Photo Play: October Summary

My October photography efforts are pretty much in line with my September efforts.  I wasn't sure there was going to be anything in my photo files for a post this month. Things have been moving along well in the sewing room, so I've not taken as much time to play with my camera.  I'm going to try to fix that this month and devote a bit more time to my photography studies.  At any rate, here's the photos that made the cut from October.  

Photos were taken with a Canon 70D DLSR paired with either a Tamron 18-400 mm telephoto or a Sigma 105 mm macro lens or my I-Phone 12. 

We've been to Eureka Springs, AR many times over the years. It's our default vacation, spring break, long weekend get away destination if trip planning got put off (which it did a lot when I was working).  We both like to hike and I found this hiking trail along Black Bass Lake just outside of town.  It was some place we'd never been before. We enjoyed a nice early morning walk along the lake and found a few things photo worthy. 

Damselfly (DLSR/Tamron telephoto lens, cropped)

There was no wind that morning was the lake was like glass.  At the beginning of October you can see just the beginnings of some fall color in the trees. 

Something jumped into the late and created these ripples. The reflection of the trees in the water is so abstract.  It looks almost pixelated. 

The trail, Standing Rock, gets it's name from the large while rock at the edge of the lake. (All the reflection photos, Canon 70D with Tamron 18-400 mm telephoto)

October was a hot and dry month.  Things looked mostly brown, but brown can be interesting.  I've shown photos of the basket flowers before, but this extreme close up of a seed head makes me think of little hands (well definitely alien hands), it's like a mini sculpture. (Canon 70D, Sigma 105 mm macro) 

We took a trip to Oklahoma City mid-month to celebrate both my mother's and My Guy's birthdays.  We went out to dinner one night at one of the restaurants that overlooks Lake Hefner. The sunset was really pretty that night. (I-Phone 12)

 

By the end of the month, some of the trees that hadn't turned brown from lack of water were starting to show some color.  The yellow leaves of the Brush Honeysuckle with the red fruit is such a fun color contrast (Canon 70D, Sigma 105 mm).

My favorite in this set is the one of the honeysuckle, those red berries just glow in the morning light. I'm happy with the damselfly photo, those little things are hard to capture. That photo is the only one of the 4 or 5 shots taken that had good focus.   

I'm still playing with aperture and focus, but definitely didn't do much to explore the unexpected.  I've done a bit more of that this month already.  So hopefully next month's post will have some more interesting photos in it.  

Thank you for hanging out with me for a non-quilty post.  Feedback is always welcome.  Is there one photo that stands out to you? 

To Do List for the Week of 11/12/2024

It finally feels like autumn here.  It's been pretty chilly in the mornings, but warmer in the afternoons. We seem to be done with the highs in the 80s.  I'm hoping to get back to my photography walks this week, assuming it stays dry most of the week.  Before I get to far into on what else is on the list for this week, here's how I did with last week's to do list.  

To Do List for 11/5/2024

1.  Chocolate Marshmallows: Work on borders ✔

2.  Squared Away: Start sashing blocks ✔

3.  Guild BOM: Start pieced borders ✔

4.   Wild and Goosey: Make more red blocks ✔

5.   Sensational Summer Scrap quilt: Continue as leaders/enders ✔

It was a good week on the progress front.  It helps that I'm keeping my list simple and just expecting progress not finishes.  But that approach seems to be working for me as projects are moving along.  

Since simple is working for me, I'm going to stick with that approach for this week's list.  

To Do List for 11/12/2024

1.  Squared Away (So Scrappy): Continue sashing blocks

I've been taking this one slow. I have to label the blocks in each row so I get them in the right order.  But it's coming along.  Hopefully it will be ready for the borders by the end of the week. 

2.  Guild BOM: Continue working on pieced borders

The top and bottom borders consist of 14 flying geese for a total of 28.  I'm slowly getting those assembled.  

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

This one is a pretty simple clue so I'm hoping to finish it up before next week. 

4.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making red blocks

It's been slow going on these blocks, but working in a couple of blocks as I'm sewing other things has really made a difference in moving this project along.   

5.  Simple Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders. 

I finished one set of 10 yellow 4-patches. Now it's back to making a few blue ones.  It's time to cut some more 2.5" squares from my scraps, too many 2-patches with the same fabrics are showing up in the pile.   

That's my to do list for this week. Short and simple, which seems to be working for me lately.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

Ten Years in the Making

This time of year it seems the weeks just speed by.  We'll hit mid November by the weekend. I'm really not ready for the end of the year, which will be here before we know it.  So it's probably best to concentrate on the now and look at what's getting done.  

Chocolate Marshmallows (Seabreeze Quilts) became an assembled quilt top last Wednesday. 

The blocks were started in 2014. It only took me 10 years to figure out how to set them!  I'm happy with how it came together and now it goes into the "to be quilted" closet.  

I started the year with 4 sets of quilt blocks that needed to be assembled. Of those one is a finished quilt, two are finished quilt tops and the third is in the process of being assembled. 

Squared Away (So Scrappy) was started in 2018.  Another project where the blocks have been finished for years and I just couldn't figure out how to set it.  The black sashing and scrappy corner stones seems to be working really well.  Still a ways to go on getting it all assembled, but fingers crossed it will also make it to finished quilt top before the end of the year.  

Linking up with Monday Design Wall and Patchwork & Quilts.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 45 of 2024

It's been a weird November.  Oklahoma has already broken the record for monthly rainfall.  We got over 3" just yesterday. That's on top of the over 2" we got last weekend.  It's sunny today, but the ground is still really soggy.  All the rain has meant lots of time in the sewing room this last week.  

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 9/9 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 314/314 days
• Success rate = 100%

I'm still surprised that I've kept up with the stitching time this year. It has paid off in lots of progress on many projects this year.  Definitely worth the effort.  

There was some good progress on the fabric pressing project last week. 

The last few fabrics in the to be pressed bin from the last refill in August were pressed, folded and added to the fabric closet.  When I went to reload the "to be pressed bin", there were only 4 fabrics left from the pile on top of the wire rack. 

Those were also pressed, folded and added to the fabric closet. That takes care of all the prewashed fabrics that were piled on top of the wire rack in the fabric closet. So all this fabric is pressed, folded and sorted into the fabric closet.

That's three and probably an eighth bins of fabric that's been sorted into the rest of the stash.  Now to start on the fabric that hasn't been prewashed.  There's a lot of that too.  But first I have to figure out a strategy on how to tackle that yardage.  

Next week we'll be half way through November (yes already). How are you doing on getting in some stitching time and meeting your reorganization goals?  

1. Julie in GA 2. Frédérique

3. DonnaleeQ 4. Andrée at Quilting & Learning

5. Carol Andrews 6. Bonnie in Va

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Week 128 Photo Challenge: Compassion

We all thought last week's challenge was hard. This week's was even harder.  How do you photograph something like this?

We all have photos. Do they meet the challenge?  Maybe, maybe not. So it's a good thing we make up the rules! 

My plans for getting a photo were rained out (mainly because I tend to wait till the day before to figure it all out). Here's my effort for the week.  

Kate: Words of Compassion

Google came to my rescue at about 5 PM yesterday.  Thankfully I remembered where the Scrabble game was (we've not played in ages). I was vastly disappointed at the lack of "p" squares in the game. Maybe we've lost some?  Not an original idea, but I do like how the photo came out. 

You'll need to read the stories that go along with the photos to see how My Guy's and Grad Girl's photos tie into compassion.

 

My Guy: Tufted Titmouse

My Guy was out on a bike ride and came across this Tufted Titmouse sitting in the middle of the road. My Guy stopped and spoke to him. The bird just looked at him.  The bird's legs were folded under him, like he was hurt.  My Guy decided to at least get him out of the road, not only because of vehicular traffic, there was also a Red-shouldered hawk and a murder of Crows nearby.  He was clearly exposed sitting there in the middle of the road.  My Guy got a stick and put it under the bird to lift him up. He was surprised when the Titmouse perched on the stick easily.  As My Guy was moving the bird to the side of the road, the Titmouse suddenly remembered he could fly and flew into a nearby tree.  It's hard to photograph an act of compassion when your the one being compassionate.  But I think this photo works.  

Grad Girl has had a rough few weeks, this fall hasn't been easy for her on several fronts. 

Grad Girl: Compassion Kitty

So she has been very thankful for her furry companion, Queenie. When Grad Girl was sick the week before her big exam, Queenie took up watch either from the end of the couch or from her cat tree.  She was very concerned her person wasn't feeling very well. After a bad day in the lab, Queenie always greets her at the door, excited to see her.  This kitty is deathly afraid of running water, but she always keeps watch when Grad Girl showers and checks on her after the water is off to see if she survived. Queenie usually knows when Grad Girl needs extra cuddles to start her day. Note that Queenie is not the cuddliest of cats, she is the opposite of a cuddle bug. So it's quite an honor to be granted morning cuddle time. Can a cat be compassionate?  Sometimes it certainly seems this one can be.    

So did we hit the mark this week?  None of us are sure about that, but at least we took photos so can move on to a new challenge.  

We all sighed with relief when this card was drawn.  Definitely an easier subject, the challenge is going to be getting an interesting photo.