Happy Thanksgiving

 

To Do List for the Week of 11/26/2024

This is the last to do list for November!  With the holidays basically here, my stitching list will really need to get shorter.  December is not typically a month with a lot of progress and that's OK.  I've had a good year so far.  Before getting into this week's abbreviated list, here's how I did with last week's list. 

To Do List 11/19/2024

1. Old Town Mystery: Start first clue ✔

2. Squared Away: Finish borders ✔

3. Guild BOM: Finished pieced borders ✔

4. Marble Mystery: Finish November clue ✔

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue making red blocks ✔

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

It was a good week. With Squared Away moved to finished quilt top, I'm pretty much done with the quilt plan. For the moment I'm caught up on the guild BOM and the Marble Mystery.  So I can go with an abbreviated to do list for this holiday week. 

1.  Old Town Mystery (Bonnie Hunter):  Finish clue 1 and start clue 2

I've gotten a good start on clue 1. Can I finish this clue? Probably not with the holiday this week. Hopefully, I can get close.  

2.  Embroidered Medallion: Take a few stitches.  

Since there are plans for lots of family time during the Thanksgiving holiday, it's time to bring out my long term embroidery project so I can visit while I stitch.  

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

With the way I've been sewing, two blocks a week get finished. So about 8 blocks a month.  It's not the fastest way to finish a quilt, but there has been good progress this year.  I'll have to take stock at the end of the year and decide to make it a focus project or just keep up the steady pace on constructing the blocks.  

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

I finished off another set of 10 blue 4-patches, so back to the next set of yellow 4-patches.  

A very simple list for this week, which is fine.  Sometimes the focus is just on other things.  We'll see how well I do at getting in my 15 minutes each day.  That could be a challenge.   

Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

Another Off the Design Wall

I'm slowly recovering from our yard work marathon on Saturday.  Thankfully my back and knees held up pretty well, it was the rest of me that hurt afterwards.  Even My Guy was feeling it on Sunday.  We definitely aren't as young as we used to be.  

Even with the Saturday yard work excursion, I had a good week in the sewing room, Squared Away is sashed and bordered. 

I'm pretty happy with how it came together.  This is upside down from how I've had it on the design wall during assembly, but it looks good from that direction too.  It will be next year before Squared Away is finished. My goal was to make progress on all the projects on my quilt plan. I've done that this year and it's only November.  

What's next?  Definitely Old Town, the 2025 Bonnie Hunter mystery.  Those clues come fast and furious the next few weeks.  My goal is to see if I can keep up this year. I've never managed that before.  

Linking up with Monday Design Wall and Patchwork & Quilts.

Stitching Stuff: Week 47 of 2024

This is the last Sunday in November.  Are you as shocked by that statement as I am?  I'm not ready for us to be so close to the last month of the year.  It's been such a good year on the stitching front, it's easy to not want it to end. I really didn't expect to be almost to the end of November with an intact stitching streak for the year.   

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 23/23 days
• 15 minute days/2024= 328/328 days
• Success rate = 100%

I've had to work at getting in time each day, but I've managed. Sometimes it is just 15 minutes, but most of the time it's hours.  The progress on this year's quilt plan is due to all the sewing time I've been able to fit in this year.  

The great fabric reorganization in my sewing room got put on hold this week. We had some yard stuff we absolutely needed to get handled before it gets too cold, so rather than spending most of my Saturday in the sewing room, I was outside holding the ladder while My Guy trimmed trees and cleaned the gutters. We both are pretty sore after all that work. I'm hoping I can manage the stairs to the sewing room later today. 

How did your stitchy week work out?  

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

5. DonnaleeQ 6. Quilting Gail 7. Andrée at Quilting & Learning 8. Bonnie in Va

9. Frédérique 10. Carol @Quilt Schmilt

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Week 130 Photo Challenge: Vintage

This week's challenge theme wasn't too bad, it wasn't the easiest we've had, but it wasn't the hardest either. 

The most fun thing about the challenge is seeing what we each come up with. That often depends on how each of us interpreted the theme. I may have missed the mark a bit, but I'm sticking with my approach.  

Kate: Vintage News

My house cleaning project this weekend was to tackle the office.  While dusting, I found these vintage copies of National Geographic. They belonged to My Guy's parents. This magazine is so noted for it's photography, it's hard to picture how it managed with just illustrations.  

I often wonder at My Guy's thought process, but he does come up with some very fun photos.  He definitely thinks out of the box. 

My Guy: Born In

If you are a big music fan you'll get the reference immediately.  If you aren't, here's a hint. 

Released 40 years ago, I guess you could consider this a vintage album cover.  It's hard to think that means I'm vintage.  Still, I think My Guy nailed the look. 

Grad Girl continues to be busy, she has some deadlines to meet.  So it's not surprising her photo comes from where she spends most of her time.

Grad Girl: Vintage Lab

If you were a fan of any of the versions of TV show CSI, this may not strike you as a lab.  But in the vast majority of colleges and universities, you will find that many grad students are still doing their research in labs with infrastructure from the 1920's. The gas lines at the back of the bench on either side of the cup sink (the two fixtures with the pointy ended screw looking appendages) have just about disappeared from the modern lab.  I'm not sure cup sinks are a thing anymore.

Vintage wasn't so bad as a challenge. The subject for this week's challenge is easy to find, but how to make a cool photo, not so straight forward. 

It should be fun to see what we each end up with. I know it won't be the same shoes.  

To Do List for the Week of 11/19/2024

Mid-November has come and gone.  Thanksgiving is next week. I'm really not ready for the holiday to ramp up and the year wind down.  But as I don't have a choice, it's time to just go with the flow.  I've been keeping my to do list's pretty simple and it's paying off with good progress.  

To Do List for 11/12/2024

1.  Squared Away: Continue sashing blocks ✔

2.  Guild BOM: Continue working on pieced borders ✔

3.  Marble Mystery: Start November clue ✔

4.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making red blocks ✔

5.  Summer Scrap Quilt: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

My goal all year has just been progress and I'm doing well on that front.  I'll need to finish up a few items to stay on track since the Thanksgiving holiday is coming up.  

To Do List for 11/19/2024

1.  Old Town (Bonnie Hunter): Start first clue

My fabric is all washed and pressed.  I'm curious what pieces we'll start off with. 

2.  Squared Away (SoScrappy): Finish borders

The blocks are all sashed and stitched together.  Just two borders left to attach and this project will be a finished quilt top.  

3.  Guild BOM: Finish pieced borders

Just six more flying geese and 4 pinwheel blocks left to finish before the pieced borders are finished.  

4.  Marble Mystery(Meadow Mist Designs): Finish November clue

The November clue has us making two types of square in a square blocks. I've gotten started on them. They go pretty quickly, so hopefully these will be done by the end of the week. 

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

The plan is to keep working on the red blocks till the end of the year. 

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

I'm halfway done with the next set of 10 blue 4-patches.  This has been a really good leaders and enders project.  It may be slow going, but the piles of 4-patches is slowly growing. 

The Bonnie Hunter mystery always seems to take a big part of my sewing time. I'm hoping this year I can keep up on it and not have to abandon all my other projects too. We'll see how that goes. Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday. 

The Last Project on the Quilt Plan

It's been a pretty good year in the sewing room. All the stitching time has allowed me to make some progress on every project that was on my stitching plan (and a couple that weren't).  The focus on progress has meant I've gotten 5 finishes so far this year, but I'm set up for even more next year.  

The last project on the plan is Squared Away. This project was the 2018 Rainbow Scrap Project quilt along.  I finished all the blocks in 2018, but then they sat waiting for inspiration on how to set them.  I'm not sure my setting is all that inspired, but I'm happy with how it's going together. 

Just one last sashing to stitch into the middle and then it will be ready to add the borders.  Hopefully the borders can be finished up this week and then this project can go into the "to be quilted" closet. 

Then what? This is the last project on my quilt plan. I've got one more month on the Guild BOM and the Marble Mystery continues into next year. Old Town, this year's Bonnie Hunter mystery, kicks off on Friday.  Usually the BH mystery is pretty intense, so I may not need to add any projects to my list.  We'll see. 

Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 46 of 2024

We did finally get our autumn temps, the really cold stuff arrives on Monday.  We've not had to turn the heat on so far, but that will probably change soon. My Guy took Friday off and we went on an adventure.  We didn't get home till late, but thankfully there was still enough time to get some stitching in before bedtime. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 16/16 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 321/321 days
• Success rate = 100%

It's been such a good year on the stitching front. In fact such a good year that I will probably never top it. Looking towards goals next year, I'm considering what to do that ups my game.  I have time to consider before finalizing my goals for next year. 

Last week the very bottom of the fabric pile from the top of the shelving was pressed folded and put away. That leaves me with all the unwashed newer fabrics that have accumulated.  First I pulled all the fabrics that were spilling over the sides and laying on the floor of the fabric bin in the closet.

I sorted those into the various color lines that could be washed together.  The biggest pile of those was the medium toned bright greens, teals and blues. So I washed those and that's the starting place for the next stage of my fabric reorg.  

In general, most of these pieces are 3 and 4 yard cuts, so they aren't a quick press and fold.  I've managed to press a few pieces.  This bin full may take longer than the previous ones. But it's all progress no matter how long it takes.    

How are you doing on your stitching goals?  Just six weeks left in the year. Have you started looking at what your goals will be for next year?  

1. Gretchen 2. Julie in GA 3. Frédérique

4. maggie f 5. DonnaleeQ 6. Melisa- Pinker n' Punkin Quilting

7. Bonnie in Va 8. amanda 9. Carol @ Quilt Schmilt

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Week 129 Photo Challenge: Sweets

This week My Guy was the one that waited till the last minute to get any photos for this week's challenge. 

This week's challenge was definitely more on our level. Well, maybe not so much My Guy, as he's really not one for sweets.  Even though he bakes plenty to take to the office.  Grad Girl and I definitely had it easier this week.  I try not to keep sweets in the house because they are way too tempting. But I made an exception for the sake of the challenge.  

Kate: Holiday Favorite

My mother has a fondness for chocolate covered cherries. I think back now and wonder how all of us kids didn't end up on the naughty list. I'm not sure Mom ever got a box of these goodies to herself until we all moved out.  It must be genetic, because these chocolate goodies are one of my holiday favorites. A box of these usually finds it's way into my shopping cart just before Christmas (that and eggnog to go with them). It's a bit earlier then I normally indulge, but these seemed just the thing photograph for the challenge.  

My Guy isn't a sweets person.  He's allergic to some chocolates and just doesn't really have a sweet tooth. So it's not surprising he was a bit last minute with his photo. 

My Guy: Raw Materials

But My Guy likes to bake.  He made cookies for Halloween and wanted something to use as eyes.  Consequently we pulled all the decorative sugars out of the pantry.  Those were still out when he went looking for a photo.  Makes me want to pull out my mother's sugar cookie recipe and make some for the holidays.  I'll probably resist that temptation, because I'm pretty sure My Guy will ramp up on the holiday baking as the weather gets worse. 

Like her father, Grad Girl is a baker. Not only does she do chemical experiments in her research lab, she tries out her experimental bakes on her fellow researchers. 

Grad Girl: Persian Love Cookies

Last weekend she made these Persian Love Cookies to take in for group meeting.  Why these cookies?  She cleaned up her pantry last weekend and was looking for a recipe to use up the pistachio nuts and other ingredients before they went out of date. They were a big hit with her research group. 

I think we all enjoyed last week's challenge. It was much more up our alley in terms of subject matter.  This week's challenge is another story. 

Should be interesting to see what we each come up with. Grad Girl said she thinks we have an advantage this week. I'm not sure how to take that.  

Photo Play: October Summary

My October photography efforts are pretty much in line with my September efforts.  I wasn't sure there was going to be anything in my photo files for a post this month. Things have been moving along well in the sewing room, so I've not taken as much time to play with my camera.  I'm going to try to fix that this month and devote a bit more time to my photography studies.  At any rate, here's the photos that made the cut from October.  

Photos were taken with a Canon 70D DLSR paired with either a Tamron 18-400 mm telephoto or a Sigma 105 mm macro lens or my I-Phone 12. 

We've been to Eureka Springs, AR many times over the years. It's our default vacation, spring break, long weekend get away destination if trip planning got put off (which it did a lot when I was working).  We both like to hike and I found this hiking trail along Black Bass Lake just outside of town.  It was some place we'd never been before. We enjoyed a nice early morning walk along the lake and found a few things photo worthy. 

Damselfly (DLSR/Tamron telephoto lens, cropped)

There was no wind that morning was the lake was like glass.  At the beginning of October you can see just the beginnings of some fall color in the trees. 

Something jumped into the late and created these ripples. The reflection of the trees in the water is so abstract.  It looks almost pixelated. 

The trail, Standing Rock, gets it's name from the large while rock at the edge of the lake. (All the reflection photos, Canon 70D with Tamron 18-400 mm telephoto)

October was a hot and dry month.  Things looked mostly brown, but brown can be interesting.  I've shown photos of the basket flowers before, but this extreme close up of a seed head makes me think of little hands (well definitely alien hands), it's like a mini sculpture. (Canon 70D, Sigma 105 mm macro) 

We took a trip to Oklahoma City mid-month to celebrate both my mother's and My Guy's birthdays.  We went out to dinner one night at one of the restaurants that overlooks Lake Hefner. The sunset was really pretty that night. (I-Phone 12)

 

By the end of the month, some of the trees that hadn't turned brown from lack of water were starting to show some color.  The yellow leaves of the Brush Honeysuckle with the red fruit is such a fun color contrast (Canon 70D, Sigma 105 mm).

My favorite in this set is the one of the honeysuckle, those red berries just glow in the morning light. I'm happy with the damselfly photo, those little things are hard to capture. That photo is the only one of the 4 or 5 shots taken that had good focus.   

I'm still playing with aperture and focus, but definitely didn't do much to explore the unexpected.  I've done a bit more of that this month already.  So hopefully next month's post will have some more interesting photos in it.  

Thank you for hanging out with me for a non-quilty post.  Feedback is always welcome.  Is there one photo that stands out to you? 

To Do List for the Week of 11/12/2024

It finally feels like autumn here.  It's been pretty chilly in the mornings, but warmer in the afternoons. We seem to be done with the highs in the 80s.  I'm hoping to get back to my photography walks this week, assuming it stays dry most of the week.  Before I get to far into on what else is on the list for this week, here's how I did with last week's to do list.  

To Do List for 11/5/2024

1.  Chocolate Marshmallows: Work on borders ✔

2.  Squared Away: Start sashing blocks ✔

3.  Guild BOM: Start pieced borders ✔

4.   Wild and Goosey: Make more red blocks ✔

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

It was a good week on the progress front.  It helps that I'm keeping my list simple and just expecting progress not finishes.  But that approach seems to be working for me as projects are moving along.  

Since simple is working for me, I'm going to stick with that approach for this week's list.  

To Do List for 11/12/2024

1.  Squared Away (So Scrappy): Continue sashing blocks

I've been taking this one slow. I have to label the blocks in each row so I get them in the right order.  But it's coming along.  Hopefully it will be ready for the borders by the end of the week. 

2.  Guild BOM: Continue working on pieced borders

The top and bottom borders consist of 14 flying geese for a total of 28.  I'm slowly getting those assembled.  

3.  Marble Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Start November clue

This one is a pretty simple clue so I'm hoping to finish it up before next week. 

4.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making red blocks

It's been slow going on these blocks, but working in a couple of blocks as I'm sewing other things has really made a difference in moving this project along.   

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

I finished one set of 10 yellow 4-patches. Now it's back to making a few blue ones.  It's time to cut some more 2.5" squares from my scraps, too many 2-patches with the same fabrics are showing up in the pile.   

That's my to do list for this week. Short and simple, which seems to be working for me lately.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

Ten Years in the Making

This time of year it seems the weeks just speed by.  We'll hit mid November by the weekend. I'm really not ready for the end of the year, which will be here before we know it.  So it's probably best to concentrate on the now and look at what's getting done.  

Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze Quilts) became an assembled quilt top last Wednesday. 

The blocks were started in 2014. It only took me 10 years to figure out how to set them!  I'm happy with how it came together and now it goes into the "to be quilted" closet.  

I started the year with 4 sets of quilt blocks that needed to be assembled. Of those one is a finished quilt, two are finished quilt tops and the third is in the process of being assembled. 

Squared Away (So Scrappy) was started in 2018.  Another project where the blocks have been finished for years and I just couldn't figure out how to set it.  The black sashing and scrappy corner stones seems to be working really well.  Still a ways to go on getting it all assembled, but fingers crossed it will also make it to finished quilt top before the end of the year.  

Linking up with Monday Design Wall and Patchwork & Quilts.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 45 of 2024

It's been a weird November.  Oklahoma has already broken the record for monthly rainfall.  We got over 3" just yesterday. That's on top of the over 2" we got last weekend.  It's sunny today, but the ground is still really soggy.  All the rain has meant lots of time in the sewing room this last week.  

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 9/9 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 314/314 days
• Success rate = 100%

I'm still surprised that I've kept up with the stitching time this year. It has paid off in lots of progress on many projects this year.  Definitely worth the effort.  

There was some good progress on the fabric pressing project last week. 

The last few fabrics in the to be pressed bin from the last refill in August were pressed, folded and added to the fabric closet.  When I went to reload the "to be pressed bin", there were only 4 fabrics left from the pile on top of the wire rack. 

Those were also pressed, folded and added to the fabric closet. That takes care of all the prewashed fabrics that were piled on top of the wire rack in the fabric closet. So all this fabric is pressed, folded and sorted into the fabric closet.

That's three and probably an eighth bins of fabric that's been sorted into the rest of the stash.  Now to start on the fabric that hasn't been prewashed.  There's a lot of that too.  But first I have to figure out a strategy on how to tackle that yardage.  

Next week we'll be half way through November (yes already). How are you doing on getting in some stitching time and meeting your reorganization goals?  

1. Julie in GA 2. Frédérique

3. DonnaleeQ 4. Andrée at Quilting & Learning

5. Carol Andrews 6. Bonnie in Va

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Week 128 Photo Challenge: Compassion

We all thought last week's challenge was hard. This week's was even harder.  How do you photograph something like this?

We all have photos. Do they meet the challenge?  Maybe, maybe not. So it's a good thing we make up the rules! 

My plans for getting a photo were rained out (mainly because I tend to wait till the day before to figure it all out). Here's my effort for the week.  

Kate: Words of Compassion

Google came to my rescue at about 5 PM yesterday.  Thankfully I remembered where the Scrabble game was (we've not played in ages). I was vastly disappointed at the lack of "p" squares in the game. Maybe we've lost some?  Not an original idea, but I do like how the photo came out. 

You'll need to read the stories that go along with the photos to see how My Guy's and Grad Girl's photos tie into compassion.

 

My Guy: Tufted Titmouse

My Guy was out on a bike ride and came across this Tufted Titmouse sitting in the middle of the road. My Guy stopped and spoke to him. The bird just looked at him.  The bird's legs were folded under him, like he was hurt.  My Guy decided to at least get him out of the road, not only because of vehicular traffic, there was also a Red-shouldered hawk and a murder of Crows nearby.  He was clearly exposed sitting there in the middle of the road.  My Guy got a stick and put it under the bird to lift him up. He was surprised when the Titmouse perched on the stick easily.  As My Guy was moving the bird to the side of the road, the Titmouse suddenly remembered he could fly and flew into a nearby tree.  It's hard to photograph an act of compassion when your the one being compassionate.  But I think this photo works.  

Grad Girl has had a rough few weeks, this fall hasn't been easy for her on several fronts. 

Grad Girl: Compassion Kitty

So she has been very thankful for her furry companion, Queenie. When Grad Girl was sick the week before her big exam, Queenie took up watch either from the end of the couch or from her cat tree.  She was very concerned her person wasn't feeling very well. After a bad day in the lab, Queenie always greets her at the door, excited to see her.  This kitty is deathly afraid of running water, but she always keeps watch when Grad Girl showers and checks on her after the water is off to see if she survived. Queenie usually knows when Grad Girl needs extra cuddles to start her day. Note that Queenie is not the cuddliest of cats, she is the opposite of a cuddle bug. So it's quite an honor to be granted morning cuddle time. Can a cat be compassionate?  Sometimes it certainly seems this one can be.    

So did we hit the mark this week?  None of us are sure about that, but at least we took photos so can move on to a new challenge.  

We all sighed with relief when this card was drawn.  Definitely an easier subject, the challenge is going to be getting an interesting photo. 

October 2024 PHD Report

It's been a very weird autumn. October was cooler than September, but not by much.  My sewing room was my preferred location for most of the month. That means I have lots to blog about for the October PHD Report posted over at P Designs USA.  

One more finish in October brings my total to 5.  Not too shabby for me. I'm hoping for at least one more finish before the end of the year.  It won't be my best year ever for finishes, but definitely better than I've done the previous 3 years.  

Diatom (Dancing Lights) (Quilting Jetgirl) was my finish for October.  This quilt was started in 2023 and was on my "to be finished list" for this year.  It's a wedding gift for some of Grad Girl's good friends. I'm thrilled with how it came out.  It was hard to part with, but it's going to a good home. It was gifted last weekend and she was assured they would definitely use it to cuddle under this winter (assuming it's going to get below 80 at some point in south Texas).   

In addition to the finish, there was good progress on several other projects this month. Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze Quilts) was started in 2014. It's on my "quilts to assemble" list for this year.  I finally decided on a setting for the blocks and got started on assembly.  At the end of October, all the sashing was made. Since then the rows have all been sewn together and I've started on the borders.    

Squared Away (So Scrappy) is another project on my "quilts to assemble" list. This project was started in 2018.  After dithering about the setting for years, I finally took a good look through the fabric closet, found a couple of fabrics that would work with the blocks. That pretty much decided the setting.  The sashing, corner stones and border strips were cut for our Girl's weekend.  I've since worked out the block layout but haven't started sashing the blocks yet.  

There was just one orange block left to complete for Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) at the end of the month.  I started back on the red blocks and will probably work on those till the end of the year.  

There was some progress on the leaders and enders project, the Simply Sensational Summer Scrap quilt (Kevin the Quilter).  Another set of 10 blue 4-patch blocks were finished and another set of yellow 4-patches are under construction. This one has been slow going, but that's what happens with leaders and enders.   

Grad Girl asked if I had a quilt she could give to her group's departing Post Doc.  She looked over what quilt tops I had done and picked out String Lights (Meadow Mist Designs) as a good option. But she thought it needed to be a bit bigger and really needed borders. The borders were added, the backing made and both pieces prepped for quilting.  It's been packaged up and shipped out for quilting.  This will probably be my last finish for 2024.  

 

The October block for the Guild BOM was finished pretty early in the month. The November clue covers one of the pieced borders. 

October's clue for the Marble Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs) was also finished pretty early in the month.  So I'm ready for November's clue when it comes out tomorrow.  For some reason my digital camera has a hard time capturing purple accurately. The photo on the right is closer to the actual color of the fabrics than the one on the left.  

By the end of October I had made progress on each one of the projects on my 2024 quilt plan. 

Not all the projects show a change in status in my bar graph, but that's OK, I can see progress in my photos. It's been a good year so far and there are 2 months left in 2024. Well, maybe just a month and a half with all the holidays.  Even so, there is still time to make some progress on several projects before year's end.