September PHD Report

 It's a FINISH! Actually finished on August 25 but I've since been waiting for the sun to come out for a beautiful outdoor photo shoot. Hasn't worked out yet around here so this will do for now. May I present "Oh My Stars!" laying on my bed. It's really pretty and I'm so glad I stuck with the orange little stars.

The pieced blocks are HUGE coming in at 24" square. That makes for a good sized queen quilt measuring at approximately 100" square. The borders and Celtic knots were machine-appliqued. The top is pieced from 100% cotton and the batting is Warm 'n' Natural 80/20. The backing is a subtle polka-dot, also 100% cotton. The binding is scrappy green fabrics. Again 100% cotton.

This "beast" was quilted on my domestic sewing machine: Bernina 153 Quilters Edition. In hind sight (which is always perfect, right?), I would have quilted it a bit more densely but being 100% done is very satisfying. A few pictures of the quilting on the front.

Oh My Stars! was designed by Linda Lee Hodges, which she so graciously shared with our Twisted Sisters Quilt Group in 2015. Not too bad by my standards .... only took me 5 years to complete! Here's a look at my quilt label. I did it with my sewing machine. Please overlook the OOPS! I made in the word PATTERN. For some reason I thought I only put one T and pulled it out to check. Obviously I did not realign the machine embroidery correctly when I continued. Note to self: Do No Doubt Yourself.

As for my PHD Report, Oh My Stars! is the 4th finish on my list. It is also my largest quilt. It has been referred to in my blog as "the beast" due to its size. It certainly was not a hard quilt to make and should never have taken me so long to make. Oh My Stars! was also listed for my 2020 UFO Challenge through my LQS.

I'm off to work on a new project and then my next PHD Project -- Tiny Tuesdays. It's due October 26 at my LQS for a UFO Challenge. I hope the sun comes out for a proper photo shoot of Oh My Stars! Maybe I'll have something else completed by then!!

Linking up with Gail at Quilting Gail and others trying to get their Projects Half Done finished too! Find everyone HERE.

RSC Purple Coming to an End

Feeling pretty good about this month's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I think every participant had good production this month. Here's mine ...

All seven purple Heartfire blocks have been completed.

All 9 purple Awesome Land blocks done.

I finished up Oh My Stars! just in time for Show 'n' Tell at my LQS's UFO Challenge. We meet using Zoom and this 100" x 100" queen-size quilt was really, really hard to hold up to show everyone but I managed. Look! It even has purple in it! After we had all shared our show 'n' tell projects, the next number was announced -- #4! That's my Tiny Tuesday quilt from last year's Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Currently it's a pile of 44 blocks. I put a purple one on top in keeping with this month's color.

I'll need to come up with a final plan for these. Then work to get this top put together and then get it quilted, bound, and labeled. I'm already trying to come up with a plan!

In June my guild started a block of the month (BOM) and I decided to jump in by keeping true to the colors of the RSC. There were two blocks for August and the first block I did was a Pineapple block which I did it in purple, August's RSC color.

The second August block was called Castle Block, I believe. Also done in purples.

Since I was on a roll, I went ahead and sewed up Brave New World. It was the block for June and the RSC color for June was pink.

Soon I'll be working on Crystal Star for July in Dark Blue. September's block has been announced from guild but we won't know the RSC color until September 1. Until then, I'll wait patiently. I wonder what color Angela will choose!?!?!

As a little side note, I also finished up another Liberty Tuffet top. That tiny star in the middle finished at 2-1/4" square. It's SO TINY!

OK, Angela, what color's next? Linking up at SoScrappy HERE and will enjoy looking over everyone's purple progress!

RSC Saturday & PHD mid-August Reports

 Here I was so excited about PURPLE being August's color for RSC and all I got done for that was cut a mess of strings for the Heartfire hexies. Progress is progress though, right?

I did manage to get together another Easy Breezy block. Guess I could should have made sure the stripes were coordinated. Oh well! I did notice that I need to cut more background fabrics. I've got several baggies with squares at the ready but no background fabrics set.

How did I manage an Easy Breezy L&E block without any sewing progress towards RSC? I quilted up my 2nd adorable Liberty Tuffet! If you noticed that my seams don't seem to be perfectly aligned, I noticed that too. I'm OK with it ... looks like my flag is flying proudly!

I've got another project that has kept me occupied this week. Harmony kicks off Sunday morning at 9am central time. I'm so excited to be sewing with Gudrun Erla of GE Designs again. Joining me again also will be my sister! Most of my fabrics are starched, pressed, and cut. Since I mis-cut two pieces, I've got two small pieces drying with starch and they'll be properly cut tomorrow. Here's my scrappy palette.

So what has kept me REALLY BUSY this week? Progress on my PHD!  I've been SO BUSY quilting Star In a Star!!! So many bobbins have been emptied!!! The Celtic knots & borders along with the inner backgrounds have been quilted. I'll be starting the stars next and will move to the outside borders. Pretty sure I'll be finishing this monster off with a scrappy faux-piping binding. Still trying to decide which colors to use for that!

Here's my PHD (Projects Half Done) report for mid-August:

1. Get Star in a Star to the finish line. Working VERY hard to get this done by August 25th. Not only is this for PHD, but it's also the project for the UFO Challenge at my LQS!

2. Quilt, label, & bind Hope. I basted Hope with InvisiFil wash-out thread so I could get my basting pins for Star in a Star. Does that count for progress? I think not!

3. Stay caught up with Afternoon Delight applique blocks. One block is almost finished being appliqued with one left to go.

4. Get 7 Heartfire hexies done in RSC color PURPLE. Some strips cut. Other than that, no progress.

5. Get 9 Awesome Land blocks done in RSC color PURPLE. 5 of the 9 are done.

So I've got my work cut out for me for the last part of August. Guess I better set myself down at the sewing machine! Have a great week!

Linking up with So Scrappy for RSC and Quilting Gail for PHD.

End of July PHD Report

I've really been trying to keep my nose to the grindstone. So many projects I'd LOVE to jump on board with but I'm keeping myself in check. Well, until August 16th when I'll be joining in on Gudrun Erla's next sew-along. You can find all the details on Gudrun's Quilt Crew group on Facebook this Tuesday. She'll let us know what pattern we'll be doing and fabric requirements.

But until then, I'm quilting, quilting, quilting! I finished up Winnie the Pooh. Now it's not on my PHD list but I did start it in June and finished it July 31st. Counts as a good finish!

I was hoping for some sunshine for the photo shoot but it just keeps raining. I took this picture while it was sprinkling and you can see the rain drops on our deck floor.

Sorry to say that I didn't write down the name of who gave me the brilliant idea of how to do the quilting. She had done a wall hanging and described her method for it and I thought it would be perfect for this little 46" x 46" quilt. I didn't want to detract from the characters! This is what I did following someone else's directions: Bernina stitch #4 (serpentine), stitch length 3.0, stitch width 5.0. I followed the vertical seams which are 2" apart. Then I was afraid that the channels in between (2" x 46") would be too long to stay secure so I quilted horizontal serpentine stitches 6" apart.

View from the back

Quilt Label - Used my Bernina Built-In Letters

This quilt will be mailed out sometime next week and it goes in the "Done" column!

The Star In a Star quilt has been my other focus lately. I managed to get the large 24" blocks assembled, the 12" Celtic knots for the outside cornerstones were completed at a recent retreat, the borders finished and the outside frame attached.

This big boy is 96" x 96" and is pictured without the outside frame. I didn't even have room in the basement to lay it out completely but I think you can get the idea. The top is now finished and I'll be basting and quilting it as quickly as I can but it will surely take some time!

Let's check my To-Do List at the start of the month and see how I did.

________________________________________________________________________

1. Quilt, bind, & label Winnie the Pooh - Finished!

2. Finish Patriotic Wall Hanging 100% - Finished!

3. Get Star in a Star top assembled. This quilt is due at my LQS on August 25th. It finishes as a queen-sized quilt. For credit at the shop, it will also have to be quilted, labeled, and bound. Definitely a big job for July & August. Currently, 5 of the nine 24" blocks are assembled and the top & side borders are complete. What's left? Assemble the final 4 blocks and finish the 4 border cornerstones. They are hand appliqued Celtic knots. Sounds like a hospital project to me! -  I ended up doing the applique by machine. The top is officially a flimsy!

4. Quilt, label, & bind Hope. - No progress here.

5. A little more progress on Eva Grace would be nice too! - A girl could dream, right?

So what's in store for PHD progress in August?

1. Get Star in a Star to the finish line.

2. Quilt, label, & bind Hope.

3. Stay caught up with Afternoon Delight applique blocks.

4. Get 7 Heartfire hexies done in RSC color PURPLE.

5. Get 9 Awesome Land blocks done in RSC color PURPLE.

That ought to keep me out of trouble. I'll check in with you around August 15th. Wonder how the others are doing with their PHDs. I'm going to see for myself right HERE and I invite you to see too!

Checking In with RSC & FNSI

As you may recall, I'm playing catch up with some of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks this month. I caught up my Awesome Land blocks last week which I posted HERE. This week I tried to work on a few (no, I was actually thinking I could do all 7!) Heartfire blocks in bright green, January's color. Here's the four I worked on and, as you can see, these are not finished.

Part of the reason I lagged on those is because I was working on Star In a Star. Those Celtic cornerstones took a long time to prep and that's all I got done on those this week. They're glued in place and just waiting to be machine appliqued down. Maybe get a start on them this week?

My other distraction was Winnie the Pooh. I want to get this one done and out in the mail SOON but I'd been dragging my feet because I couldn't make a decision on the backing. I saw some cute Pooh fabric online but order processing & mail is so slow right now at times that I couldn't see taking that chance. I also visited one of my LQS but didn't find anything appealing. Then all of a sudden I remembered WAAAAAAY back I had made a Winnie the Pooh (different than this one but still Winnie-themed) and had used some Pooh fabric in it. Did I still have any of that left? I dug deep in my  mind to try to remember what the fabric actually looked like so I'd know what bin to scour and sure enough, I found it!!! It measured about 12"x 42".

It is pieced into the back with a bright yellow fabric and is sure to be cheerful. Next task is to find a 54" square of batting. I dug around this morning and found two pieces that, when sewn together, will be just right! Now it's all about finding time to finish this puppy up!

Of course my week would not be complete without a squirrel. Very Busy Monkey on Ravelry has a free mystery knit-a-long going on for a pair of socks. I absolutely LOVE her patterns so I downloaded what she had and completed Clue 1 last night during Friday Night Sew-In. I knit two-at-a-time so it takes me a little longer to get the clues done but here is a picture of my yarn and my progress so far. Thanks to Wendy for hostessing FNSI again this month!

Clues 2 & 3 have been released as they are coming out on Thursdays. You can find all the information HERE if you'd like to join in too! There's only one more clue but the downloads are still available!

Now I'm hoping to make some progress this week on all these projects but mostly I'm planning this week to enjoy my DIL & Brody's visit. They arrive tomorrow (Sunday) and will hit the road again to go home Tuesday morning. Yes, short but oh! so very sweet!! Amanda sent this picture of Brody getting ready for the trip -- haircut time!

I also wanted to give a quick share of a funny thing Gracie & I saw on our walk the other day. We happened to be cutting through a subdivision and came upon this:

Linking up with Angela at SoScrappy later today. Have a perfectly-pink flamingo weekend! Lol!

PHD Report - July 15

Well, what do you know? We're halfway through July. Hopefully I'm keeping on schedule. Let's see what I hoped to accomplish this month.

1. Quilt, bind, & label Winnie the Pooh - Don't have anything to show but I found some Winnie the Pooh fabric from a previous project. It will be incorporated into the backing so I'm anxious to get it pieced and ready to quilt!

2. Finish Patriotic Wall Hanging 100% - Yes! Finished and hanging! See my post HERE!

3. Get Star in a Star top assembled. This quilt is due at my LQS on August 25th. It finishes as a queen-sized quilt. For credit at the shop, it will also have to be quilted, labeled, and bound. Definitely a big job for July & August. Currently, 5 of the nine 24" blocks are assembled and the top & side borders are complete. What's left? Assemble the final 4 blocks and finish the 4 border cornerstones. They are hand appliqued Celtic knots. Sounds like a hospital project to me! - Progress here has been slow but steady. The final four blocks need the final seam sewn and then on to assembling the main part of the quilt. The cornerstones have been prepped but not sewn. The original plan was to hand applique these as recommended by ones that have finished theirs. The directions explain how to machine applique these. I'm thinking machine at this point. Maybe give it a go tomorrow?

4. Quilt, label, & bind Hope. - Nada!

5. A little more progress on Eva Grace would be nice too! - Nada!

So there you have it. Thank you, Gail, for keeping us on track. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else is doing and motivating all to get those Projects Half Done DONE! Will be joining the linky party HERE.

See you August 1!

July FNwF and Rainbow Scrap Blues

During the week I purposefully had prepared an applique block for sewing on Friday night. Cheryll had sent out the invitation for Friday Night with Friends and I fully intended to be there! This is #20 for Afternoon Delight which is being offered on The Quilt Show. All you have to do is join and the block of the month is FREE. You can get all the details HERE.

So last night night I finished all the nooks & crannies of the circle on the left. I also started adding the "spokes" in the picture on the right. It will end up being a circle in the middle of the circle on the left. I am working this "off block" as my friend Katie taught us during one of our meetings for TAS (The Applique Society). An earlier similar block I did not do like this and, while it turned out OK, it was a pain to sew. I'm thinking (and hoping) that this will be more Sue-friendly!

Previous Twirly Block

So that is what was accomplished last night while watching Blue Bloods. We managed to get into Season 6. Thank goodness for DVD rentals from the library as there is no good TV-watching lately.

Wednesday was July 1 and so Angela chose our next color. It is sky blue. I have totally run out of shades of blue so I have decided to take a pass on the color this month. However, I was late starting the hexies for Heartfire so I will catch them up this month. I have ZERO light/bright green ones for January and just the start of TWO orange ones for February. I also cut out the pieces for ONE teal and TWO dark green blocks for Awesome Land. That will catch me up for those months as well. It all works out perfectly for me because I knew I only needed EIGHT colors for Awesome Land and only SEVEN colors for Heartfire.

I did manage to finish up the pink Heartfire hexies.

My Patriotic Gameboard is finished and hanging.

I finished Block #19 for Afternoon Delight.

I also completed the June 15th clue for Bloomtopia (bottom right motif).

I located my Star in a Star basket, sorted my pieces, and determined that not all the blocks had been pieced entirely. This is my challenge UFO that is due at the August 25th meeting. It is also on my list for the 2020 PHD Challenge.

Various Parts Waiting Completion

Glimpse of 5 Completed Blocks

And how could I end this long post without a picture of our handsome Brody. I think he's looking more boy and less baby!

I'm linking up with Angela at SoScrappy to see how the others are doing with Sky Blue and also with Cheryll at Gone Stitchin' to see how and what my international friends are doing.

Special thanks to my friend Millie for picking me up to visit a quilt store and enjoy lunch out. Fred's kidney will be removed this Tuesday so I don't know how long I'll be house bound taking care of him. Nothing like a good friend to cheer one up, right?

Have a great week!

Getting My PHD in 2020

Yes, that's right! I hope to be earning my PHD this year. Not a scholarly type but cleaning out my Projects Half Done! Gail over at QuiltingGail will be organizing it and I look forward to finishing up a few (that's a laugh -- lots of!!!) projects started. You can also do this by linking up here.

Starting with #1: My Snowman Quilt, a lap-sized kit I bought from Hickory Stick, Hannibal MO, on a Kinderhook retreat. I finished piecing this at a Todd Hall retreat years ago. It needs to be backed, quilted, and finished off.

#2: Scrap Dance 2-Step. This was a fun mystery quilt-a-long with My Carolina Home a few years ago (2017). I wanted to make it a bit bigger and had a GRAND idea to piece a migrating geese border. Got it organized then proceeded to chicken out. I truly want to work this border, then get it backed quilted, and finished off.

#3: Star In a Star. This was the Twisted Sisters Quilt from     . This is so close to finished, it really isn't funny. Sew the ginormous blocks together and sew up the four cornerstones. Final assembly, back it, quilt it, and bind it. Do it!

#4: Sew Spooky BOM. I started this project with my BFF Vickie. I had been visiting her and we went to a quilt shop - surprise! surprise! We both fell in love with an amazing Halloween BOM, signed up, and kept up mostly. We did a lot of motivating on each other's parts too. I kind of forget how she was doing her blocks, but I chose to put in some wool applique. I love the blocks I completed so it is now time to git 'er done!

#5: Blowin' in the Wind. How many times has this been on my UFO list? OMG! Way too many times and it still sits. It started as a mystery quilt-a-long with my local quilt shop, Rosemary's Fabrics. I love this top but I really need to finish this one up! After all, I made it for my own bed!!!

#6: Hugs & Kisses, aka Riptide. This quilt has been on my UFO list in the past and never got to the finish line. This year!!!!

#7: A Very Merry Christmas to You. Started this QAL with Suzn Quilts. Got caught up with the holidays, followed by my guild's quilt show, blah, blah, blah. Would love to finish this one up.

#8: Easter Wall Hanging. This one is so "done" that it is already pin-basted and ready to be quilted & bound. This ought to be an easy finish .... as soon as I find it again! UGH!

#9: Eva Grace. I really need to get going on this one. It was designed by Irene Blanck from Australia and I started it in October 2018 when Irene visited my TAS group. It is applique so it'll be a longer work-in-progress.

#10: Kyoto. This was a yet another mystery quilt-a-long. This time with Jinny Beyer's blog and it is hand-pieced. I worked REALLY HARD to get this one done for the 2019 UFO Challenge at another local quilt shop, OSew Personal. Got to the borders so I really should be able to finish this one off this year.

#11: Shark Bite. This one started off as a Leader & Ender project with Bonnie Hunter that ended up morphing with a quilt I saw on the cover of a magazine. Fred named it one day when I was laying it out to see what it was shaping up to look like.

#12: Tiny Tuesday. This was Rainbow Scrap Challenge for 2019. So fun to put together. I've got ideas for finishing this one up. Let's move it!

#13: Hospital Sketches. Another quilt-a-long, only this time with Barbara Brackman's Civil War blog. Need to sew the blocks together, back it, quilt it, and finish it up.

There are several more that I'd like to add but I think a lucky 13 number of projects will be enough to set for my 2020 goals. Maybe I'll have these finished early and can add a few more finishes. Right, Sue, dream on!

In the meantime, I'll be thinking long & hard about what projects I'd like to do for Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2020! I also need to update my blog page. Happy New Year!!