What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The top for quiltville frolic mystery quilt is finished as per the pattern. And, I was ready to quilt it. I realized, if I add borders, it would be bigger for a bed.
I didn't plan on going bigger, but, it seems an off - size this way.
It stalls until I make a decision.

One week of June is in the bag, three weeks left till we hit midyear.  I'm preparing for mid year reviews at work, which always prompts me to take a look at where I'm at midyear on my stitching goals.  I'll do that at the end of the month, so I've got a few more weeks to work on my big goal for the year. 

The Scientist in Training headed back to campus to start her summer research program yesterday afternoon. The house seemed pretty empty after she left.  She'll be back for Father's Day, which really isn't that far off.  But it's going to take me a bit to get used to her not being here.  

It's a new month, one the end of which will mark the half way point in 2020.  Let's not jump there just yet.  It's probably much less depressing to back up a bit and review how well my PHD program is going.  

Mosaic ...

I am bad about putting off the photography of my quilts--and a blog post without pictures is a bit boring. I finally got some taken today--yay me!

Here is my version of Frolic--the Bonnie Hunter Mystery.

Frolic 88" x 88"

Frolic (detail)--I wanted to add Kermit the Frog because of a funny segment on Sesame Street that ended, "Everybody Frolic!"

Frolic (detail)--What's a busy scrap quilt without a Waldo to Find?

Frolic (border and backing detail)--Excuse the chalk lines; they will wash out.

Frolic (detail)--Cats, elephants, funny faces, and the Eiffel Tower

Frolic (detail)--Mary ...

It's June. Already?  I'm definitely not ready for it to be mid year.  Rather than think about how much there is to do to meet my 2020 goals, I'm going to just focus on what might get done during the next week.  Before that, I should celebrate what gone done last week.  

Weekly To Do List for 05/26/2020
Frolic: Assemble dark blue row, lt. blue block - Progress
Unity:  Finish step 2, start step 3 ✔
Storm at Sea:  Add next white border - Progress

It was a good week with one big to do checked off and ...

We've been fighting our typical spring battles with the ants and other creatures.  Last night I went to bed and got attacked by what looked like flying ants.  I finally slept on the couch because they kept coming. My Guy slept through the whole thing.  I'll be spraying the baseboards before we leave for work.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well. It didn't help that the dishwasher kicked on at about 2 AM.  A rather crappy end to what had been a fairly nice weekend. 

It was a productive weekend in the sewing room ...

We had a really quiet Memorial Day weekend.  The four days off were nice. We hung out a lot. My Guy and the Scientist in Training played in the kitchen while I got to hang out in the sewing room.  Consequently last week's to do list was mostly completed.  

This is my second week back at the office.  The company did a phased in approach to bringing everyone back, this week all but people with child care issues or those with health complications are back in the office.  It's almost back to normal, except for the face masks and the requirement for virtual meetings.  

Wish I could say my stitching time was normal last week. It wasn't and progress on the the To Do list suffered.  

To Do List for 05/12/2020
Mosaic Mystery:  Prep top for quilting ✔
Frolic: Make 1 light blue block - progress
Unity ...

It's already been a long week and it's just Tuesday!  I was back at the office yesterday for the first time in about 7 weeks.  It didn't seem weird, I thought it would. I've worked there so long it was like putting on a very well used and comfortable pair of shoes.

On the other hand, checking off the weekly to do list hasn't been as easy.  

Weekly To Do List for 05/05/2020
Mosaic Mystery:  Prep top for quilting- No progress
Frolic: Make 1 light blue block ✔
Unity: Finish Step 2 - Progress 
Face ...

It wasn't a bad week on the stitching front, but it certainly wasn't one of my best.  My prime sewing time is the weekends and though we aren't going any place, a good piece of my normal stitching time was replaced by a couple of much needed long naps. So not many things got checked off the to do list from last week. 

Weekly To Do List (04/28/2020)
Mosaic Mystery: Prep backing for quilting ✔
Frolic: Make 2 light blue blocks, assemble rows - Progress
Unity: Finish step 2 - Progress

Just one item checked off the list ...

The week just seemed to drag.  I'm very glad it's Saturday morning so I can just hang out and drink my coffee. Not sure what else is on the agenda for today, I'm hoping some significant time in the sewing room is at the top of the list. Though I think My Guy may have some other thoughts on that. 

Hard to believe there are just three more days in April.  It's been a pretty productive month. The weekly to do lists have helped keep me on track. I've not checked everything off each week, but progress has been pretty steady.  Last week's progress was typical of the previous weeks. 

Weekly To Do List for 04/21/2020
Mosaic Mystery: Find fabric for and make backing ✔
Frolic: Make 4-patches and sashing strips ✔
Winter Quilt Along: Finish binding ✔
Unity: Finish steps 1 and 2 - progress

So three out of four checked off is a really good week ...

Even with stitching every evening, it's hard to make really significant progress on my projects if there's not much time in the sewing room over the weekend.  The yard work and associated recovery cut back the sewing room time this weekend, so there wasn't as much progress as there could have been. 

How is it already mid-April?  We've been working from home for pretty much a month now. We've got a routine, but I'm not a fan of working from home.  You'd think there would be some time savings with no commute, but I find it's harder to end the day on time.  

So my stitching time hasn't increased.  Add in making a few face masks for family and friends means that time for project sewing has actually been lower this month. But there has been some progress with the PHD program.  

Binding and label are ...

Today I am doing a happy dance -- I have finally finished the last six blocks for my Frolic mystery quilt top!

As I have mentioned in some of my recent posts, working from home has not been a boon for sewing time for me. I still am working full time -- just at my kitchen table. I have managed to sneak in sewing time here and there (and quite a bit this past weekend!) and the first thing on the list was to finish up these six blocks.

It was back to work yesterday morning after the three day holiday weekend.  But it was a good weekend on the stitching front, even if my to do list fell victim to the making of more face masks and the new quilt along I couldn't resist.  Here's last week's list.   

Weekly To Do List (04/7/2020)
Mosaic Mystery: Add fourth border - progress
Frolic: Finish 2 lt. blue blocks, stitch rows together ✔
Winter Quilt Along: Trim quilt, make binding ✔

Checked off two and made progress on the third, that feels good.  Especially considering the number of other ...

The weather turned miserable on Sunday.  It was cold, wet and very windy.  So our Easter was very low key.  Since we had Friday off, I got in an extra afternoon of stitching time this weekend.  So though it wasn't our typical Easter, it wasn't a bad holiday.  It was nice to have some extra down time.   

There was a request for more face masks, so I spent some time this weekend and made a few. 

Does anybody really care?

Having been retired for almost 5 years was good training for self-isolation. Being an introvert also makes it easier to stay at home although I do enjoy my quilt groups and other outings. My calendar started clearing out on March 13th with the cancellation of Jinny Beyer club for the next day. After that the cancellations came fast and furiously. I still have a couple of appointments (chiro and hair) on my calendar for April but I plan to cancel them.

Around mid-March I went ahead and made a hotel reservation for early May for my ...

The working from home thing is starting to become a bit more normal.  Though I'm spending more time in video conferences than meetings during a typical week in the office.  It's a lot harder to end the day since I'm already home.  So I'm still struggling to do much more than my 15 minutes of stitching time each evening. By the time we finish up, go for an evening walk and eat dinner, there's just not much energy for stitching.  Though I can't really blame that for the lack of progress on last week ...