PHD in 2021: December Wrap Up

Year three of Stitching Gail's 2021 PHD program went pretty much like the first two.  I didn't manage 12 finishes, I didn't finish what I started, but at least my UFO count stayed the same.  

There were three finishes this year, I only started 3 of 4 planned starts, and I made progress on 5 other projects.  So it wasn't a horrible year.  

So though it's not PHD worthy, I'm happy with the progress in 2021. 

Cabins and Fans finally made it to the Post Office and Trudy is working her quilting magic on it.

 

Hopefully I'll have a finish before the end of January.  

Unity, the Bonnie Hunter Sew in Place quilt along from 2020, is moving along slowly.  

The top border is almost done.  Since the end of the year, I've finished the last star.  Unity should be a finished quilt by the end of this year. I can safely count on at least 2 finishes for 2022 

The Macaron Mystery from Meadow Mist Designs is almost caught up. 

The square in a square blocks are almost finished. Those should be all finished up the Thursday when the new clue comes out.  

The 2021 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt along, Rhododrendron, isn't in nearly as good of shape. 

Step 1 is the only clue that's finished.  There was progress on steps 2, 3 and 4 before the end of the year.  I've since made some progress on steps 5 and 6, but I'm a long way from caught up.

Potions was started just before the year ended. It's a graduation present, so needs to get started so it can be finished by May.  

I managed to finish the first test tube. These are going to be fiddly blocks. I'm probably going to have to put some of my other projects on the back burner to get this one finished in time. This needs to be a finish before mid year, so that brings the total to 3 probable finishes for the year.  That would be at least as good as 2021.  

A few more alternate blocks for Scrappy Butterflies made it to the design wall. 

These blocks have been returned to the project box for now.  Potions took it's place in the rotation. Hopefully I can get back to this one later in the year and make some more progress.  

My embroidery project didn't progress much over this Christmas.  

I was finishing reports and then got sick the first week of Christmas vacation, so I didn't have much of a chance to do any handwork while we were off visiting family this year.  I won't be looking for a traveling handwork project any time soon.  

The other project that I made progress on in 2021 is Chocolate Marshmallow (Quilt along from Seabreeze Quilts). 

Back in August I finally decided on a setting. I don't have enough of the dark brown print to do that dark border, so I went searching for an alternative and found one that's almost an exact match to that brown print.  I struggle to figure out how to set some of my finished quilt along blocks, so having the setting all worked out and the fabric in hand means this one is ready to start once I get that far in my PHD list.

There were three finishes.  

Picnic Stars (Red, White and Blue Stars) which was self designed

Fritillaria (Bonnie Hunter's 2020 Grassy Creek Mystery Quilt along)

Wrapped Sweets (Meadow Mist Designs 2019 Morewood Mystery quilt along.

So though I didn't meet my PHD goals, there was still good progress on several projects this year. So I'm going to claim success and cross my fingers that I can do as well in 2022.  

PHD in 2021: November Progress

I actually spent some time in my sewing room in November,  so I made some good progress on my PHD in 2021. 

There weren't any new finishes, but I'm close to one.  The Bonnie Hunter 2021 mystery kicked off in November, so that's added to the list. Both mysteries on my list won't finish till 2022, so they won't count towards my PHD in 2021. 

I'm not going to get anywhere close to 12 finishes this year.  I had hoped for at least 8, but work had other ideas. I readjusted my attitude in October and now I'm going to be happy with any progress in the sewing room. I did pretty well on that front in November (the week of vacation at Thanksgiving helped).  

Cabins and Fans is prepped and packaged to send out for quilting.

 I probably won't get it to the post office till tomorrow. At this point I doubt it's back in time to finish this year, but it will make a quick finish for next year.  

The last two borders for Unity are progressing a bit faster than the one for step 7. 

Not quite three quarters of the way finished with the top border.  I may get this to finished flimsy stage by the end of the year. Just depends on how much sewing time I can manage during vacation.  

The 2021 Meadow Mist Design Mystery, Macaron, is moving along.  

I was caught up till the December clue came out yesterday.  That feels really good.  

The 2021 Bonnie Hunter Mystery, Rhododendron, started in November.  

I'm only making half the blocks this year.  I did that last year and was able to mostly keep up.  I lack one more set of 4 HSTs to finish last week's clue.  Clue 2 comes out today.  Hopefully, I'll have some time to get going on that this weekend. 

Scrappy Butterflies is back on the active list since Cabins and Fans has moved off.  

I didn't make very much progress on this project in November, but I have hopes of doing more with it in December.  

A much better month for progress than October was.  I'll have more time off in December, so I have hope of making a bit more progress.  We'll see have to see how that pans out.  

Linking up with Quilting Gail for the November PHD update.  

PHD in 2021: October Progress

October wasn't a great month for finding my way to the sewing room.  This year has been challenging on a number of fronts and that's not going to change anytime soon. Rather than be disappointed, I'm going to celebrate the progress on projects no matter how little it may be, because there's no point in beating myself up for what's beyond my control.  Any progress on my PHD in 2021 will make working towards a PHD in 2022 that much easier.     

 

There aren't any updates to my PHD report this month. 

 

No finishes, but also no new starts.  I've done well at limiting the starts this year. There are two other new quilts planned for this year. One is the 2021 Bonnie Hunter mystery and the other is a graduation quilt for the Scientist in Training's undergraduate research advisor. Even if I don't finish any other quilts this year, I'll finish this year with the same number of uncompleted projects as I started.  That's not a so bad, it could certainly be worse.  

There was good progress on Cabins and Fans (self designed). 

The quilt top is finished and the backing is made. The goal this month is to prep and package up this project for quilting.  Fingers crossed I can get this one at least sent out for quilting before the end of the month.  If I can get that far, this project has a reasonable chance of being finish number 4 for 2021.  

Unity, Bonnie Hunter's surprise pandemic mystry quilt along from 2020, is progressing slowly as my leaders and enders project. 

It's taken me most of the year to finish steps 6 and 7. I'm afraid step 8 may take about as long.  There are lots of pieces in the star blocks that make up the last top and bottom borders, so lots of pieces to stitch together. But I'm taking the attitude it gets done when it gets done.  

Meadow Mist Designs 2021 mystery, Macaron, started in August with the cutting instructions.  The September clue was mostly HSTs, which I had started, but didn't finish till the end of October.  

There were a couple of other parts to piece or cut in September and those are all completed.  I've since made a start on the October clue.  The November clue comes out tomorrow, so I'm a month behind. That's OK, there is no race. I'm just going to stitch as I'm able and keep up as best I can.  

I did get a bit of emboridery done on my traveling embrodiery project. 

We spent a long weekend in Eureka Springs, AR so I finished up the first half of that light blue butterfly in the middle.  I probably won't make any more progress on this project till we get to Christmas vacation.

It wasn't a bad month, one project just about ready for quilting, and finishing up one step in each of two mystery quilt alongs. I'll take that.  

You can see more PHD progress over at Quilting Gails.  I'm hoping she's going to continue her PHD program into next year.  I 've never successfully finished the program, but it's a really fun motivator.    

PHD in 2021: September Progress

This year certainly hasn't gone to plan on the work or quilting fronts.  The calendar says it's October, just three months in the year to make good on those goals we set back in December.  I'm disappointed in the lack of progress this year, last year was so good for finishing projects. But life sometimes throws us curves, so I'm trying hard to remember that progress counts too.  So I'm going to celebrate the progress made with Quilting Gail's 2021 PHD quilt along.  

There are two updates to my 2021 PHD report. 

There's one new finish and one new start.  The new finish means I've finished 2 of the 3 quilts started in 2020.  The new start is Meadow Mist Designs Macaron Mystery. The last clue won't come out till March of 2022, so it that mystery will not be finished this year.  The goal was 8 finishes this year. That's probably not happening, but I'm hoping to get at least 2 more quilts to the finished line by the end of the year.  That's just doable.  

September was a better month on working in stitching time than August was, which was better than July. 

Morewood (Meadow Mist Designs 2020 Mystery quilt) is a finished quilt.  

I haven't had a chance to get a shot of the whole quilt yet, that will probably happen this weekend.  

Cabins and Fans (self designed) just needs the borders added to be a finished quilt top. 

There's been progress since the end of September, just 2 border strips need to be cut and sewn on then this project will be a finished quilt top.  It's my October OMG to get the top finished and to make the backing.  

Unity (Bonnie Hunter 2020 Quilt Along) is still moving slowly, but step 7 is almost complete.

Just one more block is needed to finish the last border in step 7.  I've already started making the flying geese needed for the next step as my leaders and enders.  I don't think Unity is going to be finished this year, but it will be close.  

Scrappy Butterflies (self designed) has a few more alternate blocks finished. 

In an effort to make more progress on other projects, there wasn't as much effort put into the alternate blocks, but there was some progress last month. It should come back into the rotation once the borders are on Cabins and Fans.  I'm hoping this is a finished quilt top by the end of the year.  

Macaron Mystery has just gotten started and I'm already behind. 

 I have less than half of the HST blocks made for step 3 and step 4 comes out tomorrow.  Hopefully I'll have time to play catch up later this month. This is my first new project since November of last year, so I'm going to enjoy playing with something completely new and not worry too much at this point about being caught up or not.

A finish, a start, and progress on other fronts. September wasn't so bad.  I have hope there will be good progress in October.  

PHD in 2021: Better than July

August has become September, just 4 months left in 2021.  One of my goals for this year was to finish 8 quilts. I've been playing along with Quilting Gail's PHD in 2021 as one way of staying motivated to meet that goal.  

I'm not doing so hot on that goal or on my PHD. There was no change in the my  report between last month and this month. 

No new finishes, but no new starts either.  So that's a bright spot. There was progress on all of the active projects so that's another plus. 

Morewood finally got sent out for quilting. 

Trudy has finished the quilting and it will soon be on it's way back. The plan is to finish the binding before the end of the month. Fingers crossed next month's PHD report has one more finish on it.  

Cabins and Fans is almost assembled. 

The two halves got pinned together last night with the hope I've got some time tonight to sit down at the sewing machine and stitch that seam.  Then it will be on to the borders. I'm hoping to get the borders on by the end of the month.  That will be a challenge.  

With the Morewood Mystery off the active list in August, it was time to add a new UFO to the in progress list. 

Scrappy Butterflies was my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project in 2013.  So it's definitely time to get this project finished up.  The butterfly blocks are all framed and the Irish Chain blocks are started. Still a long way to go on this project, but at least it's moving again.  

Unity continues to be my leader and enders project. 

I'm more than half way done with the last border in step 7.  Hopefully I'll have moved on to step 8 by the end of the month.  

August was a better month than July. I'm hoping September is better than August. I have some vacation that needs to be used, so I'm hoping for some additional nothing but stitching days in the next few months.  

Linking up with Quilting Gail for the August PHD Report.

PHD in 2021: July's Missteps

July went really fast and with the first week of August almost in the bag, it's obvious that the last half of the year is going to move at the speed of light. July had a few nasty surprises.  Shoulder issues sidelined me for the last 2 weeks of the month.  That means limited computer and sewing time till the inflammation goes down.  So I've been pretty absent from the blogging world.  Add in the two weekends I spent with the Scientist in Training one for fun and one to get her moved, my sewing time was pretty limited the last half of the month.  So a pretty negative month in terms of progress on my 2021 PHD. 

 

There are no new finishes, but at least there are no new starts. 

 

The PHD report is pretty much unchanged from last month's.  That doesn't mean there hasn't been some progress on a few projects.

Morewood just needs to be pressed and de-threaded before it's sent out for quilting. 

 

Progress has stalled on that front.  Hopefully I'll have lots of time in the sewing room this weekend to finish up that chore. 

Just two more rows of blocks to stitch together for Cabins and Fans.

 

Once Morewood is prepped, I'll get back to stitching on this project. 

Unity is moving slowly, but it's progressing. 

Just one border left on Step 7.  I'm so ready to move on to a new block!  

With Morewood rolling off the active project list, it was time to find another UFO to add to the rotation.  My 2013 Rainbow Scrap Project, Scrappy Butterflies, will be back on the active list till it's finished.  

Figuring out how to set these blocks together is what's kept it on the UFO list for so long.  I really like the Irish Chain setting, but I don't like how the butterflies on the edges aren't completely framed.  It looks incomplete to my eye. So this may not be the final setting, but it's close.  

Fingers crossed that August is more productive and less stressful than July was.  Linking up with Quilting Gail for the July PHD update.  

2021 MidYear Quilty Ambitions Check In

Back in December 2020, Quilting Jet Girl hosted the 2021 Planning Party to give everyone a chance to think about goals for the new year.  Well, 2021 is more than half over and it's time to check in on the progress (or lack thereof) on My 2021 Quilty Ambitions as part of the 2021 MidYear Checkin. 

2021 Quilty Ambition #1: Finish 8 Quilts in 2021

I'm not doing so hot on this one.  As of July 1st there are only two finishes in 2021. 

My May and June were pretty crappy months at work, so I didn't get much done in the sewing room. That's disappointing.  But in 2020 there were only 2 quilts finished by 7/1/2020, but there were 7 finished by the end of the year. So there is still hope to meet this goal.  

The other part of this goal is to play along with Quilting Gail's PHD in 2021.  

The biggest achievement here is that there are no new projects started so far this year. That will change, but limiting the new starts will help me focus on finishing off the older projects.  

2021 Quilty Ambition #2: Stay Focused

To move quilts to finished, I have to stay focused on just a few projects.  What's worked for me on that front is to limit my weekly to do list to just 3 projects.  If I'm trying to finish up a quilt, I'll let the number of focus projects increase to 4. There are 3 focus projects at the moment.  

Beginning of the year to end of June progress on
Unity (Bonnie Hunter), Morewood Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs),
Cabins and Fans (self designed)

Unity, Morewood Mystery, and Cabin and Fans are the current focus projects.  Morewood Mystery should go out for quilting this month and I'm hoping to have Cabins and Fans ready to go out next month.  Unity has been my leaders and enders project. I'm hoping it's ready to be finished up in September. That will get me to five finishes for the year. 

2021 Quilty Ambition #3: Continue to Host the 15 Minutes to Stitch Linky Party 

As of week 27, there have been 26 weekly 15 Minute to Stitch linky parties. I only missed week 14 (due to work trauma, it's been a bad year on that front).  At the end of June, my success rate at finding 15 minutes to stitch was 85.64%.   My goal is to stitch 85% of the days this year, so I'm on track with this goal.  

Not a bad first half of the year, but I'm hoping for better the second half.  Linking up with Quilting Jet Girl's 2021 Midyear Checkin.

PHD Progress at the Half Way Point

Hard to believe it's already July 2021.  The last two months have passed really fast for me. My work-life balance was pretty much non-existent during that time.  Thankfully, things have improved and I have hopes of making more progress this month.  So hopefully next month's PHD report will look a lot better than this one.  

 I squeezed in one more finish at the end of June. 

Not a great showing for the half way point in the year. But that's all I had finished at the midpoint of 2020, but 5 more projects were completed before the end of the year. I'm hoping for a repeat of that this year. I've been really good on not starting anything new. That's probably my biggest accomplishment for the year. 

Grassy Creek was the new finish on the report. 

I'm really happy with how my version of Grassy Creek, the 2020 Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt, worked out.  It's not my usual color palette, I used Bonnie's recommended colors for this mystery.  I only made half the blocks, which ended up creating a nice throw sized quilt. This is BH mystery quilt #9 for me. I've only completed 4 others. There are two other BH mystery projects on the PHD list, On Ringo Lake and Celtic Solstice.  But they are at the bottom, so it's not likely I'll get that far this year.  

The Morewood Mystery quilt advanced to finished quilt top in June. 

Morewood is my fifth Meadow Misty Designs mystery quilt. I'm in the process of assembling the backing.  I'm hoping to get this project out for quilting before cutting the fabric for this year's Macaron Mystery.  Cheryl just posted the fabric requirements for this year's mystery.  So I've got another month before she posts the cutting directions.  These are one clue a month mystery quilt alongs, so not as fast and furious as a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt along.  

There's been visible progress on Cabins and Fans. 

Rows three and four are all sewn together along with a good start on assembling row five.  I'm excited to see this quilt come together.  I'm hoping to have a finished quilt top by the end of the month.  

Progress on Unity  plods along as it's my current leader and ender project. 

Unity is another Bonnie Hunter quilt along.  Just two more blocks and I'll be able to sew on border number 3 for step 7.  Fingers crossed the next 9 blocks go much faster then the last 9.  After that there is only another top and bottom pieced border before I can finish this one off with a plain border.  

There wasn't time for any hand stitching this month, so there's been no change to the embroidered butterfly panel.   

That's the progress for this month.  Linking up with Quilting Gail for the monthly PHD report.  Happy stitching this month and for those in the US, have a wonderful 4th of July holiday.