Tuesday, November 11, 2025
To Do List for the Week of 11/11/2025
Monday, November 10, 2025
Guild Block of the Month
Sunday, November 9, 2025
Stitching Stuff: Week 45 of 2025
My apologies for getting the post up so late. I've been dealing with memory issues on the computer. Addressing those has been a work in progress. I tried to get my post put together yesterday and had to just give up to focus on how to fix the memory issues. I've revamped the start up programs. That seems to have helped. But I've done that before and it didn't seem to completely resolve the issue. The computer may still need a major spa day. So if I go dark for a week or two, know that's probably my plight.
This time last week I was in Houston hanging out with Grad Girl. (As a side note, after much discussion with her, we've decide for now that her new blog moniker will be "My Girl". That's consistent with her Dad's moniker, My Guy.) This week has been a mixed bag on the stitching front.
- 15 minute days/week = 5/7 days
- 15 minute days/Nov = 6/8 days
- 15 minute days/2025 = 270/312 days
- Success rate = 86.54%
So not a horrible week, but not one of my best. It was a 10 hour drive home from Houston on Monday. I was pretty beat and just didn't have the energy to do anything stitching related. By Thursday evening I started feeling off, by Saturday I didn't want to move from the recliner. Jury is out if it's been a severe allergy attack or some other respiratory virus. I'm feeling better, but not 100%. But I'm hoping to get in some stitching time this afternoon.
I did miss my stitching buddy this week.
Queenie would hang out with me in My Girl's craft room while I sewed. She took an immediate liking to the blow up mattress that I brought down for My Girl to use when she has company. It is more comfortable than the couch and Queenie decided it was a wonderful cat bed.
That's it for me this week. How did you do at working in some stitching time to your daily schedules?
| 1. Deb in Canada 2. Julie in GA 3. DonnaleeQ 4. Frédérique | 5. Gretchen 6. Karen 7. Melissa G 8. Bonnie Stapleton | 9. Melisa- Pinker n' Punkin Quilting 10. Andrée 11. Marsha's Spot |
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Wednesday, November 5, 2025
October 2025 PHD Report
Hard to believe there are just two months left in 2025. It's been a busy year in and out of the sewing room. The summer was mostly out, I'm hoping fall and winter are mostly in. Since October is over it's time to assess where I'm at on my PHD report and link up with the October PHD report over at Ms. P Designs.
My PHD report isn't looking great this year. Only one finish back in May. There was one new start in October, the Meadow Mist Designs 2026 Mystery quilt along. That one has been on the quilt plan all year, so it wasn't a surprise. I keep saying that I need to focus on finishes, but I've been more focused on my Guild sewing projects which have pretty hard deadlines. There is some comfort in knowing I've made good progress on some of my UFOs, even if they haven't moved to finished quilts yet.
The Butterfly Medallion embroidery project saw lots of progress while we were on vacation last month.
I've made a start on the 4th diagonal row. The greenery at one end is all finished and I made a start on the next butterfly. I'm sure this project will see more progress as the holidays are coming up.
The green blocks needed for the corners of Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) have been the focus for several months.
The plan is to have really dark green blocks in the corners with lighter/brighter green blocks in the next diagonal row. I've been focusing on finishing up the dark green blocks recently. I didn't make very much progress in October, just two more of the 3.5" blocks. Hopefully I'll do better in November.
Another six blocks were added to Old Town, the 2024 Bonnie Hunter Mystery.
Just two blocks left to make. There will be pieced sashing between the blocks and those are all almost assembled. The goal is to get this project to finished quilt top before the first clue for the 2025 mystery comes out. Since Bonnie is putting the first clue out a bit earlier than typical, I'll be cutting it close.
The 2025 Guild BOM is coming to an close. The December block to be shown at the November meeting is done. I've started assembling the rows, minus the December block.
I've decided to add in the December block and just show it as part of the finished quilt top at the November meeting. That's just 2 weeks off, so I need to get busy!
The new project this month is the Magnificent Mystery from Meadow Mist Designs. The clue with all the cutting instructions came out in August, the piecing clues didn't start until September.
I finally cut the pieces for the September and October clues. The November clue will come out this Thursday, so I'm a behind by a good bit. Hopefully I can get caught up pretty quickly. This mystery will run into April or May of next year, so it's not a project that has to be completed this year.
My project tracker doesn't show a lot of progress, but there's been some since the last update in June.
The blocks that were finished for the 2025 Guild BOM and the start of the new mystery quilt along are the only updates. My focus the next month will be finishing up the 2025 Guild BOM and getting started on the 2026 Guild BOM. So it's looking like finishes won't be in the cards for this year.
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
To Do List for the Week of 11/04/2025
Sunday, November 2, 2025
Stitching Stuff: Week 44 of 2025
The blog has been pretty much radio silent this week. First off, I've been visiting Grad Girl for the week and though I've been sewing, she doesn't have a design wall and Queenie pretty much pounces on anything I put down on the bed to photograph. But probably the more scary reason is the computer went wonky on Monday. It's still not running properly, most of the time I've been able to get to my email and read blogs, but not all the time. I've been backing up files and emailing critical files to myself so if it crashes again, I'm not completely cut off from files I need, like the guild BOM finishing instructions. I'm posting late this morning because I couldn't get to the blog last night. My computer is probably going to get a spa day once I'm home.
Since the computer was wonky and Grad Girl was working during the week, it wasn't hard to get in my stitching time this week.
- 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
- 15 minute days/Oct = 31/31/days
- 15 minute days/2025 =265/305 days
- Success rate = 86.69%
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Friday, October 31, 2025
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Photo Play: September 2025
After dealing with computer problems this week, I was glad to be able to sit down and go through my September photos. Not sure what the issue was with the computer but it finally recovered after a hard shut down and reboot. First thing I did after the reboot was to back up everything to an external drive and email myself some files (mainly guild BOM instructions) that would be disappointing if I didn't have access too.
September was another busy month. The first week of the month we moved Grad Girl (still need to come up with her new blog moniker). That took a week and then I stayed with her the first week of her new job to help out. Half the month was gone before I got home. So there wasn't much on the photography front for September. But My Guy and I took advantage of being in downtown Houston after dropping off Grad Girl for her first day of work to visit the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I didn't think to take my DSLR, but my I-Phone 12 got a good work out during our tour of the Cockrell Butterfly Center.
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| Blue Morpho Butterfly (brilliant blue when their wings are open) |
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| Postman Butterfly |
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| Tiger Butterfly |
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| Variable Longwing Butterfly |
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| Doris Longwing Butterfly |
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| Tiger Longwing Butterfly |
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| Clipper Butterfly |
Butterflies are a lot like flowers, you can't just photograph one. I have lots more photos of butterflies, but these are well framed photos, probably as good as I could do with the DLSR. Some of the shots have been cropped a bit, but overall, the I-Phone took some good shots.
I did pull out the DLSR one morning to capture the morning sunshine coming into the office (Canon 70D DLSR with a Tamron 18-400 telephoto lens)
I'm not sure it's a great photo, but I wanted to try to capture the light and shadow of the rising sun outside the office window. It was the shadows of the leaves that first caught my attention. I'm considering this shot an interesting experiment. I still need to tweak a few variables to get a great shot, but it wasn't a complete miss.
Of all the butterfly photos, I like the blue Clipper butterfly shot the best. It's currently displayed on the computer display as the background. Do you have a favorite?
Sunday, October 26, 2025
Stitching Stuff: Week 43 of 2025
It's been a busy week, but not an unproductive one. Another trip to deal with car tires and a trip to see my mother, but I was still able to get in my stitching time each day.
- 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
- 15 minute days/Oct = 25/25 days
- 15 minute days/2025 = 258/298 days
- Success rate = 86.58%
| 1. Gretchen 2. Frédérique 3. maggie f 4. Julie in GA | 5. Melissa G 6. Deb in Canada 7. DonnaleeQ 8. Karen | 9. Bonnie in VA 10. Quilting Gail 11. Andrée at Quilting & Learning |
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Wednesday, October 22, 2025
To Do List for the Week of 10/21/2025
Usually my allergies give me fits early in October. But since it hasn't really cooled down till this week, whatever hits the breeze when that happens is playing havoc with my sinuses. So I've been early to bed and slow to get moving in the morning. So I just didn't get my To Do Tuesday post written yesterday. In spite of the crappy feeling allergies give me, I did pretty well on working through last week's list even with the early bedtimes and slow mornings.
To Do List for 10/14/2025
1. 2025 Guild BOM: Finish December, press sashing fabric ✔
2. 2026 Guild BOM: Start First block - progress
3. Old Town: Continue making blocks ✔
4. Wild and Goosey: Continue making green blocks ✔
Definitely not a bad week, three check marks with progress on the last to do item. I'm hoping to have a really good week next week as the plan is pretty much nothing but stitching during the day. My version of a solo retreat.
To Do List for 10/21/2025
1. 2025 Guild BOM: Continue quilt top assembly
The color for November is orange. I finished all of this month's blocks a week and a half ago. December's blocks are all done. I pressed the sashing/border fabric and started assembly of the rows. The quilt top has to be ready to show in December, so I'll do what I can to move this project ahead without the December blocks that will get shown at the November meeting. Every little bit of progress helps.
2. 2025 Guild BOM: Start first block
I washed all the fabrics a couple of weeks ago. But didn't get them pressed until earlier this week. So the fabrics are ready to go. I just have to cut the pieces for the first block. That should happen this week.
3. Old Town (Bonnie Hunter) Finish block assembly
The project bin is starting to empty of block pieces and fill up with sashing pieces. Just 2 more blocks need assembly. About 2/3 of the sashing pieces are assembled. I may just get the top assembled before the first clue for the 2025 mystery comes out.
4. Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Cut fabrics and start Sept/Oct clues
I had to purchase the tone on tone off white because I just didn't have quite enough of my first stash choice. If I made any mistakes, I'd be hurting. So I bought a new background. After it was washed, I discovered that I was short a full yard. Not sure what happened there, so I had to go back to the shop and buy a bit more to ensure I had enough for the quilt. I'm hoping to get the pieces for the September and October clues cut this week.
5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue assembling green blocks
The pile of green blocks continues to grow. I keep two moving while I'm doing my other piecing. It's slow going, but it's meant that I've made consistent progress all year. Still a long way to go, but I'm happy with the progress to date.
That's my list for this next week. You can check out all the other to do lists over at the Quilt Schmilt.
Monday, October 20, 2025
Making Progress
Sunday, October 19, 2025
Stitching Stuff: Week 42 of 2025
Sorry the post is a bit late this morning, I forgot to set it up to post automatically.
- 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
- 15 minute days/Oct = 18/18 days
- 15 minute days/2025 = 251/291
- Success rate = 86.25%
| 1. Melissa G 2. maggie f 3. Gretchen 4. DonnaleeQ | 5. Karen 6. Bonnie in Va 7. Andrée at Quilting & Learning 8. Deb in Canada | 9. Frédérique 10. Quilting Gail 11. Carol @ Quilt Schmilt 12. Marsha's Spot |
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Saturday, October 18, 2025
Week 148 Photo Challenge: The Light Coming Only from the Fridge
This week's photo challenge required night photography, but we could do it from the comfort of our home.
Since all we had to do was walk to the kitchen when it was dark, that made it easy for all of us to get photos this week. I was concerned that My Guy and I would have the same photograph more or less, so I changed my perspective a bit.
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| Kate: Fridge Lighting |
This is the counter across from the refrigerator. Yes we still have a land line, at least for now. This is the area behind the Keurig and the coffee pot, it's mostly invisible when you are in the kitchen. Even by just the fridge lighting I can see it really needs a bit of a clean up.
My Guy dragged out his tripod last night for his photograph.
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| My Guy: Hey, Is this Still Good? |
He photographed himself doing what we often do after we come home from vacation. Clean out the fridge before he does the weekly grocery shopping, which is usually his Saturday chore.
Grad Girl went with a similar theme.
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| Grad Girl: Hey What's in Here? |
Queenie has to know what's behind any door in the area she's living in. Though she doesn't usually exhibit much interest in the fridge. Grad Girl assured me that Queenie was well paid for her modeling services in this photo shoot.
I think we did pretty well in getting some fun shots for last week's challenge. My Guy pulled the card for this week's challenge.
Wonderful timing (unlike the Beauty of Winter card he pulled back in July). The leaves are just starting to change here. Not sure what Grad Girl is going to do, I'm not sure Houston has a fall. Should be interesting to see what we all come up with.
Thursday, October 16, 2025
Photo Play: August 2025
August was another busy month this year. It was so nice to have Grad Girl home for a bit, but she was busy with interviews that meant road trips to Texas. That left me cat sitting while she was on the road. I spent a lot of time out on our back porch because Queenie loved being outside. As in July, most of August's photos came from our own back yard. The difference is I did take the DSLR out with me one day. So most of the photos in this post were taken with the Canon 70D paired with a Tamron 18-400 mm telephoto lens. Some photos have been cropped.
These three photos are from the back yard taken with the DSLR.
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| Indian Blanket Seed Heads |
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| Sunset |
The backyard photos wouldn't be complete without one of the reason why I was in the backyard.
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| Queenie on the Hunt |
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| South Beltway 8 after the Rain |
That yellow afternoon light after a late summer downpour so common in south Texas was just too interesting to not try to capture it.
I take a lot of photos of flowers, they are my favorite photographic subject. It's harder for me to look for other photo opportunities. One of my problems this year is that I've been in my habitrail and haven't ventured out much. That changed in September and October. Lots more photos because we went places. I need to keep that in mind for next year's photography goals.
If I have to pick a favorite for this month, it would probably be the photo of Queenie. She's so hard to capture in a photograph and that one captures her focus on getting to explore and hunt outside. Something she doesn't get to do often as an apartment cat. A close second is the photo from Houston. It's not a great photo, but it captures the light of the moment, which is an area I struggle with photographically. Do you have a favorite?
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
To Do List for the Week of 10/14/2025
Monday, October 13, 2025
A Lot of Slow Stiching
Most of last week was spent on the road. So there wasn't much sewing room time. What time there was, was spent on the last few blocks needed for the 2025 Guild BOM. I can't show those just yet. So that leaves the hand stitching I worked on all week.
I finished up the letters along the bottom and have been working on the leaves just above those. I still have one color to add to the leaves, then I need to do the back stitching for the vines. Don't know when I'll next work on this, maybe Thanksgiving?
I am hoping to have some good sewing room time this week. I have two new projects I'd like to start, but need to finish the 2025 Guild blocks first. Linking up with Patchwork & Quilts, Sew and Tell Monday, and Slow Sunday Stitching.













































