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We were in Texas all last week to attend Grad Girl's thesis defense and then just hang out with her afterwards for a bit of a celebration. Poor girl hasn't had a real vacation in over a year.  The presentation of her work was public, so we were able to attend that. Afterwards we waited in the hallway while she took questions from her committee. 

This year will be my seventh attempt to earn a PHD. Ms. P Designs USA is again hosting the 2025 PHD challenge.  The rules are simple, 1) finish twelve UFOs and 2)Finish all new starts (unless they are mysteries/BOMs that run into 2026).  I've never finished more than seven quilts in one year. I'm hoping that all the progress last year will help me finish 12 this year. Even if I don't get that far, if I can reduce the total number of UFOs this year I'll be happy.  

Last year's efforts reduced ...

It's always an adjustment to move from the previous year to the new year.  Mostly it's a mind reset, but it did take me the better part of the morning to reset my quilting tracking spreadsheet for the new year.  That first meant making sure all of the quilty stuff that went on in 2024 was captured. With that all done, it made pulling all the information for my end of the year PHD report easier. 

The year ended with six finishes, six projects moved to finished quilt tops, progress on the rest of the UFOs on the ...

First quarter is over and we are already a few days into the 2nd quarter of 2024.  Since March is over, it's time to look my progress towards a PHD and link up with P Designs USA for the March PHD report. This month the report shows a finish for the first time this year. 

Still a long way to go to reach PHD status. But it's nice having the first finish in March versus waiting till September. 

A Flutter was sent for quilting in February.  This quilt was started in 2013, it was my second Rainbow Scrap ...

The leg continues to heal, but then I had some issues with my back one evening.  A couple of days on muscle relaxants and the back is as normal as it gets these days. That did cut into my sewing time a couple of evenings, I just didn't feel much like sewing a lot.  It certainly seems I get one body part healed and something else goes out. Unfortunately a trade in just isn't in the cards, so maintenance is key from here on out.  

I was a bit off my game most of the week.  Fitting in physical therapy and some time with an ice pack afterwards has skewed my schedule a bit.  The medication is messing with my sleep schedule a bit and that has definitely taken a toll too.  I made it to the sewing room every day, but just didn't have the energy to focus for long periods of time.  All that to say, I didn't do so hot on last week's to do list. 

To Do List for 02/27/2024

1. 2024 SAHRR: Finish borders 5 ...

February always feels like such a shock after January. The first month of the year always seems to be so long and then you blink and February is over.  As the month is over it's time to review my progress (or lack thereof) on my PHD in 2024 and link up with P Designs USA for the February report.  The report is about where I expected it to be at this point, so no surprise on my part.

No finishes as yet and one new start.  Looks like I'm going in the wrong direction.  Maybe, maybe not.  There ...

Last week's To Do List post was so optimistic. Things worked out that way in the end, but it went way south before things got on the right path. I wasn't able to walk up the stairs to my sewing room for a couple of days, so that definitely impacted how much got done on last week's check list. 

It's not been the best week.  The pinched nerve in my leg is slowly improving, but I'm still pretty slow and sore. Add to that My Guy has a stomach virus.  The only good thing out of that is I've been sleeping on the couch due to my leg and apparently missed out on the virus. Thankfully my stitching time hasn't been impacted too badly and I did pretty well with last week's long to do list.  

To Do List for 02/12/2024

1. 2024 SAHRR: Finish border #4  ✔

2. Betty: Start assembling quilt ...

We woke up to about 3" of wet, fluffy snow yesterday.  Then it promptly warmed up and made everything messy.  But it was pretty while it lasted.  The roads were really slushy, consequently, My Guy's office had delayed start yesterday.  That threw off the start to my day, in a good way. It's always nice to have him around the house.  Though I didn't get to my housework,  I did make it upstairs to finish the last check mark on last week's to do list. 

The beginning of February ushered in some warmer temps, so afternoon walks have been taking some of my afternoon sewing time.  Even with that added activity, I did pretty well with my long to do list from last week.  

To Do List for 01/30/2024

1.  2024 SAHRR: Make border #2 ✔

2.  Betty: Assemble 5 blocks ✔

3.  Indigo Way: Continue assembling blocks ✔

4.  Malted Mystery: Finish Jan clue, start Feb - progress

5.  Scrappy Butterflies: Send out for quilting ✔

6.  Wild & Goosey: Finish green blocks, start red blocks ✔

7.  Chilhowie: Continue as leaders and enders project ✔

Check marks on six ...

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 ...

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 ...

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!  

No power outages with the freezing rain we had from Sunday into Monday.  The roads were pretty much solid sheets of ice till sometime in the afternoon. Thankfully My Guy's company told everyone to work from home, so he didn't have to navigate that. It's supposed to reach low 40's here, I'm ready for a warm up, even just a small one.  

Cold, stay at home weather has been good for my sewing time.  I did pretty well checking off items on last week's list.  

To Do List for 1/16/2024

1.  2024 ...

I'm ready for winter to be over, or at least for this brutally cold stuff to move out.  We've got one more day before we'll see any temps above freezing.  My Guy is working from home today, his offices are closed.  

The cold has been really conductive to spending time in the sewing room where the iron helps heat up the space.  Consequently, there are a lot of check marks on last week's  to do list. 

To Do List for 1/9/2024

1. 2024 SAHRR: Make center block - progress

2. Betty: Continue cutting fabrics ✔

3 ...

It's cold! I know we have it easy compared to those north of us, but once you get past a certain point it's all just cold.  It's -1 F at the moment.  We are supposed to get up into the teens today. That's a heat wave compared to our high of 5 F yesterday. 

The one good thing about the cold and snow is that it's a very good reason to spend most of Sunday in the sewing room.  I spent most of the morning cutting scraps and yardage for the Just Two Charm Pack ...

With Grad Girl here this last week, it's felt like vacation.  We've had our shopping day and our girls lunch. So it was a nice week on the family fun front. But the consequence is that there wasn't as much time in the sewing room and that shows in the progress on last week's list. 

To Do List for 01/02/2024

1. Indigo Way: Continue clues 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and start 8 ✔

2. Malted Mystery: Finish clue 6, start clue 7 - progress

3. Betty: Start cutting fabrics ✔

4. Scrappy Butterflies: prep backing - no ...

It's going to take me a while to get the 2024 part of my dates right.  That's always the trickiest thing about the new year. I need to pay bills today, so I should get lots of practice on that.  

At any rate, I'm starting my first to do list of the new year with a completed last to do list from 2023. 

To Do List for 12/26/2023

1. Indigo Way: Continue clues 2, 3, 4, start 5 and 6 ✔

2. Malted Mystery: Finish clue 5, start clue 6 ✔

3. Melodic Mystery: Finish hand stitching ...

I'm a bit late posting this week's to do list.  We went to my family's for the holiday.  All of us came home yesterday with headaches, sore throats, and runny noses.  My Guy and Grad Girl have fevers, I don't. Up till then, the holiday had been a good one.  Fingers crossed this is a short lived virus and we'll all be back to feeling good soon.

Since I felt the best, my first back home assignment was grocery store duty. That was followed by a  run to Walgreens as afterwards we discovered that both ...