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?  

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.   

To Do List for the Week of 11/5/2024

It's been nice to be home for a stretch.  I was able to get some chores done last week that really needed to get done.  It's easier to wander off to the sewing room if the house is at least reasonably in order.  The sewing room time has been paying off, there was good progress on last week's to do list. 

To Do List for 10/29/2024

1. String Lights: Package and mail out for quilting ✔

2. Chocolate Marshmallows: Continue assembly ✔

3. Wild and Goosey: Continue making blocks ✔

4. Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt: Continue as leaders/enders ✔

Last week's list was pretty simple. Simple seems to be working for me, so this week's list will be just about the same.   

To Do List for 11/05/2024

1.  Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze Quilts): Work on borders

I like nested borders and this quilt will have 4 total.  The first one is done and the second is started.  Hopefully I can finish all of them this week or at least get close.  

2. Squared Away (So Scrappy): Start sashing blocks

It was hard to come up with a layout for all the blocks.  I played with the blocks over the weekend and finally ended up on the phone with Grad Girl for some brainstorming.  I think this is pretty close to a final setting. I might move a block or too before I get serious about adding the sashing.  This is another quilt where I didn't really give any thought about how all the blocks would go together.  It's scrappy, anything works. Right? 

3. Guild BOM: Start pieced borders

The quilt has a flying geese borders on the top and bottom.  That means something like 28 flying geese.  That may take a couple of weeks.  

4.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue to work on red blocks

More triangles were cut from the scrap bins.  I don't have a very large variety of reds, hopefully there is enough so not all the blocks look the same.  

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

I need 200 plus blue 4-patches and more than 100 yellow 4-patches for my version of this quilt.  Lots more to make. It's slow going, but slow is still progress.

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

A Bit of This and That

Have you adjusted to time change yet?  It's nice to have the sunlight in the morning, but it's not fun for it to be dark by the time My Guy gets home at night.  For some reason, it's harder for me to go back to the sewing room after dinner once the sun is down.  Not sure what is up with that, but that's been the case for a while.  I'll have to get myself going to the sewing room earlier in the afternoon for the next few months.    

Most of my focus this week has been getting Chocolate Marshmallows  (Seabreeze Quilts) assembled.  

I'm happy with how it's coming together and like the setting I chose.  The colors look muddy in the photograph, the pink is much brighter then shows in the photo. Now I'm on to adding the borders.  I should have one more finished quilt top added to the closet before the end of the month.

The other thing I did this weekend was some serious fabric closet diving to find fabrics for this year's Bonnie Hunter mystery, Old Town.  

My thought was to use light and dark teal as the red and coral.  But my stash didn't support that color choice. I decided to keep the teal print and pair that with light and dark brown that would work with off white odds and ends in the stash for a semi-scrappy background.  The browns looked muddy, but there was a red that was in the stash that worked well.  The gold fabric is new as I didn't have anything else in the stash that seemed to work.  This isn't a color palette I've used before and I'm excited to get started. Are you doing the Bonnie Hunter mystery this year?   

Linking with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 44 of 2024

Is it really November?  October seemed to just speed by.  With the holidays coming up, I'm sure it will be January before any of us are ready.  Even so, I'm hoping to get a bit more done on my projects before the end of the year.   

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Oct = 31/31 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 2/2 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 307/307 days
• Success rate = 100%

Keeping my stitching streak going into November has been a lot of fun. I'm hoping I can manage to keep it up in November. Things get dicey in December.  Even so it's been such a good year on the making time to stitch front.  

Progress on the stash reorganization has been a bit here and there the last few months. I did manage to get a bit more fabric pressed and refolded.  

There are just 4 yardage pieces left to press in the bin.  I should be able to empty the bin next weekend and then refill it with whatever prewashed yardage remains from the top of the wire rack in the fabric closet.  The progress on the stash reorganization has been really good this year. Still lots to do, but there has been a lot of progress. 

So how are you doing as we start the next to last month of 2024?  Have you met your goals or have you just decided what's not done can just be added to your 2025 goals?  

 

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

5. DonnaleeQ 6. Jennifer in Indy 7. Quilting Gail 8. Andrée at Quilting & Learning

9. Bonnie in Va 10. Amanda 11. Carol @ Quilt Schmilt

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Week 127 Photo Challenge: Smoke

It's been 5 weeks since my last photo challenge post.  The main reason the challenge was on hiatus was Grad Girl's big exam that required a lot of effort to get ready for. Now That she's past that and a lot of our travel is done for a bit, we were all ready to get back to getting photos for the last challenge. 

This one was harder than we expected.  To be honest, I struggled the most.  I didn't get my photos till last night and it took some set up and patience.

Kate: Just Smoke

It took me several attempts at generating smoke before I found one that worked. But all the effort paid off, I ended up with several shots that were interesting.  This one was my favorite. 

My Guy captured this shot on his way out of town to photograph the comet.  

My Guy: Distant Fires

 

It's been incredibly dry here. We'd not had any rain for two to three months. We did finally get some rain on Wednesday and the forecast is for a rainy weekend.  It's definitely needed. There were grass fires one county over from us that required evacuations last Tuesday. I think the firefighters were able to prevent any homes from burning, but it was definitely scary for the residents.  

Grad Girl as usual found something from her experiments. 

Grad Girl: Toxic Orange Smoke

It may be a little hard to see, but there is a definite cloud of orange smoke (technically it's a vapor) in the flask.  This is red fuming nitric acid, which is very concentrated nitric acid and a very dangerous inhalation hazard. It's one the reagents Grad Girl uses in her lab work.  If you were to buy a bottle of nitric acid for general lab use, the concentration of that nitric acid is about 68% (the rest is water). Red fuming nitric acid is 86% nitric acid. Definitely a liquid that has to be handled in a well functioning fume hood.  

My Guy and I thought this challenge was hard. He pulled the card for this week's challenge.  It's harder. 

    

I actually have an idea. We'll have to see how that pans out. Should be another interesting week of photos.