What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

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 ...

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 been a busy week. Grad Girl and I spent one day in Tulsa and then another in Oklahoma City.  We had fun, but it did impact my stitching time this week.  I managed my 15 minutes every day, but sometimes not much more than that. It's OK, she heads back to school tomorrow.  I'm glad we had a chance to hang out so much while she was home.  

All I have to show for the week is a bunch of pinned pieces at my sewing machine. 

At the top is the last of pieces needed to ...

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 ...

This year has been one of transition.  I retired late in 2022, so 2023 was the first year since I was 16 without a work schedule.  At least a work schedule outside the house. So it's been a year of adjustments and discovery as to what one does when there is not a demanding job requiring daily attention.  Spending time in the sewing room has gone up, but not as much as I thought it would. There are still days I have to remind myself to get my 15 minutes of stitching time in. I've certainly posted more ...

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.  

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've had a weekend to recover from my trip last week.  My machine is set back up and I spent most of yesterday playing in the sewing room.  While I was in Texas, I finished off another 5 pinwheel blocks.

That brought the total up to 28, just 4 more left to make.  I put these up on the design wall with the others. 

I've been putting the pinwheels up as I've finished them. Looking at this photo, I'll need to do a bit of rearranging to better distribute the light and dark blocks.  Three of ...

This is my last full day in College Station.  I start the trip home tomorrow.  I've had such a good time hanging out with Grad Girl. Yesterday was a just be home and chill day.  We did a bit of laundry and a few dishes, but otherwise it was a nice relaxing day. I spent some time sewing while she played her Switch and baked. Dinner was simple.  

Our take on a ploughman's lunch.  It's one of our favorite meals when we are traveling. Low on prep, but pretty tasty.  

I've sewn for at least an ...

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.  

This week has been mostly odds and ends in the sewing room.  My focus is still on getting the SAHRR to the finished flimsy stage. 

The spacer border between row 5 and 6 is attached. Now I just need to finish the windmill blocks so I can start assembling the last pieced border.  

A lot of the week was spent on the fabric pull for an upcoming blog hop in July to celebrate a book release.  Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs has a new book coming out at the end of May, Just Two Charm Pack Quilts.  Cheryl's ...