Showing posts with label Diatom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diatom. Show all posts

Thursday, January 2, 2025

PHD in 2024: End of the Year Wrap Up

It's always an adjustment to move from the previous year to the new year.  Mostly it's a mind reset, but it did take me the better part of the morning to reset my quilting tracking spreadsheet for the new year.  That first meant making sure all of the quilty stuff that went on in 2024 was captured. With that all done, it made pulling all the information for my end of the year PHD report easier. 




The year ended with six finishes, six projects moved to finished quilt tops, progress on the rest of the UFOs on the list and six new starts.  So I broke even in terms of finishes and starts for the year, there was no net change in my UFO numbers. But I finished double the number of quilts in 2024 than I did in 2023.  So I'll take that as successful year even though I didn't earn my PHD for the year.

The finishes this year ranged from some of the oldest on my UFO list to one of the new starts. 

First row: A Flutter (self designed), Blue Birds (self designed), Shadow Demon (self designed)

Second row: Rhododendron (Bonnie Hunter), Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl), String Lights (Meadow Mist Designs


The projects that became finished quilt tops also range from some of my oldest UFOs to one of this year's new starts.  


First row:  Chocolate Marshmallow (Seabreeze Quilts), Squared Away (So Scrappy), Chilhowie (Bonnie Hunter)

Second row: Malted Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs), Indigo Way (Bonnie Hunter), Betty (Meadow Mist Designs)

There was good progress on a few other projects this year as well.  



Grandmother's Choice (renamed Kate's Choice) was supposed to be my quilt as you go project. It hadn't been touched in twelve years. I finished all the blocks, but didn't do much on the learning to quilt part of the project. There's always 2025 right?   


I didn't do as much on the Butterfly panel this year.  One butterfly and some of the fill in foliage got finished.  This is my travel project. It went on a few trips, but this year I was able to take quilts that needed to be bound on a number of trips away from home. So I still got a lot of hand work done, just not on this project.



Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) has been on the active list for the last couple of years. I make a few blocks each week.  This year all the orange blocks got finished. I only need to finish 3 more of the red blocks to be done with that color.  That should happen this month, then I'm left with all the cool colors to finish. 




The Simply Sensational Summer Scrap quilt (Kevin the Quilter) wasn't on my PHD list for 2024, but it became an active project when I needed something that would empty out my scrap bins a bit and be a good leaders and enders project.  I need over 200 of the blue 4 patches and over 100 of the yellow. There's ten 4 patches in each stack, so I'm a long way off from that.  So this will probably be my leaders and enders the rest of the year.  

Of the six new starts for 2024, one is a finished quilt (Shadow Demon), one is a finished quilt top (Betty), the remaining 4 are in various stages of completion.  




I hadn't planned on doing the guild BOM, but it was such a different design that I decided to go for it. I mostly kept up, except for December.  All the blocks are made, all that's left is assembly and cutting all the sashing and border strips.  This should make it to finished quilt top before the end of the first quarter this year.  



Marble Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs) was going along pretty well until December. I've made some progress on the last clue but, didn't get it done before the January clue came out this morning. This morning's clue includes the instructions for final assembly and I'm excited to see how my version comes together.  




Old Town kicked off in late November.  A month and a half later, I've finished clue 1. Made decent progress on clue 2, but am way behind on all the other clues. There is some of each clue finished, but not enough for more than one block I'm guessing.  We'll see what I can get done before Friday's clue comes out.  




The last new project wasn't planned for at all.  But when I agreed to take on the guild BOM this year, it meant I had to have the January block ready to show at the December guild meeting.  I've made this quilt before, but with the same background for all the blocks. This time I'm going scrappy on the background as well.  

That pretty much wraps up my 2024 in the sewing room. I'm hoping for a successful 2025.  Linking up with Miss P Designs USA for the 2024 PHD Wrap Up.  

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

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.   

Monday, October 14, 2024

Last Dance with Diatom

We celebrated my mom's and My Guy's birthdays yesterday.  Mom's birthday was this last week and My Guy's was earlier this month.  My mom is big on celebrating birthday's and realized that she'd never done anything special for My Guy on his.  So this year she wanted to be sure we celebrated both.  We had a fun time, but it's the 4th weekend in a row that we've not been home. 

Even though we've been gone a lot, I put the last stitches in the binding for Diatom the day after we got back from vacation.  It took me a few days to get the final photographs. 




Diatom was Quilting Jetgirl's 2023 quilt along. The blocks are 24" finished. It was such fun to make. I fell in love with Yvonne's all blue demo version so stuck with the same color palette.  My version has thin sashing and a final border. It's one of my favorite finishes this year. 

Trudy did her magic with the quilting, a nice flowing vine motif. 




The backing is a dark blue design from Connecting Threads and it's bound in the same dark blue used on the front. 

This quilt is a wedding gift for a couple Grad Girl met at Oklahoma State.  The new wife is a fellow chemistry graduate student and the new husband is an architect, but he's also the Dungeon Master for the Dungeons and Dragons adventurers group that Grad Girl plays with.  The DM title is important as that's where the name of the finished quilt came from. 




Dancing Lights is a spell used in D&D to create torches to provide light. Grad Girl thought it worked pretty well for this quilt. The poem on the label is Dancing Lights by Mary K. Boye. I've only used the first verse, but it seemed very fitting for a newly married couple and still worked nicely with the D&D theme. 

Completion of Dancing Lights brings my UFO list down to 19, which is where I ended last year.  I'm hoping to finish at least one more quilt this year.  We'll see how that goes.  Linking up to Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.     

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

September 2024 PHD Report

September was just a weird month for some reason.  I guess because, though it has cooled off some, it was still pretty warm. Didn't feel like autumn at all.  At any rate, the higher temps made the sewing room the place to be so I got a lot of stitching done this month. So there is plenty to report for the September PHD Report linky party over at P Designs USA. Here's my PHD report for the last month.  





The report shows a new start.  But that start was planned at the beginning of the year.  At least that one won't count against my PHD for this year, the clues won't end till next year.  There is a finish to balance out the new start.  Rhododendron Trails (Azaleas) was the 2021 Bonnie Hunter Mystery 




I just barely finished the quilt before the end of the month and managed to get this photo of the quilt laid out on a bed. This is my sixth finish out of 12 Bonnie Hunter mystery starts.  So I still have lots of BH quilts on my UFO list to finish.  I'm sure some of those will make next year's PHD list. It does feel good to have one off the list.  

In addition to the one finish, there was lots of progress on other projects this month.  

There was good progress on the orange blocks needed for my version of Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter)


  
Seven sets of 4 blocks have been completed. Just need one more set of 4 to have what's needed for my version of the quilt.  

It's been slow progress on the Simply Sensational Summer Scrap quilt (Kevin the Quilter).


One set each of 10 yellow and blue blocks were finished in September. It is my leader and enders project, so progress is slow, but it's been steady. I finished a set of 10 of each last month.  Slow progress is better than no progress. 

Another Bonnie Hunter mystery finally reached the finished quilt top stage.  



Chilhowie is the 2022 Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt.  I'm pretty happy with how it came out, that final teal border really helps calm down all that orange.  It joins Indigo Way in the to be quilted closet.  This one probably won't be quilted till next year. I'm hoping by next year I'll have enough skills to quilt the smaller quilts like this.  

Trudy finished the quilting on Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl) and sent it back. 



I started hand stitching down the binding on the last day of the month. The PHD report should have one more finish added next month.  

The September block for the Guild BOM was finished.  



I've stayed caught up with this block of the month.  The instructions for the October block have already been published.  It's another 12" block, so it should go together quickly. The finishing instructions in November are going to require a lot more effort. 

The new start is the 2024 Meadow Mist Designs Mystery quilt along, Marble Mystery. 



The September clue was the 9-patches and the flying geese.  Those are done, plus I have all the fabrics cut ready to piece the rest of the clues.  The October clue comes out tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing what's next.  

September was a productive month.  One finish, one being bound, and one finished quilt top.  So definitely not a bad month. I'm hopeful to have another quilt ready to go out for quilting before the middle of the month so there will be finishes for both October and November.  We'll see if that happens.  It's doubtful I'll achieve a PHD this year. That's OK, I'm really happy with all the progress on so many projects this year.  I can try again next year.  

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

To Do Tuesday for the Week of 10/01/2024

It's October! I'm really not ready for that reality. We've got a lot going on this month, so I'm sure it will go faster than September.  Oh well, at least I got a lot done last week.  


To Do list for 09/24/2024

1.  Rhododendron: Finish binding 

2.  Diatom: Make label, binding, trim, sew on binding ✔

3.  Guild BOM: Make September block 

4.  Chocolate Marshmallows: Decide on setting 

5.  Wild and Goosey:  Continue making orange blocks 

6.  Sensational Scrap Quilt: Continue as leaders and enders 


Six for six last week.  I took the finishing of Rhododendron down to the wire. But it's off the to do list for good now. The plan is to do as well with this week's to do list. 

 

To Do List for 10/01/2024

1.  Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Finish hand stitching binding




I've just started on the hand stitching.  All four corners left to finish.  But it should be doable to finish it this week.  

2.  Guild BOM: Cut and start stitching on October block

Those instructions should come out today. This is the last block for the sampler. November's clue will be all the flying geese used in setting it all together.  

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

The next clue doesn't come out till Thursday, so I won't finish it this week, but I should be able to make a start on it.  

4. Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze Quilts): Decide on block layout, start assembling sashing. 



Before I get into cutting and assembling the sashing, I need to decide which one of these neutrals to use in the borders because that needs to be the third strip in the sashing pieces. The EQ design uses the first neutral, I like the texture of it best.  But I'm not sure I have enough of it.  I have lots of strips left over from making the blocks. Fingers crossed I can assemble enough of those strips to use the yardage for the borders.  

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

Only 4 more orange blocks left to finish what's needed for the quilt layout. Once those are made, I'll get to pick another color to continue with, probably red or green. Both of those are close to being finished up as well.   

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

Still lots of 4 patches left to make.  This was definitely the right UFO to tackle as a leaders and enders project.  

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

Before I sign off, Grad Girl and I want to wish My Guy a very happy birthday!




He's off today and we have some adventures planned to celebrate.  

Monday, September 30, 2024

Computer Time and a Bit of Hand Stitching

Last week's maladies definitely hampered my progress on all things quilty. Some days, 15 minutes was really all I managed to accomplish.  But there was still progress.  Both design walls are completely empty at the moment. Chocolate Marshmallow goes up next. I did work out the final setting in EQ on one of the days I didn't make it to the sewing room. 



  
This may or may not be the final block layout. I need to get the blocks up on the design wall and play a bit before that's a done deal.  Chocolate Marshmallows was started in 2014. It was a BOM quilt along over at Sea Breeze Quilts.  I've not been able to find the block patterns, I need to check with Amanda to see if they are still available.  At any rate, the plan is to get moving on this project next.  

There's been good progress on getting the binding stitched down on Rhododendron (Bonnie Hunter).




I turned the third corner last night.  Another 40 to 50 inches of stitching left and this will be a finished quilt. That should be doable today.  I'd like to be able to count it as a finish on my PHD report for September.  

The planned finish for October is just waiting for me to start on the the hand stitching. 



Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl) is a wedding gift for one of Grad Girl's friends. I'm hoping to have it finished before I go visit her later in October.  

I have lots to keep me busy this week.  Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.  

Thursday, September 26, 2024

To Do Tuesday on Thursday for the Week of 9/24/2024

Getting a to do list posted for this week hasn't been the easiest.  I was very sick Tuesday and then yesterday had an appointment to get the car in for service. By the time I got home, the ragweed had given me one of those "light hurts your eyes" headaches.  I still have the dregs of the headache, I'm hoping it clears up as the day goes on.  But it's backed off enough I can at least sit in front of the computer this morning.  

Last week's to do list was an easy one.  


To Do List for 09/17/24

1.  Rhododendron: Trim quilt, attach binding to front ✔

2.  Marble Mystery: Finish the September clue ✔

3.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making orange blocks ✔

4.  SSSS Mystery: Continue as leaders and enders project ✔

5.  Learn to quilt:  Read books, watch videos ✔


I didn't do as much on the learn to quilt front as I had hoped, but I did a bit.  I'll take some progress over none.  

The list for this week is pretty long, but hopefully I'll feel up to a bit of catch up on the sewing front today.  


To Do List for 09/24/2024

1.   Rhododendron (Bonnie Hunter): Finish binding




I didn't make as much progress on this as I wanted, but I'm just about to turn corner 2.  It should still be a finished quilt by the end of the month. 

2. Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Make label and binding, trim and start binding




Diatom is back from the quilter.  This quilt is for one of Grad Girl's chemistry buddies who got married earlier this year, it's a late wedding present.  Grad Girl came up with the name and I've gotten a good start on the label.  This one won't be finished in September, but should be completed before my next trip to Texas. 

3. Guild BOM: Finish the September block

I've let myself get behind on this one.  But it's a small block and I have the fabrics cut, it should go together pretty quickly.  

4.  Chocolate Marshmallows: Decide on a setting




This project was started in 2014 and the blocks all finished in 2015. It's been sitting waiting for me to come up with a setting that I like.  When I looked this morning, there are 22 versions of a final quilt in my EQ files.  Either I use one of those or come up with something completely new.  We'll see how that goes.  

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




Just four more orange blocks to finish and I'll be done with that color for this project.  Not sure I can finish them all this month, but I'll definitely give that a go.  

6.  Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Mystery (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leader and enders project. 




Another set of the yellow 4-patches have been finished. So it's back to blue 4-patches this week. 

That's my list this week. It's an ambitious one, so it's OK if I don't check off all the items for this week.  Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

To Do List for the Week of 9/10/2024

Just one week into September and it already feels like the month is just flying by.  The weeks do seem to be getting busier and I have more things on my other stuff to do list, my sewing room to do list has suffered a bit as a result. 


To Do List for 09/03/2024

1. Diatom: Prep top for quilting - progress

2. Chilhowie: Finish 1st pieced border, start on second border ✔

3.  Jewel Box Blocks: Finish blocks - progress

4.  Marble Mystery: Cut background fabric, start assembly - progress

5.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making orange blocks ✔

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


Three check marks with progress on the remaining three items.  Not a stellar week, but not a bad week either.  I'm sure to have more of those over the next few weeks as we've got other stuff going on.  I have some technical work that needs to get done, plus as the weather has cooled, there's some stuff around the house that really has to get done.  

Having said all that, this week's list is going to be ambitious.  I'm close to finishing off a couple of the to do's from last week, so adding a couple of new items to take their place.  It's a long list this week.  

To Do List for 09/10/2024

1.  Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Finish top prep, send out for quilting.  




I finished pressing and de-threading 3 of the 4 rows of blocks. It shouldn't take long to finish the last row of blocks. The plan is to do that this morning before I head out to lunch with My Guy. Hopefully I can also find a box and get it packaged so it can go out today as well. 

2.  Chilhowie (Bonnie Hunter): Add last border

The strips are all sewn together, I just need to measure the top and cut the strips, then sew them on.  Shouldn't take to long to finish off this top once Diatom is off the cutting table.  

3.  Jewel Box Blocks (Cynthia Brunz Designs): Finish blocks




I finished six blocks, but ended up cutting enough fabric for 16 blocks.  These are pretty easy to assemble so they should be done by the end of this week.  I raided my 4.5 and 5 inch scrap bins for the HSTs. Making these blocks did empty both scrap bins enough that there is room for more scraps (yeah!).

4. Marble Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Continue to cut fabrics and work on September clue.




Not the best picture, but I wasn't going to take all the pieces out of the baggies.  The background is all cut and I have plenty left over. I was concerned I wouldn't as I'm a 1/4 yard short based on the yardage charts for the project.  I still need to cut one more fabric before I can start any of the assembly.  That should happen this week sometime.  

5.  Rhododendron (Bonnie Hunter): Make label and binding




Rhododendron came back from being quilted last week.  Trudy did a great job with it.  If I can get the label and binding made, then there is a good chance this quilt can be finished next week.  

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




The RSC color for September is darks. Since all my blocks use black, I'm just going to keep making the orange blocks.  I don't need many more before I'll have all that's needed for this color.  It would be nice to have another color finished off. I finished off yellow last year.  

7. Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Mystery (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders project.

This has been one of the easiest leaders and enders projects I've done.  Progress is slow, but there is progress.  I had to cut a bunch more blue scraps, but completely forgot to take a photo.  

That's my list this week. It's a bit ambitious, but hopefully that will encourage me to spend more time in the sewing room this week. Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

August 2024 PHD Report

With all the hot, hot days in August, the sewing room was the nicest place to hang out most days.  Consequently there was a lot of progress on the various projects.  Now that we've moved into September it's time to link up with P Designs USA for the August PHD Report.




Another finish added to the chart with no new starts. That's definitely a good month.  So I'm up to three finishes for 2024.  The latest finish was my 2024 Stay at Home Round Robin (Quilting Gail) project. 

 

This quilt, named The Shadow Demon, is destined to live at my daughter's apartment and be snuggled by her black cat, Queenie.  It was such a fun project to make and turned out better than I expected.  Grad Girl is thrilled with it and that's the best thank you there is.  It's also nice to finish one of the quilts that was started this year.  

Just one finish, but there was good progress on a number of other projects in August.  

A few more orange blocks filled in the center of Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter). 




It takes so long to get all the blocks up on the design wall, I'm just going to stick with summary shots of all the blocks of the color I've been working on. Since September is dark neutrals, I'm going to continue with the orange this month as all my blocks have black in them.  Still a long way to go before all the blocks are finished, but I'm happy with the progress so far with this project. I'll probably need another year or two to get all the blocks done. We'll have to see what next year's quilt plan looks like, it could become a primary project to finish next year.  

Not a lot of progress on the new leaders and enders project, The Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter). 




I've been alternating making yellow and blue 4 patch blocks.  So far one blue and one yellow set of 10 have been added to the project box.  

It's definitely been a year for catching up on Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts. Back in February all the blocks for the 2022 mystery, Chilhowie, were finished as a leaders and enders project.  It went back into the project box as I was in the middle of several other quilt alongs. In August, Chilhowie came back onto the active list as my next quilt top to finish. 



The sashing is finished and I've started on the borders.  Chilhowie won't be finished with all the pieced borders Bonnie used.  My plan for the left over blocks is to use them on the back.  

Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl) became a finished quilt top during the month. It's next on the list to be finished.




The backing fabric has been washed. Hopefully, the backing will be pressed and cut soon.  

The 2023 Bonnie Hunter mystery, Indigo Way, became a finished quilt top during August. 




I'm not sure it will become a finished quilt before the end of the year. But I am thrilled to have it to the finished quilt top stage before the next mystery comes out.  

The August block for the Guild's 2024 BOM was finally cut out and pieced. 




Just two more blocks and then the setting pieces left to make, so just three more months of clues left.  

The project tracker is definitely showing more color/longer bars. 




One more finished quilt and two more finished quilt tops are the primary reasons.  I had hoped for more finishes this year, but it helps to see the progress in other areas.  There should be one more finish in September and hopefully another one in October. That would get me to five this year, so better than the last couple of years for sure.