Monday, November 11, 2024
Ten Years in the Making
Sunday, November 10, 2024
Stitching Stuff: Week 45 of 2024
- 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
- 15 minute days/Nov = 9/9 days
- 15 minute days/2024 = 314/314 days
- Success rate = 100%
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.
Saturday, November 9, 2024
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.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
October 2024 PHD Report
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
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.
Monday, November 4, 2024
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.
Sunday, November 3, 2024
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%
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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Saturday, November 2, 2024
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.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
To Do List for the Week of 10/29/2024
It was so nice to be home all weekend. The sewing room got a bit of a clean up and I got my project boxes reorganized. My to do list for the week was pretty short and simple. But some weeks you just need that.
To Do List for 10/22/2024
1. String Lights: Finish borders, cut and piece backing ✔
2. Chocolate Marshmallows: Start assembly ✔
3. Wild and Goosey: Continue making blocks ✔
4. Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt: Continue as leaders/enders ✔
So 4 out 4 this week. It's been awhile since I've been able to check off all my to do items. I did keep the list simple and that helps a lot. I'm going to stick with simple for this week's to do list.
To Do List for 10/29/2024
1. String Lights (Meadow Mist Designs): Package and mail out for quilting
The top is now pressed and de-threaded. Those dark threads do show through the light background, so they had to go. As much as I hate prepping quilts for quilting, String Lights needs to be finished up quickly. I need it before Christmas. Fingers crossed if it goes out this week, it should be back in time for me to finish it.
2. Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze Quilts): Continue Assembly
3. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making blocks
The orange blocks are almost done, just a few scraps needed to finish the last one. I'm considering how to assemble this project. It would work well if I start with the center yellow blocks and then add the others as borders, like a medallion quilt. Not my normal assembly method, but it might make sense for this project. I'm thinking once I have a color completed to start sashing those blocks.
4. Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders.
I'm working on the next set of 10 yellow blocks. Still lots more 4-patches to make for this scrappy quilt.
Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday. Good luck with your to do list this week.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Following the Quilt Plan
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Stitching Stuff: Week 43 of 2024
This is the first weekend I've been home for the entire weekend since mid-September. Our girl's weekend was lots of fun, the drive home from it wasn't. That's the only day I struggled to get in my 15 minutes, but I still managed to make that happen before I went to bed after our long drive back.
- 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
- 15 minute days/Oct = 26/26 days
- 15 minute days/2024 = 300/300 days
- Success rate = 100%
1. Gretchen 2. Julie in GA 3. maggie f 4. Deb in Canada | 5. DonnaleeQ 6. Andrée at Quilting & Learning 7. Quilting Gail 8. Elana | 9. Bonnie in Va 10. Frédérique |
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Thursday, October 24, 2024
Photo Play: September Summary
With all the traveling lately, I'm way behind on looking at my photos. I definitely have not been as engaged with my photo play activities lately. When I opened my photo files to look at what was there, I wasn't sure they'd be much of anything in them. But I found a few interesting shots to share.
Photos were taken with either a Canon 70D DLSR or my I-Phone 12. The DSLR shots used either a Tamron 18-400 telephoto or a Sigma 105 mm macro lens.
We stayed in a loft in downtown Independence, Mo when we attended My Guy's sister's wedding. This sunset was just spectacular. Downtown Independence has lots and lots of churches. You can see the spires from several in this shot. (I-Phone 12)
The loft we were staying at had some interesting decor. I was playing around with my aperture settings when I took this shot. I liked the light reflecting off the gold and the contrast with the very dark background.(Canon 70D, Tamron 18-400 Telephoto)
The roses were still blooming at the end of September. The early morning sun really brings out the pink of the petals. Maybe not a knock out of a photo, but it's hard not to include at least one flower in my post. (Canon 70D, Tamron 18-400 telephoto)
We were in Eureka Springs, AR for the last few days of September. It was a fun trip and the camera came out to play a few times. The rental we were staying in had these fascinating lace curtains. (Canon 70D, Sigma 105 mm macro)
It's been dry in both Oklahoma and Arkansas, so the leaves have mostly been turning brown and falling off. Typically we don't see peak fall colors till the end of October. But there were some leaves in the process of changing colors. You can see the full range from green to brown in this shot. (Canon 70D, Tamron 18-400 telephoto)
We ate lunch at the Mud Street Cafe on our first day in Eureka Springs. Our table was made of beer bottle caps. I thought it was a fun way to recycle the caps. (I-Phone 12)
My favorite photos from last month are the abstract gold and black photo of reflections and the close up of the lace curtains. I think those are the most interesting of the set.
I'm definitely not doing as much photography as I did at the beginning of the year. But at least I stuck with it longer than I did last year. So that's something anyway. I need to get back to my book learning part of photography, but it seems I so much rather spend time in the sewing room. There has been good progress there this year. Even in retirement, you can't do everything.
If you've read this far, thank you for hanging out for a non-quilty post. Feedback is always welcome. Is there one photo that strikes your fancy or one that you think maybe shouldn't have made the cut?
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
Our Girl's Weekend
My sister and I left Oklahoma for Texas on Thursday and got back home Monday night. That left us Friday, Saturday and Sunday for lots of crafty stuff. I found a great rental to use for our retreat.
The dining room table was big enough for 3 sewing machines. Just mine and my sister's are set up in the photo. We were able to use the center island for cutting and pressing. It was a very user friendly set up.
Grad Girl had stuff going on for most of Friday, so she wasn't able to take off as she'd planned. But she joined us by early evening with a new to her sewing machine.
It's a Singer Start. It's pretty basic, but that's pretty much what she wanted, basic. Grad Girl had never wound a bobbin or threaded a machine. We started with those basics. Learning to control the speed with the foot pedal was probably the hardest thing for her to get used to. That's a practice makes perfect thing.
She really wanted to make a pin cushion. I have a pattern that I really wanted to make, Meadow Mist Design's Cathedral Window Pincushions. So we went to Joann's bought some fabric and made a couple of pin cushions.
This probably wasn't the easiest pattern to start Grad Girl off with, but she really enjoyed it and liked the challenge. Learning to top stitch while trying to master the foot pedal was challenging, but she got better as we went along. Neither pin cushion is perfect, but that's OK, we had a blast making them. I had once thought to make a quilt using Cathedral Window blocks. Making one block may be enough to fulfill that need.
I found a rental that allowed cats, so Queenie came to spend the weekend with us.
She's not had the chance to be a sewing room kitty and decided that anything hanging off the ironing board was a toy. She especially liked my yellow measuring tape when I was measuring borders for String Lights.
I delivered Grad Girl's quilt and she got a photo of both her Shadow Demons.
Both Grad Girl and Queenie tested out the "nap on the couch" worthiness of the quilt. I think it passed that test.
That was our girl's weekend. It was a lot of fun and we decided we definitely need to do another one in the next year or two. Linking up with Monday Design Wall (just a little late).