Week 122 Photo Challenge: Shallow Depth of Field

This week's challenge was another photography technique. 

These can be harder as the subject is wide open. Anything can be a photo, so you have to self edit. At any rate, before I get to the pictures, I should probably define "depth of field".  The distance between the closet and farthest objects in a photo that is acceptably sharp is the depth of field. So a shallow depth of field is one where only a part of the photo is in sharp focus.  

I took lots of photos this week, but only one set really fit the challenge requirements. 

Kate: It Only Takes One

These are bottles of beer My Guy brewed.  I titled this one "It Only Takes One" because for me, just one will have me losing my focus.  I'm a very sleepy drunk. 

My Guy focused on nature for his photo this week. 

My Guy: Echinacea

The purple cone flowers have succumbed to the summer heat.  But I'm pretty sure My Guy is planning to harvest the seed heads from these.  His depth of field is pretty narrow compared to my photo.  

Grad Girl wasn't sure how she was going to handle this week's challenge.  She only uses her Android phone, so it's a lot harder to control the aperture.

Grad Girl: Liquid Gold

She did pretty well with just her phone.  This is the product from one of her reactions.  It's on the roto vap to pull off the excess solvent which leaves her with a purer material.  She's been having some issues getting her conditions just right, so when she nails it, the resulting product is precious as gold. 

We all hit our marks with last week's photos.  This week should be interesting. 

Grad Girl will definitely have an advantage this week, Queenie likes to sleep a lot. She's definitely cuter than any of us when she is asleep! 

To Do List for the Week of 8/27/2024

Summer is still in full force here, though we have a chance for cooler temperatures starting this weekend with increased chances for rain. Of course there will be rain, it's Labor Day. It always seems to rain here for that holiday weekend.  We have no special plans for the holiday, but My Guy is taking a couple of days off, so I'm sure we'll end up doing something fun. So I should probably take that into account for this week's To Do List.  Before jumping there, I should review how it went with last week's list.  

To Do List for 08/20/2024

1.  Diatom: Finish borders, find backing fabric ✔

2.  Guild BOM: Make August block ✔

3.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making orange blocks ✔

4.  Chilhowie: Start on quilt assembly ✔

5.  Sensational Summer Scrap quilt: Continue as leaders/enders  ✔

Having a shorter list does make it easier to check off all the items. It was definitely a good week on the progress front.  I've made good progress on my 2024 quilt plan. Most of what's left is assembling quilts, making backs and sending out for quilting.  At least that's the case till the end of year mystery quilt alongs get started.  This week following the quilt plan means a shorter list. 

To Do List for 08/27/2024

1.  Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Piece backing, prep for quilting 

The quilt top is assembled and I found a beautiful blue hounds tooth print for the backing.  I need to wash the fabric before I can get started on piecing it.  I'm hoping to have this quilt ready to go out for quilting by the time Rhododendron comes back.  

2.  Chilhowie Mystery (Bonnie Hunter): Finish sashing, start borders

The second horizontal row of sashing is at the sewing machine waiting to be stitched together.  Only two more sashing sections will be needed for the third row of blocks.  Then it will be on to the first pieced border.  I won't be doing the second pieced border.  Those blocks will get used on the back. Borders always take longer than I think they should so assembly probably won't be complete till sometime in September.  

3. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making orange blocks

Just 4 blocks completed in August, but that just leaves 10 left to make.  If Angela holds to what she said at the beginning of this month, next month is supposed to be blacks and browns.  Since each of my blocks has black in it, I will probably just continue with orange for September.  It would be nice to finish all the blocks for this color.  Yellow is the only color that is complete.  

4.  Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders. 

I'm back to playing with the yellow 4 patches.  I've been working on assembling more 2 patches.  More variation is needed before I start making the next round of 4 patches.  

A short and simple list for this week. We all need weeks like that every once in a while.  Good luck with your to do list.  Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday. 

What's Off and Back On the Design Wall

It's been a so-so year for finishes but a pretty good year for progress on many projects. Just three finishes so far this year, but double that number of projects have moved from a collections of pieces or blocks to finished quilt tops. The latest one to get the final borders added is the 2023 Bonnie Hunter Mystery, Indigo Way.

My borders don't look like Bonnie's, but I rarely keep to her plan at that point.  It's a pretty busy quilt, but the dark blue border calms it all down, so the finished top works for me. I'm excited to have last year's BH mystery to the quilt top stage before this year's mystery kicks off.  I doubt this quilt is quilted before the next mystery kicks off. I have older projects that are on the to be quilted list ahead of this one.  

The last half of this year could be described as the "catch up on BH mystery quilts" time.  Rhododendron  (BH 2021) is out for quilting. Indigo Way is now a finished quilt top and the sashings for Chilhowie (BH 2022) are currently under construction.  

The first row of blocks are stitched together.  Two of the blocks from the second row are over at the sewing machine waiting for the sashing pieces to be stitched to each.  This project should also reach finished quilt top stage before much longer.  

Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 34 of 2024

It's the last Sunday in August.  Why does it seem like time speeds up as we get closer to the end of the year?  It seems the August went so quickly.  There is still one full week left, so it's not completely gone, but boy is it close! 

It was another good week to find time to stitch.   

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Aug = 24/24 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 237/237 days
• Success rate = 100%

It's been such successful year on the stitching time front.  We'll see how long I can keep the 100%.  It has been really motivating keep this streak going.  How long will it last?  Hopefully for at least one more week.  

I didn't do so hot on with my scrap and stash reorganization this week.  My shoulders were bothering me last weekend, so not a lot got done.  No scrap processing at all and just a bit on the fabric pressing front.  

Approximately one third of the bin has been emptied.  That's not bad, some of the pieces have been bigger than I expected.  There have been several 4 yard cuts.  I've also rediscovered my large floral print collection.  I've found a couple of quilt patterns that would really highlight some of these large prints. Once the UFO list gets a bit shorter, I'll give a few of those a try.  It's a shame to keep such pretties piled in the fabric closet.  

Did you find time to stitch this week? 

1. Gretchen 2. Julie in GA 3. maggie f 4. Karen

5. DonnaleeQ 6. Melisa- Pinker n' Punkin Quilting 7. Quilting Gail 8. Bonnie in Va

9. Deb in Canada 10. Carol Andrews

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Week 121 Photo Challenge: Rule of Thirds

I hadn't planned to write photo challenge post this morning. Grad Girl is getting ready for her preliminary exam, so she's been really busy and working long days.  Getting a photograph isn't her priority.  She didn't think she'd have one for this week,  but she texted me one for this challenge after I'd gone to bed.

Before posting the photos, let's discuss the rule of thirds as it relates to photography.  Basically it's one way to set up the composition of your photos.  The photo frame is divided into 9 equal rectangles. 

To follow the rule, the important elements within a frame should be placed at the intersection points (red dots) of the grid. If you want more details there are numerous photography sites that discuss it (here's a link to just one of the many).  The rule of thirds is probably the most common rule, but rules are meant to be broken, some of the best photographs don't adhere to it at all. With that brief intro, I'll let you decide how well we each did meeting the challenge. 

We had some very beautifully lit mornings this week due to the few transient rain storms, I tried hard to find a workable subject one of those mornings. 

Kate:  Last of the Season

There are still a few roses blooming, pretty amazing considering just  hot it has been. The point of the rule of thirds is to avoid placing the subject in the exact middle of the frame. This shot has the subject centered on the two upper focus points in the grid.  

My Guy also took advantage of the cool light due to clouds and rain. 

My Guy: Silhouette

Oklahoma does have some spectacular sunrises and sunsets. All the drama in this shot lies along the left line of the grid.

Grad Girl has had one heck of a week. School started this week, so that adds to her normal lab load, she has to teach as well.  She found her shot on the way home last night. 

Grad Girl: Froggy 

As hot and dry as it's been in Texas it's amazing to see one of these out and about.  But I guess the apartment complex has a sprinkler system to water the grass, so its probably a great place for a frog to hang out in August.  Of the three photos, this one is probably the best representation of the rule of thirds.  What do you think?  

My Guy drew this week's challenge. 

Another photography technique.  In some ways these technique challenge cards are harder than cards that direct you to a subject.  It should be interesting to see what we come up with for this week.  

To Do List for the Week of 8/20/2024

It's been another hot week, so the sewing room was my favorite place to be. My shoulder issues did require me to minimize my time early in the week, but by the end of the week, I could sew for more than my 15 minutes each day. That made it much easier to tackle the to do list.   

To Do List for 08/13/2024

1.  2024 SAHRR: Finish binding ✔

2.  Indigo Way: Add last border ✔

3.  Diatom: Finish sashing, start borders ✔

4.  Guild BOM: Make August block - progress

5.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making orange blocks ✔

6.  Sensational Scrap Quilt: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

Five out of six check marks with progress on the sixth is a really good week.  Even better the week included a quilt finish and a quilt top finish.  It's always a good week when projects hit those two milestones.  With two quilts off the active list, this week's list is a bit shorter.  

To Do List for 08/20/2024

1. Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Finish borders, find backing fabric

 

The sashing is done and the first narrow border has been added. I'm adding a 3" wide border of the darkest fabric.  The strips are cut, so it shouldn't take to long to move this project to finished quilt top.  This quilt is a wedding gift for one of Grad Girl's chemistry buddies, so it will be next to be quilted.  Hopefully a review of the stash yields a pretty backing.  This one should be ready to go out when Rhododendron comes back from being quilted. At least that's the plan.  

2. Guild BOM:  Make August block

 

 All the pieces are cut, they just need to be assembled.  I won't have it ready for the guild meeting this week, but that's OK.  I'll catch up for next month. 

3.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making orange blocks.

I did finally count how many orange blocks had been made.  A total of 18 blocks are made, 14 left to finish.  I won't get those all done this month.  

4.  Chilhowie Mystery (Bonnie Hunter):  Start on quilt assembly

All the blocks for the 2022 Bonnie Hunter mystery were finished back in February.  I was working on several new projects at the beginning of the year. So once the blocks were done, they got put away in a project box.  Now that Indigo Way is a quilt top, it's time to pull out another partially completed BH mystery and see about getting it finished up. 

5.  Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders. 

 

Early in the week, a set of 10 yellow 4-patches were added to the project box. Now it's back to making blue 2-patch blocks for another set of 10 blue 4-patch blocks.  

A bit shorter of a list for this week. Even though it's short, if I check them all off several projects will move along to the next stage. I was hoping for more finishes, but progress on the projects has been going well this year.  I'm hoping I can keep that up till the end of the year. 

Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  Good luck with your to do list for the week.   

Two for Two

The plan for the later half of the year was to finish a quilt a month.  As of August, I'm 2 for 2.  The 2023 Stay at Home Round Robin (SAHRR) was finished in July. This month the 2024 SAHRR (Quilting Gail) is a finished quilt. 

The binding was finished last Tuesday, but it I wasn't able to get photos till this weekend.  This quilt is for Grad Girl. Of course the inspiration for the quilt was Grad Girl's kitty, Queenie. I had planned for a black and orange quilt (Oklahoma State colors), but had not planned to make it a Halloween quilt.  But those were the fabrics Grad Girl liked, so that's how it went together.  

Queenie certainly doesn't have orange eyes, but she's very black.  In a dark room she's startled Grad Girl and her roommate more than once, earning herself the nickname of "Shadow Demon".  So of course the quilt absolutely has to have the same name.  

Trudy Lindemann did the quilting with swirls and stars, which works so well with the Halloween fabrics.  Of course I'm sure you can see the close resemblance between my center block and Queenie. 

The back of the quilt is pieced using a couple of Halloween fabrics.

  

The orange print has spiders on it (not one of Grad Girl's favorite things, but hopefully it won't wig her out too badly).  The center fabric also has black kitties on it. You can see that clearly in this close up of the backing.

My Guy said the haunted house on this fabric reminds him of the one on the Scooby Doo intro.  Which was one of Grad Girl's absolute favorite cartoons when she was little. 

Shadow Demon turned out much better than I expected. It was such a fun quilt to make. Grad Gril is really excited for it to make it's way to her couch. That won't happen till October, but she should have it in time for Halloween.  

Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.  Also linking up with Favorite Finish over at Quilting Jetgirl.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 33 of 2024

 

Another week gone already?  It feels like just yesterday I wrote the week 32 post and now it's time for week 33.  It wasn't the best week on the stitching front. My shoulders are not happy. I've been on Aleve and hot pads for several days this week. It's getting better, but I have to watch my computer and stitching time to allow things to heal.  

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Aug = 17/17 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 230/230 days
• Success rate = 100%   

I've kept my 100% success rate!  Not a bad stat for mid August! 

I've lost my get up and go on my scrap processing, so almost no progress there.  Definitely nothing to blog about on that effort.  I've done much better with the yardage pressing and reorganizing.  As it's the bigger mess, it's not a bad thing I've given it higher priority.  

The bin was piled to the top a few weeks ago. The bin is about three quarters full now.  I'm slowly getting these fabrics pressed, folded and sorted into the fabric closet.  Still a long way to go, but I'm happy with the progress so far this year.  

So how are you doing with finding time to stich, organize or declutter in your sewing space? 

1. Gretchen 2. Amanda 3. Julie in GA

4. maggie f 5. Michelle 6. DonnaleeQ

7. Quilting Gail 8. Frédérique 9. Carol Andrews

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Week 120 Photo Challenge: Toy

This week the weather had been typical for the first half of August, hot and miserable.  Though the evening thunderstorms are not usually on the agenda, normally it's very dry this month.  We've needed the rain, so things are much greener then usual for this time of year.  Thankfully this week's photo challenge didn't require being out in the elements, but it felt like a scavenger hunt as I scoured the house for subject matter for this week's challenge photo.

I actually ventured into the attic (never wise on a August afternoon) and finally decided it would be much safer to just scour Grad Girl's room.  I found several potential subjects, took lots of photos and decided this one was the best fit for the challenge.  

Kate: Play with Physics?

This pendulum set was on Grad Girl's desk.  I'm not sure where we got this, but it very likely came from one of the museums in Houston where My Guy and Grad Girl hung out when I had to work weekends.  They would make the rounds, the Children's Museum, The Health Museum and her ultimate favorite, the Houston Museum of Natural Science. All of those museums are great places to hang out on a rainy day.  

My Guy also went on a scavenger hunt. He has a closet full of science toys he used for demonstrations (he was a mad scientist for a couple of years at the company Halloween party for the kids).  But in the end he decided one of his musical toys was the better fit. 

My Guy: CowCarina

This is not just any cow, it's also an ocarina.  What's an ocarina?  It's a type of flute commonly called a potato flute. Ocarina's have been in use for thousands of years, especially in Chinese music. I don't remember when My Guy started playing them, but I'm pretty sure it was after we moved back to Oklahoma.  He has a small collection of these instruments up in his music room.  He bought this one at an art festival in Tulsa. We also purchased one shaped like a penguin for one of Grad Girl's friends who was a big time penguin lover.  If you what to learn more about what these are, Wikipedia has a nice summary article on them.  

I wasn't sure Grad Girl would have a photo this week. She's preparing for her oral preliminary exam, so has been putting in a lot of hours in the lab and on the computer writing her proposal.  But she did send me one at about 12:30 this morning.

Grad Girl: Reprieve from the PhD

Gaming is one of her relax before bedtime activities. She didn't leave the lab yesterday until about 9 PM.  It probably took her a while to wind down after what's been a week of very long days.

Last week's challenge was a specific thing. This week's challenge is another photography "technique". 

So any subject, just demonstrate the Rule of Thirds.  As My Guy said when I drew the card last night, we're going to have to think about this one.  

Photo Play: July Summary

It was so hot and humid in July, even in the mornings, that I just didn't do much on the photography front.  I did finish another chapter in Visual Poetry by Chris Orwig, but it was on portrait photography.  Portrait photography isn't something I do often. I do take a few family photos when we all get together, that's the chapter under review at the moment. 

All that to say, there's not much to share on the photography front this month.  Macro photography is probably my most favorite thing to do so it's not surprising that the bulk of the photos this month are with the Sigma 105 mm macro lens on the Canon 70D (some photos have been cropped).  

My Guy uses sweet potatoes in one of his bread recipes. So he keeps them around, but sometimes he doesn't have time to make his bread, so they sit. This batch sprouted in the fruit/veggie bowl we have for things that shouldn't be refrigerated. The sprouts were getting so tall, it was annoying when trying to get into the cabinets. So rather than getting upset and pitching them (as I was very tempted to do), I used them as a photo subject. 

The leaves seemed to glow like jewels under just the right light.  Not sure I fully captured it here.  But at least my photography efforts kept them out of the garbage can (which is what happened to the previous set). My Guy did finally plant these a couple of weeks ago.  

The basket flowers were still blooming in mid July.  The bumble bees absolutely loved them.

Such vivid colors with the pink/green and black/yellow.  The basket flowers are all now crispy and brown. Just one of the indicators that summer is coming to a close.  

I was out one morning trying to capture a shot of clouds for our family photography challenge with the Tamron 14-400 mm telephoto lens.  There was a lot of dew that morning and as the sun rose the field started to sparkle. 

This shot wasn't exactly what I was going for, but it captured the essence of the morning.  I really need to work on and practice my landscape photography.  It's not one of my better photography skills.

Another quest to get a cloud photo, this time with my I-Phone 12 resulted in this image. 

  

It's not the best photo from a technical perspective, but it gives me such Sci Fi vibes, like something you'd see in an aliens attack movie. The weird angle of the buildings with the beam of light coming off the "hole in the sky" bright white spot just produce that alien invasion vibe. That definitely wasn't the goal of the photograph. Sometimes you just have to accept happy accidents.  

July wasn't the most productive month on the photography front, but I did spend a lot more time in the sewing room.  Some months it's a trade off.  I've not done much in August either, so it may be a really short summary post for this month too.  

To Do List for the Week of 8/13/2024

We'll pass mid-August this week.  It really does feel like time speeds up as we get closer to the end of the year. Didn't we just pass mid year? How can it already be almost two thirds overs?  I should calm down, there is still half of August left, so still time to make lots of progress on my quilting plan. 

My weekend sinus troubles put a hitch in my progress on last week's to do list.  

To Do List for 08/06/2024

1. Rhododendron: Finish packing and send out for quilting ✔

2. 2024 SAHRR: Finish the binding - progress

3. Indigo Way: Continue to work on borders ✔

4. Wild and Goosey: Continue making orange blocks ✔

5. Diatom: Finish sashing, start borders - progress

6. Simply Sensational Summer quilt: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

It wasn't a bad week, four check marks with progress on the remaining two items is a pretty good week.  I can still hope that progress on this week's to do list is better.  

To Do List for 08/13/2024

1. 2024 SAHRR (Quilting Gail): Finish binding

Just half of one side left to hand stitch and it will be a finished quilt. I should make quick work of that this week.  

2. Indigo Way (Bonnie Hunter): Add last border

I had more of the dark blue fabric left then I thought.  The strips are cut and are pinned to be stitched together.  Borders always take longer than I think they will, so fingers crossed that Indigo Way is a finished quilt top by next week.  

3. Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Finish sashing, start borders

There's not been much change since yesterday's post, so no photo.  I did get one horizontal sashing strip attached, so just two more to go. The strips for the narrow light blue border are cut, so getting those stitched and cut to size is the next step.  

4. Guild BOM: Make August block

I haven't even printed off this month's instructions.  This month is another 12" block. If I remember correctly there aren't a lot of pieces so it should go together pretty quickly. (Famous last words!)

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

I still haven't counted how many are made. I should do that before I make many more.  

6. Simply Sensational Summer Scrap quilt (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders 

I've almost finished a set of 10 yellow 4-patches.  My plan is to alternate, make a set of 10 yellow and then a set of 10 blue.  Should keep it interesting.  I've bunches more of each color to make.  

That's my list for this week. I'm adding borders to two quilts this week. Lots of long seams, I probably need to wind a bunch of bobbins before I get too far on that process.  

Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday. 

Slow Starting Monday

Lots of lightening and thunder this morning.  So I decided to sleep in just a bit as I didn't want to turn on the computer in the middle of a thunderstorm.  The extra sleep was probably wise as I was fighting off a sinus infection all weekend. The afternoon naps are paying off as I'm finally starting to feel better, but it also meant that I didn't get all that much done in the sewing room.  

Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl) is up on the design wall. 

The rows are all sewn together.  The horizontal sashing strips have been sewn and cut to size. The strips for the narrow border are also cut.  I'm hoping to have a finished quilt top by the end of the week as it will just need one more border after that. 

Borders seem to be the activity of the weekend as Inidgo Way (Bonnie Hunter) just needs one more to be a finished quilt top.

 

The plan is to add a final narrow border of the dark blue.  I don't have much left, so I may have to switch to a red final border. Making that decision is on the agenda for this afternoon. 

It wasn't the most productive weekend, but definitely not the worst either.  Linking up with Design Wall Monday and with Patchwork & Quilts.

Stitching Stuff: Week 32 of 2024

We had a major cold front hit Friday. Going from the mid 90's at lunch to the mid 70's by dinner was quite the shock. Unfortunately by Saturday lunch, my sinuses decided they didn't like the cooler weather. Not got much done on Saturday, but I got in my 15 minutes.  Thankfully I was more productive earlier in the week.

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Aug = 10/10 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 223/223 days
• Success rate = 100% 

So I managed another week with 100% success rate!  I'm going to be a bit sad when my streak ends, but I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts.

I didn't process any scraps, but did do a bit of work in the fabric closet.  Plastic drawer liner was used to line the bottom of the wire cubes. 

The plastic keeps the fabric from getting pushed into the wire squares. There is still room for fabric in the closet.  That's a good thing because I still have lots of fabric left in the to be pressed bin.

There was a bit of progress on moving fabrics from the bin to the closet.  I know that the burgundy fabric in the lower left was purchased when I was in graduate school, so it's over 35 years old.  I even remember what project it was purchased for.  I'm not ever making that project, so not sure where that fabric is going to end up.  Probably as part of a pieced backing on one of my planned scrappy quilts.  

How did you do with finding time to play with fabric and thread? 

 

1. Julie in GA 2. maggie f 3. Linda at Texas Quilt Gal 4. Karen

5. DonnaleeQ 6. Frédérique 7. Quilting Gail 8. Andrée at Quilting & Learning

9. Bonnie in Va 10. Deb in Canada 11. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts 12. Kim S

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Week 119 Photo Challenge: Fill the Frame

Everyone got on the ball this week and had a photo to send me last night.  This week's challenge is one where the subject was secondary and the technique was primary. 

As usual, I waited till Friday afternoon to take my photos for the challenge. I tried lots of subject matter, but ended up coming back to my most favorite subject. 

Kate: Purple Coneflower

Purple coneflowers are one of My Guy's favorite wild flowers that grow well here.  He bought some at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago, they are starting to fade, but there are still a few bold blooms left.  

My Guy has found some other good stuff at the farmer's market. 

My Guy: Peachy

Porter, Oklahoma is known for their Porter Peaches.  The first bag he brought home from the farmer's market went fast.  He made ice cream out of the second bag and it's very, very good. 

Grad Girl has had one of those week's.  I wasn't sure she'd have the mental energy to come up with a photo. She sent me three last night. This one was her favorite from the set. 

Grad Girl: Chemistry Stuff

 

Organic chemistry can be really colorful.  The purple stuff is what she's trying to synthesize.  So at least one experiment went well this week.

This week was fairly easy as we had unlimited subjects. Next week's challenge is more limited. 

The challenge for week 32 was for a small toy in a real world setting.  We all nailed that one, so this one should be easy.