PHD in 2022: December and Year End Wrap Up

I'm struggling a bit to think clearly.  Benadryl does wonders for allergies, but it also creates a lot of brain fog.  I think the cats, Grad Girls and my mom's, finally got to me yesterday.  Actually it's probably mostly due to my mom's cat.  He decided to sleep next to my head Tuesday night. Grad Girl and I drove back down to my mother's on Tuesday because it would cut 2.5 hours off GG's trip back to college and I needed to pick up some things that wouldn't fit in the car after our Christmas holiday.  At any rate, hopefully I can stick with this post long enough to finish (and hopefully it's mostly readable).  

I've been playing along with Quilting Gail's PHD (Projects Half Done) for the last 4 years. I've yet to earn my PHD, but it's been a good way to be accountable for both finishing up old projects and finishing up anything new that was started during the year.  Here's my end of the year report for 2022. 

There are no updates to the report for December. There were no more finishes, but there was progress on one UFO and two ongoing projects. 

Rhododendron, the Bonnie Hunter 2021 mystery quilt along, gained two blocks during December. 

So just one block left to finish and I can start quilt assembly.  This project has come a long way this year, some of the pieces for the blocks hadn't even been assembled yet when the calendar turned over to 2022.  

Rhododendron as of 12/31/2021

My word for 2022 was Progress. I met that with this project even though it's not finished. 

Melodic Mystery, the Meadow Mist Designs 2022 mystery quilt along, was started in October.  I'm still a bit behind, but only by one month. I still need to finish the December clue. 

I have 5 more flower blocks to finish to be caught up. January's clue is probably already out, I've just not had a chance to go check it out.  

There has also been steady progress on the Bonnie Hunter 2022 mystery quilt along, Chilhowie. 

Clue 1 is finished, clue 2 is close, the rest of the clues still need a lot of work.  Even so, I'm happy with all the progress on this project. 

Progress was made on two other UFOs earlier in the year, but then they stalled out. The first was Unity, Bonnie Hunter's stay at home mystery quilt along. 

I finished the last pieced border and final two unpieced borders. The backing has been made and is prepped for quilting.  All that's left is to get the Unity top prepped.  There are a lot of loose threads on the back of this one and it's just been more than I've wanted to deal with.

The 2021 Meadow Mist Designs Mystery quilt was a new start in 2021 that carried over into 2022.  The quilt top was finished back in November, but I struggled to find a good backing fabric. I finally ordered some.  This is next on the list for quilting once I get Unity out the door.  

In the finished column for the PHD program are Fluorescence and Reactive Intermediates. 

Fluorescence (self designed) was ready to go out for quilting in November of 2021, by February 2022 it was a finished quilt. This quilt is one of my all time favorites.  

Reactive Intermediates was made from the pattern Potions, by Flying Parrot Quilts. The quilt was a gift to Grad Girls undergraduate research advisor.  I started cutting the fabrics for some of the blocks at the end of December 2021. I had to be really disciplined to get this quilt finished for graduation in 2022.  But it got done (the night before, but that still counts).

There were two other projects that were started and then finished in 2022. After Grad Girl moved to Texas, she asked for one more grocery bag as she went down the one she left for her undergrad roommate.  There was request for grocery bags for the undergrad roommates as they were now short too. My Guy had been wanting his own set of bags so we could cut down on the number of plastic bags we were collecting.  

In total I finished seven grocery bags.  The grocery bags got me back in the sewing room after a rough summer of no stitching.  They were quick and fun finishes. Exactly what I needed to get out of my stitching front. 

The other finish was also a start inspired by Grad Girl. She wanted a couple of her favorite embroidery pieces made into pillows. 

I finished these the evening before we moved her to Texas. Last year seemed to be the year for just in time finishes.  Both of us were very happy with how the pillows turned out.  The star of each is her embroidery.  

In summary, I didn't do so hot on the UFO finishes, ending the year with just two. But I did make really good progress on a three others. I finished all of the new starts for 2022, since both Melodic and Chilhowie continue in 2023, those don't count.  Not a stellar year, but considering just how rough the year was, I'm happy to get at least that much done. 

You can see how everyone else did on earning their PHD's in 2022 over at Quilting Gail.  

PHD in 2022: November Progress

Just 31 days left in 2022.  I'm really not ready for that. On the other hand, this year hasn't been so great on a number of fronts, so I'm looking forward to the new year in hopes it's a lot better.  Since it is a new month, it's time to summarize my progress on earning my PHD and share over at Quilting Gail's.  It's not a stellar report, but there has been some progress on all the active projects.  

No new finishes, but one new start. The clues for both mystery quilts won't end till next year, so they don't have to be completed this year.  I doubt there are any more finishes this year, but I'm going to try to move each project closer to that point.  

Unity, the Bonnie Hunter Pandemic quilt along,  is the closest to being finished. 

The backing has been pressed and prepped for quilting. Now I just need to do the same for the quilt top.  That means tying up the cutting table for a few days. I'm much more interested in actually sitting at the sewing machine the last few weeks, so it's been hard to get motivated on the clean up.  I will get to that before the end of the month. It would be nice to start my 2023 PHD with a finish in January.  

Macaron Mystery, the 2021 Meadow Mist Designs mystery, is now a finished quilt top.  

The backing is proving to be difficult, I don't seem to have enough of any one fabric for the backing. So I'm back to deliberating between a pieced backing or buying backing fabric. I'm leaning heavily towards buying backing fabric, so that's probably what will happen.  

My current leader and ender project is Bonnie Hunter's 2021 mystery quilt, Rhododendron.  

All the "A" blocks are finished and one "B" block was finished last month. Just three more "B" blocks and quilt assembly can begin.  I doubt I get that far this month, but at least it's progressing.  

Clue 4 for this year's Meadow Mist Designs mystery, Melodic, will be out today.  

Clues 1 and 2 are finished, and clue 3 is over halfway finished.  Hopefully, I'll be caught up with all the clues by the time the January clue comes out.  

Chilhowie is the newest Bonnie Hunter mystery.  

I'm still working on the strip sets for the 4 and 9 patch units from last week's clue.  I'm not going to be caught up when tomorrow's clue comes out. But that's usually how it goes with Bonnie's mysteries. I tend to stay perpetually behind. But that's OK, I really enjoy the process. 

So 2022 will probably be one of my least successful years for the PHD program.  Maybe that will motivate me to do better in 2023?   

PHD in 2022: June to October

 I've not written a PHD post in four months because there really wasn't anything to post about.  There was pretty much no stitching from June till the end of August. Over the last month or so, I've finished a couple of new projects and made a bit of progress on my 2022 UFO list.  My report is not stellar, but it could certainly be worse. 

I finished two of three new starts. That's probably my biggest achievement from the last few months.  

Grad Girl asked me to make pillows from two of her embroidery projects. 

Both pillows were finished the night before we moved her to Texas.  I really like how both pillows came out, so did GG.  It helps a lot that her embroidery projects were both beautiful.  

The second new project for 2022 was also a Grad Girl request.  I made grocery sacks for both her and her roommate a couple of years ago.  After moving to Texas, GG discovered that two grocery sacks weren't enough and she asked for a third one. Plus her old roommate was now short one for her shopping, so I was asked to make a second for her old roommates.  Then My Guy reminded me that he wanted grocery sacks too as it's hard to recycle the plastic bags in our community.  So I pulled some left overs and older fabrics out of the stash and got busy.  

Seven bags were made over the last few months.  The pattern is a free download from The Fat Quarter Shop.  These bags were really fun to make and were a great way to get myself back into the sewing room.  

The last new project is Meadow Mist Designs 2022 Mystery Quilt along, Melodic Mystery.  

I got a late start on this one as the first clue came out in early September. Clue 3 comes out tomorrow. I should be done with clue 1 by then, but I'm not even half way done with clue 2.  I'm hoping to be caught up by the time the December clue comes out. This mystery will run into next year, so I don't have to finish it. 

There was also some progress on the UFO side of things.  

Unity was as completed quilt top in April, the backing was assembled last month.  

 I just need to bite the bullet and prep both the backing and the quilt top for quilting. It's my least favorite quilting activity so I tend to stall on it.  Unity is the Bonnie Hunter surprise quilt along she started in 2020 during the pandemic.  

Macaron Mystery, last year's Meadow Mist Designs mystery, is almost a finished quilt top.

Two of the three planned borders have been added.  Macaron should be a finished quilt top by the end of the month.  

The last active project is Bonnie Hunter's 2021 mystery quilt along project, Rhododendron.  

There is no change to the project up on the design wall. I'm assembling blocks as my current leader and ender project. So there's been very slow progress on this project. It certainly won't be finished by the time this year's mystery comes out.  

I'm slowly getting back my stitching mojo in the middle of what's proving to be a major life change.  Most days I have this feeling that I'm missing something, something with a major deadline coming up.  Does everyone get "ghost feelings" like that after retiring?  

Linking up with Quilting Gail for the October 2022 PHD report.   

PHD in 2022: April and May Progress

My work/life balance has been anything but balanced the last couple of months. Hopefully balance will be restored after yesterday.  I turned in the last review summary for the never ending project yesterday at 7 PM.  So hopefully that means I'll have more time for stitching in June.  I've been playing along with Quilting Gail's PHD program for 2022, but didn't have an opportunity to post in April. Here's where my projects stand as of the end of May. 

There was one finish and no starts during the last two months.  Not a bad showing considering just how little stitching I've done since March.  My goal for the year is just to make progress, I can look back and see that there was some for all my active projects. 

Unity (Bonnie Hunter 2020 Quilt Along) is now a finished quilt top

Unity was close to a finished quilt top at the end of March. It didn't take long to finish up adding the borders.  With all the pieces in this quilt, I had a couple of places that didn't lay flat, those have been fixed.  I'm hoping to get this project out for quilting by the end of June.  

Macaron Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs 2021 Mystery Quilt) is assembled.  

Most of the progress on Macaron has happened over the last couple of weeks.  Next step is to add the borders, which always takes longer than I think it should.  

There has also been a bit of progress on The Rhododendron Mystery (Bonnie Hunter 2021 mystery quilt along). 

The hour glass blocks for Rhododendron block B has been my leaders and enders project for the last couple of months. I've been assembling the A blocks as I work on Macaron.  Just 4 more A blocks and 4 more B blocks to finish.  The A blocks will go fast, the B blocks are a lot slower to make.  

Potions (Flying Parrot Quilts) was my second finish for 2022

It was sent out for quilting in March and was back here in April.  But my work project kept me from doing much towards getting it finished.  I pushed hard the Friday before the SIT's graduation to get it finished. The quilt has been gifted to her undergraduate research advisor and he really liked it.  I'm so thankful I was able to stay on track with the piecing part of it. Had I been behind, I'm not sure it would have gotten finished on time. 

That's the progress for April and May. Not as much as I would like, but there was progress in spite of the nutty work schedule.  No point in lamenting the loss of stitching time, things will get done when they get done.  

Linking up with Quilting Gail for the May PHD Progress Report.  

PHD in 2022: March Progress

The first quarter of 2022 is done.  That was fast, or at least it seemed that way.  I'm definitely ready for spring.  Mother Nature ended March with a pre-April Fool's Day prank. We had snow flurries yesterday!  I had to drag my winter coat out of the closet.  It really felt more like January than it did the day before April 1st.

Now that March is over, it's time to assess how much progress I've made towards my PHD in 2022. 

There's been no new finishes this month, so my PHD report looks the same as February. 

On the other side of the equation, no new starts either.  I've been doing a good job at focusing on just a few projects and moving them towards completion.  My goal for the year is progress and I've done well in March on that front.  

Unity (Bonnie Hunter 2020 Quilt Along) has been the leaders and enders project for over a year. It's finally graduated to be my focus project during the second half of March.

The green will be the final border for the project. One strip is attached, the second is pinned and ready to be stitched on.  If work doesn't get too crazy this month, I'm hoping to have it out for quilting by the end of the month.  So it's on track to be my third finish for the year.  

The Macaron Mystery (Meadow Mist designs 2021 mystery quilt along) has also seen good progress this month. 

Just one more block to stitch together, then I can start working on the setting triangles and sashing.  There should be good progress on this project in April, but I doubt it gets to the finished quilt top stage.  

The Rhododendron Mystery (Bonnie Hunter 2021 mystery quilt along) has been moving slowly, it's my new leaders and enders project. 

Those hour glass blocks do take a bit of effort to get enough to finish a block.  I did add one block B and have the components of a block A that just need to be stitched together to show as progress for March.  My goal is to get the quilt top finished before this year's mystery starts up.  That should be doable.  

Potions (Flying Parrot Quilts) went out for quilting at mid month.  

This project should be on it's way back sometime next week.  The plan is to get it labeled and bound by the end of the month.  That should be doable. 

If work doesn't get too crazy, I'm on track for a total of four finishes by mid-year.  But I'm moving into a completely new position sometime in May/June, so all bets are off on what things are going to look like after that. 

Linking up with Quilting Gail for the March PHD Report.   

PHD in 2022: February Progress

I'm a few days late on posting the progress on my PHD in 2022, so I won't be able to link up with Quilting Gail this month. But I still want to celebrate all the progress in February, especially since the last weekend was so chaotic and stressful.  I really need to celebrate something! 

So here's my report for February. 

No new starts, that's worth celebrating.  My Guy seems to have problems avoiding squirrels, so far I've done well at avoiding the quilty ones.  Even better, the report shows the first finish for 2022!  

Cabins and Fans (Fluorescence, self designed) is labeled and bound. I didn't get my glamour shots of the quilt till yesterday afternoon, I'll do a full post on the finish soon. 

Unity (Bonnie Hunter 2020 Quilt Along) is moving along slowly. 

Just three more stars left to finish off the last pieced border.  I'm hopeful of seeing this project reach completion this year. 

Macaron Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs 2021 Mystery Quilt along) has a few blocks finished.  

I'm really happy with all my fabric selections worked out.  These blocks go together fast since all the subunits are finished.  

Rhododendron Mystery (Bonnie Hunter 2021 Mystery Quilt Along) is moving along a lot slower. 

One block A and one block B were finished last month.  Those little hour glass blocks in block B take a bit to construct.  I think this one is going to be another slow moving project. That's OK, as long as it's progressing, I'll be happy. 

Potions (Flying Parrot Quilts) is zooming along. 

All that's missing for Potions to be a finished quilt top is the last border across the top.  That has since been added.  All the flask blocks were finished, the rows assembled and the sashing added last month.  This quilt has a May deadline, so I'm happy that this project has stayed on track. It should be ready to go out for quilting in a week or so.  

So one finish, no new starts and progress on four other projects on my PHD list for 2022.  Not a bad start to the year.   

PHD in 2022: January Progress

The second round of snow didn't amount to much, but 6" of snow is a lot more than we normally get.  We've been told to work from home for another day. So my commute will be from my recliner to my home office today, no walk across the parking lot in the cold.  

I'm participating in Quilting Gail's PHD (Projects Half Done) again this year as additional motivation to get a few more projects off the UFO list.  

I had a solid month of stitching time with lots of progress, but no finishes yet.

But no new starts and there's been some progress on 5 projects.  Really not a bad month.  

Cabins and Fans (Fluorescence) is quilted. 

This will be my first finish for 2022.  The label is designed, it just needs to be printed and rinsed.  The plan is to get the quilt trimmed and binding made this weekend.  

Unity (Bonnie Hunter 2020 Sew in Place Quilt Along) has been progressing slowly, it's been my leader and ender project for a while.  

The last border is under construction, a quarter of the way complete.  Unity will probably be my second finish for 2022.  It's been slow going, but at least the project never completely stalled out.  

Unfortunately January wasn't the best month for the Macaron Mystery (Meadow Mist Design 2021 Mystery).

There was progress, just not a lot of it.  I made a start on the January clue, but didn't come close to finishing it.  The reveal came out yesterday. I'll be playing catch up for a couple of months. 

There was more progress on the Rhododendron Mystery (Bonnie Hunter 2021 Mystery), 

Several block A's are made, but block B is going to be chore to finish up.  Rhododendron is likely to become my next leaders and enders project.  

Potions (Flying Parrot Quilts) has been my main focus for January. 

There was just one block completed at the end of December.  All the test tube and beaker blocks were finished in January.  All that's left is the flask blocks, but those are going to be really fiddly.  Fingers crossed I can stay on schedule with those.  The plan is to have  a finished quilt top by the end of the month.  

No finishes, but no starts and lots of progress on the project with a May deadline. I'm calling January a success. I've got to get to eat breakfast now and then get to work, but you can check out more January 2022 PHD Reports over at Quilting Gail.  

PHD in 2022

This will be my 4th year playing along with Quilting Gail for the annual PHD (Projects Half Done) challenge.  

I've yet to successfully complete the PHD challenge. But it's fun and motivating, so if all I do is make a bit of progress at working down the UFO list that works for me.  Here's my list for 2022. 

Here's the pictorial view.  

There are 3 Rainbow Scrap projects and 4 Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt along projects in the mix. There are 2 other mystery quilt alongs on the list plus three other of just wanted to make it projects. The hexy project (number 3 in the bottom row) is my oldest UFO.  Number 2 and number 4 in row one, plus number 2 in row 2 are my new starts from 2021.  I don't count something as a UFO unless it's been on my list for a year. But finishing them means that my UFO numbers don't go up.  

If I can move 6 projects along this year, I'll be pretty pleased with progress in 2022.  Linking up with Quilting Gail for the PHD in 2022.