What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

This will be my 6th attempt to achieve a PHD in quilting projects.  I've yet to manage that.  I doubt it happens this year either, but I won't know unless I try.  There are new hostesses for the PHD in 2024, Sharon Anderson and Susan Hatcher of Ms. P Designs USA.  Here's my list of this year's UFOs for the PHD in 2024.  

My strategy this year is to work on a new quilt or a quilt that needs the blocks assembled plus a quilt top to be finished or a quilt top to be assembled ...

 On the one hand, I'm really ready for some cooler weather and August gets us closer to that. On the other hand, August is the 8th month, so we'll be three quarters through the year at the end of it. That I'm not ready for.  I've been participating in Quilting Gail's PHD in 2023 program again this year.  There has been some good progress on my UFOs, but as yet there still aren't any finishes for 2023, so my chart is unchanged from June.  

On the positive side of things, at least there have ...

It's after lunch, so I'm really, really late with my typical Monday morning post.  But it has been one of those Mondays where the day just started wrong and went downhill from there. Grad Girl had asked me to take care of some paperwork for her that's due today.  I realized while I was having my coffee and reviewing my to do lists that I had completely spaced it off. So rather than housework, I needed to head out before 9 to get that taken care of.  

While I was contemplating that change in plans, My Guy ...

There was no to do list for last week.  Grad Girl doesn't have a lot, but it's amazing how long it takes to pack and load, then unload and unpack even a small apartment.  It just didn't make sense to make a list for last week, especially since I didn't do so well on the list for the previous week. Even with another week to work on projects, I didn't check off all the items on the list.  

To Do List for 7/11/2023

1. Just Two Charm Pack Quilts blog hop: Finish assembling ...

Moving Grad Girl took up most of last week.  I got back from Texas late Friday. Moving in 100 plus temperatures really takes it out of you. We didn't get to bed till midnight several nights, way past my normal bed time. Unfortunately My Guy wasn't able to take off work to come help, so it was just us girls. But we managed pretty well.  Grad Girl has some awesome grad school girl friends who came to help with the heavy lifting.  Still, I spent Saturday in recovery mode with a lot of reading and resting. 

I didn ...

With the holiday and family plans, I didn't get much done on my To Do List from 6/27, so I skipped writing a post last week.  Even with the extra week, I didn't get everything checked off.  

To Do List for 6/27/2023

1. Just Two Charm Pack Quilts blog hop: Finish assembling rows, start assembling quilt top ✔

2. Diatom: Finish block 9, cut block 10 - progress

3. Wild & Goosey: Make 2 blue or green blocks ✔

4. Chilhowie: Leaders and enders project ✔

So there is progress even though not everything got checked off.  

I'm heading ...

Last week was a bit hit or miss in the sewing room.  Grad Girl was home for the week and we did spend some time in the sewing room hanging out, but sometimes there was more talking going on then there was stitching.  She headed back to Texas on Saturday, so my plan for Sunday was to spend my readjustment time in the sewing room.  First off I discovered that the borders for block 9 of Diatom weren't assembled properly.  After a bit of unsewing they are ready to be reassembled properly. 

I think what happened is I was ...

We are already half way through the first week in July.  So it's definitely time to check out how my PHD report is faring and link up with Quilting Gail for the June version of the PHD Report. I managed to stitch a bit every day last month, so several projects have progressed, but sadly there were no finishes.  

Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) didn't advance much this month, but I finished a few blocks.  

Another Tuesday, so it's time to think about the quilty to do list and link up with The Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric for To Do Tuesday.  I did slightly better on last week's to do list. 

It definitely feels like summer.  I keep moving my morning walk earlier and earlier because once the sun is up, it gets warm fast!  The heat has definitely been one reason I've spent so much time in the sewing room this week. So there's been good progress on several projects.  

Diatom (Quilting Jetgirl) block 8 is finished.  

I've really enjoyed working on this project.  Block 9 is now in the works. 

The last borders were added to the SAHRR.

This was my first try at the SAHRR. I'm really happy with how it came out.  This ...

This week didn't go so well in terms of the to do list.  I couldn't sit for very long, even in my magic sewing chair. There was progress, but there aren't a lot of check marks. 

To Do List For 6/13/2023

1. Just Two Charm Pack Quilts blog hop: Start assembling rows of blocks ✔

2. SAHRR: Finish spacer and final borders - progress

3. Diatom: Assemble block 8,cut block 9 - progress

4. Wild & Goosey: Make a blue or green block - no progress

5. Chilhowie: Leaders and enders project ✔

Two check marks and progress on all ...

Is it really Monday again?  We had a really slow weekend. I took My Guy out for Father's Day on Saturday.  We did a Zoom call with Grad Girl so she could see him open what she'd sent him.  I didn't sew much on Friday or Saturday as even my magic sewing room chair wasn't comfortable after I reinjured my back during physical therapy.  By Sunday I was feeling much better so there was some progress on a few things in the sewing room. Most of my progress is on my project for the Just Two ...

It was a good week in the sewing room. Of course when it's about the only place you can sit comfortably, you do tend to spend more time there.  My to do list for last week was pretty long so not everything got checked off. 

To Do List for 6/6/23

1. Just Two Charm Pack blog hop: Start subunit assembly ✔

2. SAHRR: Attach spacer border, choose final border fabric - progress

3. Diatom: Assemble block 7, cut block 8 ✔

4. Wild and Goosey: 1 blue or green block ✔

5. Chilhowie: Leaders and enders project ✔

I'm grateful that ...

The one good outcome from my back injury last weekend is that it gave me a reason to spend a lot of my week in the sewing room.  My back is much improved, but I'm still being cautious about tackling some of the bigger housework tasks.  

It's been a long couple of days. My back is slowly improving.  The only place I can sit comfortably for more than a few minutes is my sewing room chair.  So I went with that to spend most of Sunday and yesterday in my sewing room.  I can sit at the computer desk for about 30 minutes at a time, so I'm slowly replying to emails and catching up on everyone's blog. But all the sewing room time paid off in a fully checked off to do list.  

To Do List for 5/30/2023

1. SAHRR ...

I did something stupid this weekend, but I'm not sure exactly what it was. Whatever it was, it threw my back out again.  So I'm back to thermal pads and Aleve. Thankfully, it appears that hanging out in the sewing room is the best physical therapy. Several years ago I invested in an ergonomic sewing table, chair and cutting table.  That has paid off in ways I didn't expect. The combination of stitching, pressing and trimming seems to work the muscles enough to reduce the pain associated with moving.  I'm feeling better this morning, but plan ...

In 2020, 2021, and 2022 my focus was on finishing up UFOs.  I limited my new projects to just 2 or at most 3 each year.  Last year work was really overwhelming, so much so that I lost interest in pretty much everything other than reading and binging on Netflix.  Since I retired at the end of last year, I decided to open up my new project list to more than just 2.  I also joined a guild, which has also added to my new project list. Honestly, I didn't expect that.  At any rate, I can safely say ...

Since I was traveling last week, it was hard to put together a to do list, so I didn't make one.  The one from two weeks ago was pretty simple. 

To Do List for 5/16/2023

1. Prep projects for Texas Trip ✔

2. Enjoy hanging out with Grad Girl ✔

I made really good progress on the pinwheel blocks while I was in Texas and a little progress on Diatom.  But I definitely prepped more than I was able to work on.  But I'd rather be over prepared than to run out of stitching stuff to do.  Hanging ...

I wrote in my last To Do Tuesday post that I really needed to get back to moving some of my older quilts to finished.  But that's not going to happen this month.  Before I get to why that is, here's how it went with last week's list.  

Before writing this post, I took a look back at my March Wrap Up. April has definitely been a much more productive month since my back and shoulder issues have mostly been resolved.  Even with April being a more productive month, my PHD report hasn't changed much. 

Still no finishes and I added a new project.  The donation blocks have to be turned in this month, so hopefully they won't languish on the list like everything has.  I'm going to need to focus on finishes soon or all I'll have to show for 2023 is new ...