dark blue sashing.  It's just straight lines, but it seems to work with the quilting in the hearts. I think I'm going to do the same for the border.  If I keep it simple, the quilting will go faster.  I never intended to do so much on the heart blocks, but they look good, so it was worth it. With all the work I've put into this project, I've decided not to donate it.  I'll keep this one as a potential gift for someone.  

3. Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish Sept, start Oct blocks

Just one more Ohio Star block to finish and September will be done.  I still need to cut the fabric for the third October block. There hasn't been as much progress on these blocks as my focus has been on the projects closer to being finished and the BOM as it has a deadline.  

4. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making blocks for pieced border

Only need to sew 12 more of the triangle in a square blocks and then it's border assembly time.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making purple blocks

All the teal blocks are sashed.  All that's left is to finish the purple blocks.  I printed the last paper piecing templates needed to finish the blocks. It's less than 16 more than 12 that I've got left to make.  The goal is to have the purple blocks finished and sashed before the end of the year.  It's doable, but I'll probably have to bump the blocks up in priority to get there.  

October has been a pretty productive month, though some weeks it certainly doesn't seem like it.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.