Stitching Stuff: Week 23 of 2025

 

Happily, my quilty mojo came back this week.  I got lots done in the sewing room once I recovered from our trip to Texas (Still working on getting all the laundry done, I may have been stitching instead of working on that).  It definitely shows up in my stitching time numbers for the week. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/June = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/2025 = 151/158 days
• Success rate = 95.57%

Hopefully the return of the mojo will last another week.  I've got lots to do in the sewing room.  Getting the guild BOM blocks made before the meeting is an absolute need to do this week.  

No scrap processing or stash closet work this week. Maybe next week. (Assuming I get the guild BOM blocks done).  

I didn't do a ton of photography while we were in Texas, but I did catch a sign outside a candy shop when we stopped in Norman, Oklahoma for lunch.  

It was so very tempting to go check out the dark stuff, but I resisted.  

How did your crafty week work out?  

Week 142 Photo Challenge: Melting

With Grad Girl finishing her master's we all seem to be more engaged with the photo challenge.  I actually got photos early from Grad Girl, but still waited till Friday afternoon to come up with mine.  This week's challenge wasn't hard.  

 

The challenge this week is getting an interesting photo.  I definitely tried to get something interesting, not sure I pulled it off.  

Kate: Melting Wax

Can you see the pool of wax reflecting the flame and the lighter color edges where the wax is softening?  It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to get a good shot. There were only 3 decently clear shots out of the seventy so photos that I took.  The plan was to get the wax dripping down the side of the candle.  Definitely harder to do than I expected.

My Guy took a lot of photos, but wasn't really happy with any of them (seems to be a theme). 

My Guy: Submerged

It's been pretty warm here in the afternoons, so ice in a glass doesn't last very long if you are sitting out on the porch. Ice is always such an interesting subject, in and out of water.  

Grad Girl's photo is a similar theme to My Guy's but makes a statement.  

Grad Girl: 9 AM in Texas

It's hard to tell, but this was taken from her apartment balcony.  During south Texas summers, it's always so miserable in the morning with the heat and humidity.  In the evening's it's cooler.  That's flipped from what it is here in Oklahoma. We get cooler mornings, but often don't hit our high's in the summer till 5 or 6 PM. That makes for warm evenings.  

Maybe not the most original photos, but not bad.  When I sent Grad Girl this week's challenge card, she said her dad and I had a bit of an advantage. 

I reminded her that "old" was a relative thing.  Should be interesting to see how we each interpret this one. 

May 2025 PHD Report

May went fast!  It didn't help that at about the halfway mark my sewing mojo disappeared.  So not as much progress as I would have liked for the month. But there is still a bit to report for the May PHD report over at Ms. P Designs.  

Finally a finish shows up on the PHD report, along with a new unplanned project. The finish is a project started this year, so there is still no progress on the UFO column.  

The 2025 SAHRR, aka Stars in a Derecho Sky, (Quilting Gail) was my finish for May.  Trudy, who has quilted so many quilts for me, is getting out of the quilting for others business and this is the last quilt she'll ever quilt for me.  It's already been gifted to Grad Girl's roommate as we were in Texas last week. She loved it. 

I'll need to amp up my walking foot quilting if I want to see a few more finishes before the end of the year.  Even with my absent sewing mojo and a week of vacation, there was still a bit of progress on several other projects in May. 

During my week on the road, I relearned how to do counted cross stitch and worked on a throw that was started back in the early 80's.  It will join my medallion butterfly embroidery as a travel project. It's not really a quilt, so I'm not going to add it to my spreadsheet as a quilt.  It will just be one of those sewing room projects I'd like to see get done in the next few years.  

Half the Kate's Choice blocks have been quilted.  I'm hoping to finish the other half this month.  It would be nice to have another finish by the end of this month.  This is my second oldest UFO, so it would be nice to get it off the list.  

The lack of Wild and Goosey blocks (Bonnie Hunter) for May is a direct result of my sewing mojo problem.  I didn't even finish 2 green blocks.  The plan is to do better with getting the orange blocks all sashed this month. 

 

Work continued on the center for the Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter).  The left and bottom single rows of squares have been added and the first row is sewn together. It's been fun to watch all those scrappy blocks finally come together.  

All the step 2 block components for Old Town (Bonnie Hunter) were finished in May. Clues 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are all completed.  Another afternoon was spent cutting the rest of the pieces needed for the remaining steps.  Hopefully a couple more clues can be finished off this month since all that's left is sewing pieces together. The goal is to have this project assembled before this year's mystery quilt is started.  

The color for the June Guild BOM was green.  Since I'm leading the program this year, I have to be a month ahead.  Half way through and I'm happy with how the blocks are coming together. It's been fun to see what the guild members have decided to do with their projects.  Now I need to get going on the July block so it's ready for this month's guild meeting.  

Glowing Hearts (MMM Quilts) was my unplanned new project in May.  It's been a fun project to make.  All the fabrics came from the stash, which was my requirement before allowing an unplanned project on my list.  Moving along some of my older stash is always a good reason to start a new project. Plus this one is small enough that I can quilt it myself.   

Maybe it wasn't such a bad month after all?  There was progress on a lot of projects, but some didn't see as much work on them as I would like.   

  

The only progress that shows up on my project tracking sheet is finishing the 2025 SAHRR and starting Glowing Hearts.  No other projects reached major milestones in May.  Hopefully I can do better in June.  

To Do List for the Week of 06/03/2025

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. 

It was a good week, other than the flat tire issues. We picked up a large bolt somewhere on Sunday/Monday. By Monday night we were running with the spare (thank goodness Grad Girl has a car).  After two visits to the tire shop and the locating of a second leak that wasn't patchable, we ended up having to replace the tire on Saturday.  We had to make a few compromises on activities, but only canceled one planned outing due to needing to be back in time to pick up the car on Saturday.  

We didn't get home till late last night.  Now I have unpacking and laundry to do.  But before I get to all of that, I need to decide what's on my to do list for the sewing room.  Last week's list was short and sweet (necessary with all the travel and thesis defense activities). 

To Do List for 05/27/2025

1.  Hand stitching: embroidery or counted cross stitch ✔ 

I'm hoping that my stitching mojo is back. The fact that mid-year is almost here may have a lot to do with me feeling like I need to get back to the sewing room.  I'm going to be ambitious with this week's list. If I don't check off every item that's OK.  If there is progress on the first three, it will have been a good week.  

To Do List for 06/03/2025

1.  2025 Guild BOM: Finish cutting fabrics for the blocks

The neutral background is cut for the inverted star. The colored pieces for that and all the pieces for the sawtooth stars need to be cut.  If I can start assembly that would be great.  

2.  Glowing Hearts (MMM Quilts): Finish assembling quilt top

The first two rows are sashed, assembled and sewn together. Assembly of the third row was started.  I should be able to get this to finished quilt top pretty quickly. 

3.  Kate's Choice: Continue quilting blocks

There's been no progress on this project for several weeks.  I'd like to have a finished quilt by the end of the month.  That may be a bit ambitious, but no reason not to pursue that goal.  

4.  Betty (Meadow Mist Designs): Find backing, figure out assembly

This is my Chookshed Challenge project for June. The quilt top was finished last year and needs to be quilted. I'm hoping to actually get the backing made sometime this month, but figuring out the fabric and the assembly part will set me up for that later this month.  I really need to concentrate on finishing a few quilts if I'm going to meet my goals this year.  

5.  Old Town (Bonnie Hunter): Assemble blocks at late night sew

Another project I've not worked on for a few weeks. I need to figure out where I'm at with it.  I know all the blocks pieces are cut, just need to get all the subunits made.  

6.  Embroidery or Cross Stitch: Stitch one night this week

Both my embroidery and cross stitch projects have been just travel projects.  If I'm going to make progress, they need to be worked on more frequently.  

7.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Finish green, sash orange blocks

All the orange blocks are finished, but they need to be sashed with black to make 7.5" blocks.  I've already sashed all the yellow blocks. I'm trying to decide if I assemble this as a medallion quilt, start with the center and add each color as borders.  That might be easier then making it in rows.  I still have time to work that out.  I'll still work making a few 3.5" red blocks this month. I only need a few more to have all the red ones needed for the design. This project won't get finished this year, but I'm hopeful it will be ready for assembly next year.   

8. Simply Sensational Summer Scrap Quilt (Kevin the Quilter): Continue as leaders and enders. 

The plan is to assemble the center and start on the borders. I don't want to make any more 4 patches until I see if I need more yellow or blue. I'm close to my estimated counts.  I'm hopeful this will be a completed quilt top by the end of the year. 

It's a long list, but most of the items are just to make progress. I think I can do that this week.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

Just 28 Days to Mid-Year!

About mid-morning yesterday I realized it was June 1st.  Along with that came the realization that we'll be half way through the year at the end of the month. I'm hoping that fact jump starts my sewing mojo, because I'm not doing so hot on my goals for 2025. 

I don't have much to show for this week.  My goal was to reacquaint myself with counted cross stitching.  I made a mistake pretty quick on my relearning process and had to unpick a lot of stitches.  But eventually a bit of progress was made.    

I'm going to try to work on this once a week to keep it moving.  Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy's Quilts. 

My Chookshed Challenge for May was to find the backing fabric for Chilhowie.  

I found this yardage lingering in the quilt closet, left over from a quilt started in 2010, finished in 2015. As part of my older stash, it will be nice to use it up and get it out of the stash. The teal and orange echoes the colors in the quilt top, so it should be a fun backing. If I remember correctly, I have blocks that I didn't use in the border that can make this piece stretch if needed. 

Hopefully I'll be more motivated this week. A long to do list would probably backfire, so I need to think strategically.  

Also linking up with Monday Design Wall and Patchwork & Quilts this week.