Week 101 Photo Challenge: Good and Evil

I don't have much time to get this week's photo challenge post together. Both My Guy and I are judging at the science fair this morning.  All of us struggled with this week's challenge.  

Both My Guy and I agreed that there are numerous ways to interpret last week's prompt.  Interestingly, we both picked the same approach.  

Kate: Light and Dark = Good and Evil

White representing good, while black represents evil is a long standing convention in many cultures.  White has long been associated with purity, cleanliness and innocence in may cultures. White light is a combination of all the colors in the color spectrum. So a lot of reason why it's associated with good things.  The Latin word for black is "ater" and was associated with cruelty, brutality and evil.  On the visible color spectrum, black is the absence of light. So black being associated with fear and bad things is also a long standing convention.    

My Guy went a very similar path with his photo, but I think his is cooler than mine. 

My Guy: White Hat - Black Hat

  

The concept is the same, but very different image.  He did have to Photoshop his a bit (he wasn't happy doing it).  But it's still a really fun photo.  Who doesn't remember those westerns where the sheriff has the white hat and the bad guys all wear black?  

Grad Girl has had a really busy week. She had to schedule her preliminary exam and then found out the instrument she needs to use to get ready for the exam, is booked for the next 3 weeks other than this weekend. Which meant she had to scramble to get ready to work over the weekend.  So she was struggling with finding time to get photos for this week (which wasn't one of easiest weeks). 

Grad Girl: Water is Good and Evil

She didn't send me her pictures till very late last night.  If I understand her texts, her point is that water plays both good and evil roles in her research.  She uses water to cool her reactions, but water in her solvent causes all sorts of problems.  So her photos might not be the cleanest representation of the challenge, some weeks she just has to go with what she can come up with.  

This week's challenge is easier in that it's an identifiable subject. 

 

Only problem is that it is still winter here and the only leaves around outside are mostly dead ones.  Grad Girl may have better luck with finding something green as south Texas does see spring earlier than we do.  

January 2024 PHD Report

I wasn't quite ready for January to be over.  Now that it's the first of February it's time to take stock and link up over at Ms. P Designs USA with my progress on my PHD in 2024. It's not the picture I'd hoped. 

No finishes and two starts, with a third start on tap for February.  I still have 11 months to get a few finishes.  Even though I didn't get to that point this month, there was a lot of progress on several projects. 

Scrappy Butterflies (self designed) is now prepped and ready to go out for quilting.

I just need to find the batting, box and get it packed up.  So fingers crossed that sets me up for a finish in late February or early March. 

Construction of blocks for Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) started up again in January.  

The big design wall is almost full of Indigo Way blocks, I didn't want to take those down to put up all the W & G blocks, so I'm just showing the progress with the green blocks for this month.  There are 3 green blocks in each corner of the quilt, so I've got one corner done and start on the second.  I'm going to make a few blocks every month to go along with the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at SoScrappy.   

All the blocks for Malted Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs) were finished in January and assembly of the quilt started.

I didn't finish the assembly part, but at least got started.  The February clue is out now and I'm excited to get the next borders finished.  

Bonnie Hunter released the reveal of Indigo Way on January first. 

 

I'm not finished piecing the blocks yet but this is probably the best I've ever done at keeping up with a BH mystery.  I'm hoping to get the quilt top put together this month.  

The first new project this month is Betty which I'm making as part of the Just Two Charm Pack Quilts quilt along with Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs.  

Half the blocks are finished.  The yardage for the sashing and the background are left overs from other quilts. The blue and purple fabrics came from my 2.5" scrappy strip bin. It was overflowing, this project has at least created a little space in the bin. 

The second new project this month is the 2024 SAHRR.  I played along last year and really enjoyed the challenge of designing my own borders for each round.  

I'm really happy with how it's come together so far. I've got a start on the next round of borders, but not enough to put anything up on the design wall.  

So I'm not off to a great start on the finishes front and a bit heavy on the starts.  I am doing better than last year, as my first finish didn't happen till September.  I'm not doing so hot on the progress front either. 

But I still have 11 months to move a few of these bars along.  For one month into 2024, I'm not doing too badly. 

To Do List for the Week of 01/30/2024

Just one more day in January.  January is such a chill month, probably because the weather is so bad, no one does anything.  It always seems that the months go faster the deeper into the year we get. So though the weather this month has not been fun, there is a part of me that is sad that January is almost over.  

The weather has done a good job of keeping me in my sewing room.  Which means I did pretty well with checking off items on last week's to do list. 

To Do List for 1/23/2024

1. SAHRR: Add coping strips and first pieced border ✔

2. Betty: Assemble 9 blocks ✔

3. Indigo Way: Continue assembling blocks ✔

4. Malted Mystery: Continue working on the January clue ✔

5. Scrappy Butterflies: Send out for quilting - no progress

6. Wild and Goosey: Work on green blocks ✔

7. Chilhowie: Continue as leaders and enders project ✔

Check marks on six out of seven is definitely a good week. I'm caught up on both the SAHRR and Betty, the current quilt alongs. Fingers crossed I can do as well this week. The list is pretty much the same.  

To Do List for 1/30/2024

1. 2024 SAHRR (Quilting Gail): Make border #2

The prompt for border 2 as posted over at Anja Quilts, is pick two colors and do whatever you want.  I've worked out what the border is going to look like, but I'm still debating on the fabric to go with the black.  The gray, orange and black splatter print is more than 2 colors, so it probably won't be my choice for this border.  Same with the Argyle print. Though, it's my quilt and I've been known to bend the rules a bit.  But looking at my choices via EQ, it will likely be either the top or bottom fabrics.  

2. Betty (Meadow Mist Designs): Assemble 5 blocks

I'm playing along with the Just Two Charm Pack Quilts quilt along. Ten blocks are finished and I have two weeks to finish the remaining ten.  Hopefully I can whip out those 5 this week. I got behind and did 9 last week.  With 21 pieces per block, it takes a bit to put just one block together.  I've figured out my chain piecing pattern so I don't mix up the pieces, so those 5 should go together pretty painlessly. (Now I've just jinxed myself!) 

3. Indigo Way (Bonnie Hunter): Continue assembling blocks.

Not as much progress here as I'd like, but since I was playing catch up with the current quilt alongs last week, it wasn't unexpected.  What's not up on the design wall is all the component parts that were sewn together last week, so there was more progress then what the picture shows.  I'm hoping to get the blocks done and the rows sewn together next month.  It may be slow going, but it would be nice if this mystery didn't take the path of the previous mysteries and end up in a box for a couple of years.  

4. Malted Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish January clue, start on the February clue. 

I finished all the sawtooth stars and have started on assembling the middle of the quilt.  This is the fun part where you get to see the design come together. So far I'm pretty happy with my fabric choices. We'll see if that holds when the February clue is revealed.  

5. Scrappy Butterflies (self designed): Send out for quilting.

This didn't happen last week as I wanted to make sure Trudy was willing and able to do the quilting.  She said yes, so it should go out this week. 

6. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Finish green blocks, start on what ever color SoScrappy announces as the February RSC color.  

I should finish 5 green blocks for the month.  That's not a bad total.  Next time I work on green, I'll need to cut some more scraps, there isn't much variety in what's left the bag.  The plan for this year is to just add to the pile of blocks. These blocks are just 3.5" and it will take a lot to make the design I have in mind.  So definitely a long term project.  

7. Chilhowie (Bonnie Hunter): Continue as leader and enders project

I'm still working on the last block for the 2022 BH mystery.  The leaders and enders approach is slow, but it at least keeps the project moving. I did so much better at keeping up with this year's mystery.  I may finish it before I finish this one.  

That's my list for this week.  It's ambitious, but not quite as ambitious as last week's list.  Almost half the number of Betty blocks and I decided on a very simple second border for the SAHRR.  We'll see if that helps in progress across the whole list.  Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric for To Do Tuesday.  

The First of the Year Quilt Alongs

I did this to myself last year too.  Being retired it was so easy to say, "I have lots of time for new projects."  Ha! Maybe that would be true if I'd just stick with one new project after the madness of the Bonnie Mystery that wrapped up New Year's Day.  But no, I really wanted to play along with 2 quilt alongs that started in January.  It took me all weekend, but I'm caught up on both!  

The Just Two Charm Pack Quilts quilt along sponsored by Cheryl over at Meadow Mist Designs kicked off on January 2nd.  I'm making the quilt Betty from the book.  I'm supposed to have half of the quilt blocks made by January 29th.  I finished those a day early. 

I'm not a pre-cut collector, but my blue/purple/green 2.5" strip bins were full. So I raided those blue and purple scrap strips for my version. I don't hate it, but I'm not in love with it at this stage.  But I've got 10 more blocks and the sashing to add, so it's still possible that my feelings on this project will change. I have till February 15th to finish the last 10 blocks.  

The 2024 SAHRR kicked off on January 15th with the center block (you can see all of those here). Last Monday, Wendy at Pieceful Thoughts kicked off the first border of signature blocks.  I actually finished my first border today, just before border two comes out tomorrow. 

I'm pretty happy with how it worked out.  I went completely scrappy last year. I'm not going scrappy this year, I have a limited fabric palette to play with. It certainly goes faster when you aren't hunting up scraps the right size.   The center with the first border is 20" x 22".  I want to end with a lap sized quilt, so border two will probably need to be a larger block.  I'll come up with a plan once the next round is posted at Anja Quilts sometime on Monday, 1/29.  

Linking up over at Pieceful Thoughts for the first round of the SAHRR and my usual Monday linky parties for Patchwork & Quilts and the Monday Design Wall.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 4 of 2024

One nice thing about the cold and damp weather, it makes me want to spend a lot of time in my sewing room.  That's really helped with my stitching time metrics this month. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Jan = 27/27 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 27/27 days
• Success rate = 100% 

Not sure how long I'll be able to maintain the 100% level, hopefully I can keep that up till the end of the month at least. 

Next Sunday we'll be in February and longest month will be over.  How are you doing at keeping up with your stitching time?   

 

1. Gretchen 2. maggie f 3. Julie in GA 4. Karen 5. DonnaleeQ

6. Quilting Gail 7. katie z. 8. Andrée 9. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts 10. Bonnie in Va

11. Frédérique 12. Deb in Canada 13. Shelina @ High Road Quilter

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