May Wrap Up: PHD in 2023

In 2020, 2021, and 2022 my focus was on finishing up UFOs.  I limited my new projects to just 2 or at most 3 each year.  Last year work was really overwhelming, so much so that I lost interest in pretty much everything other than reading and binging on Netflix.  Since I retired at the end of last year, I decided to open up my new project list to more than just 2.  I also joined a guild, which has also added to my new project list. Honestly, I didn't expect that.  At any rate, I can safely say that the first half of 2023 has been all about new projects as my PHD report shows. 

I have finished two of my new starts, both related to the guild which was my donation blocks and a name tag.  

We are supposed to make a pin cushion for the June meeting.  I'm probably going to pass on that one as my newest project has a deadline of early July. I'll need to focus my efforts on that project or it won't be ready.  The only UFOs that have seen any progress are both Bonnie Hunter patterns, Chilhowie and Wild & Goosey.  

Chilhowie is the 2022 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt along. It's my current leaders and enders project.  Block 4 was finished and block 5 is under construction during May.  I'm more than half way done with the blocks.  

Wild & Goosey is slowly growing.  The goal is to make at least 4 of the 3.5" blocks each month.  Three orange blocks were completed this month.  Dark/bright blue is the color for June.  I can't use really dark blue because it blends in too much with the black, so bright blue it is for this month.  

There has been progress on the new projects this month. 

 

The pinwheels for border 6 of the Stay at Home Round Robin quilt started in January are all finished (Quilting Gail).  I've started assembling these blocks into border strips.  I'm really happy with how this project has come together, just not with the amount of time it's taken for me to get it to this stage.  

Blocks 4 and 5 for Diatom were finished in May. Block 11 came out last week. This is a Quilting Jetgirl pattern and quilt along. I'm hoping to finish blocks 6 and 7 before block 12 comes out next Friday.  This has been such a fun project and I'm really happy with how my fabric choices are working out.  

The one new start in May is for a blog hop to show off the quilts in Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs new book Just Two Charm Pack Quilts. 

 

Electric Quilt is sponsoring a giveaway of this book (closes on June 4th). The link includes a link to all the quilts in the book. I've picked the pattern to make for the blog hop. I'm making my own charm pack since precuts don't usually make their way into my fabric carts. Thankfully my stash is more than sufficient to provide enough squares for 2 charm packs.  I've started cutting my charm pack, just three fabrics left and then the piecing can start. 

That's my progress for May. I'm going to shift my focus to finishing after June. Once I get the SAHRR to finished flimsy, I'll have three quilts that need backs and prepping for quilting. My focus for July will be to get those quilts sent out for quilting.  

Linking up with Quilting Gail for the May PHD report.  

From Start to Finish

I would think that being retired would mean that Mondays are just another day of the week. But I'm still not fond of Monday. Probably my own fault. I take the weekend off from doing any chores, but Monday means a return to my housekeeping to do list.  

It was a nice weekend. My Guy took Friday off and we had a really nice date day. He treated me to a new recipe for Mother's Day.

  

So I got maple walnut scones for breakfast. They taste like a maple bar from the donut shop. I had to have two because they were so good. I'm going to need to walk a lot this week to keep up with my weight loss goals after being spoiled like that.  

Most of my weekend sewing time was spent making my guild name tag.  First step was to raid the scrap bins for the component parts.

The periodic table and teal weave fabrics are left over from the chemistry quilt I made for Grad Girl.  I remember the quilt that the dark blue comes from, but I'd have to dig to find out which quilt I used that tone on tone white.  I decided to paper piece the coffee cup, 3.5 X 3.5 means that some of those handle pieces are really small.

I didn't take any in progress photos. Here's the end result. 

It's not perfect, but it came out OK.  My embroidery skills are a bit rusty. I was wishing that Grad Girl was around, she's much better at that skill. The tag is a bit long, I wish I'd shortened the top half a little.  But it's finished and it will work for the intended purpose.  I found the lanyard in the junk drawer in the laundry room and the silver hanging bracket in my sewing supply cabinet. 

This is my first finish for the year.  At some point, I need to get back to finishing a few things, but I've got one more new start with a deadline before I move back to finishing off some of the older things on my list.  Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.   

To Do List for the Week of 5/9/2023

I wrote in my last To Do Tuesday post that I really needed to get back to moving some of my older quilts to finished.  But that's not going to happen this month.  Before I get to why that is, here's how it went with last week's list.  

To Do List for 5/2/2023

1. SAHRR: Finish 5th spacer border, make windmill blocks ✔

2. Donation blocks for guild: Assemble patriotic blocks ✔

3. Diatom: Finish block 4, cut fabric for block 5 - progress

4. Wild and Goosey: Finish an orange block ✔

5. Chilhowie: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

Check marks on 4 out of the 5, with progress on the 5th, is a really good week.  This week's list is going to be a bit longer.  It's doable if I make good use of my afternoons and actually get in the sewing room. I will admit that with being retired, it's easy to get distracted and just not make the best use of my time. I'm adding another new project to my list this month.  I really need to make this my last unplanned new project and get back to my UFO list.  Here's this week's to do list. 

To Do List for 5/9/2023

1. SAHRR: (Quilting Gail): Make windmill blocks

 

Two more windmills are in progress and the fabric is cut for two more.  I need a total of 12 windmills to finish the planned layout.  With everything else on the list, I doubt I finish all 12 this week, but hopefully I'll whittle down the number needed. 

2. Guild Name Tag: Make

I have a plan for this, I just need to execute it.  The next guild meeting is a week from today, hopefully I can finish it by then. 

3. Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl): Cut fabric for blocks 5&6, make block 5

I finished block 4 but didn't get the fabric cut for block 5.  I think block 9 comes out this week (or maybe it's block 10).  At any rate, I'm hoping to be caught up by the time the last block comes out.

4. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): make 1 orange block, cut orange scraps

These little blocks are really fun to stitch up. They don't take very long, but unfortunately I can't string piece these. I don't have a lot of orange scraps, so there may not be a lot of variety in these blocks.  I need to dig to see what else I have in the stash. 

5. Blog Hop Quilt (Meadow Mist Designs): press and cut fabrics

This project needs to be finished by the end of June, so I'd best get going on it. 

6. Chilhowie (Bonnie Hunter) : Leaders and Enders

I'm making hourglass blocks for block 5.  I've cut fabric to make blocks 5 and 6, so I have lots of pieces to work with for a while.  

That's my list for this week. In order to check off all the items, I'm going to need to be disciplined this week.  Fingers crossed I can manage that.  Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric for this week's To Do Tuesday.  

A Bit of This and That

This week has been mostly odds and ends in the sewing room.  My focus is still on getting the SAHRR to the finished flimsy stage. 

 

The spacer border between row 5 and 6 is attached. Now I just need to finish the windmill blocks so I can start assembling the last pieced border.  

A lot of the week was spent on the fabric pull for an upcoming blog hop in July to celebrate a book release.  Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs has a new book coming out at the end of May, Just Two Charm Pack Quilts.  Cheryl's mystery quilt alongs have been a favorite part of my sewing plans over the last several years.  Grad Girl helped me pick the pattern to make. I decided on the fabrics, they are washed but not pressed. I'm hoping to get all the parts cut out this week. My hope is that Grad Girl will like this quilt more than the SAHRR. She asked for it again this weekend and I reminded her it was for her Dad.  Her response was he could use it for a few months, but it would just disappear on one of her trips home. (Grad Girl reads my blog, so I'm sure she'll let me know her thinking on this strategy).  

The only other project that needed some attention this week is to come up with a design for my guild name tag.  I need to have that made by the 16th, so I put some thought into the design and came up with this. 

This is a rough mock up in EQ.  I'll paper piece the coffee cup and embroider the steam and my name. The steam will come all the way down to the cup in the finished mini quilt, I'm going to leave off that top strip on the cup to reduce the size a bit more and the upper half will probably be cut down an inch or so.  It should finish at 3.5" X 5" or there abouts.  Next step is to raid the scraps for something fun for the coffee cup.  

That's what's up on my design wall and what's been going on in my sewing room.  Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.