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It's hard to believe that October is just a few days away.  The end of the year always goes so quickly.  I've got lots of stuff on the calendar over the next few months, so my stitching time is definitely going to drop off.  I've done pretty well at taking advantage of all the stitching time this month.  That is definitely reflected in last week's to do list. 

Hard to believe that more than half of September is in the books.  Looking at what's on my calendar, the end of the year will come really quickly.  Consequently my to do lists are getting longer.  Last week's list was up to six items, which makes it harder to check off the entire list.    

To Do List for 9/12/2023

1. Unity (Helianthus): Make label, binding, finish - progress

2. Macaron Mystery: Prep quilt top for quilting - no progress

3. Scrappy Butterflies: Finish top assembly ✔

4. Malted Mystery: Continue to work on clue 3 ✔

5. Wild and Goosey ...

It's not quite autumn here, the highs have been in the high 80s, lower 90s. But it's amazing how much of a relief that is from the 99+ days we had for most of the summer.  Unfortunately our autumns, and springs too, seem to last for only a week or so before we go on to the next extreme.  I'm not ready for winter.  

The lower temps have made the sewing room much more bearable in the afternoons, I don't have to turn down the air conditioning to work now. Which means I have been spending ...

Where did the last week go?  I worked in my stitching time each day, but it wasn't enough to check off all the items on my to do list. 

To Do List for 9/5/2023

1. Macaron Mystery: Prep back for quilting ✔

2. Scrappy Butterflies: Finish border blocks, finish assembly - progress

3. Wild and Goosey: Make 2 blocks - no progress

4. Malted Mystery: Start on clue 3 ✔

5. Chilhowie: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

Three out of 5, with progress on the 4th to do item isn't a bad week. I didn't get my typical nothing ...

Before I start my Monday post, I always read over what I wrote for the previous week's post.  Some weeks all I can do is shake my head and wonder what was I thinking.  The plan was to get Scrappy Butterflies assembled last Monday.  Didn't happen, not even close.  It was a week of, wrong block in the wrong place. Tried to take it off the row, unstitched the wrong seam.  I did this not once, but twice on two different rows.  So all I have to show for my progress is this:

The pieces are all sewn ...

How was your Labor Day holiday?  We kept ours really low key this year.  I spent a lot of the weekend in my sewing room. Consequently I did really well on checking off all the items on last week's to do list. 

To Do List for 8/29/2023

1. Macaron Mystery: Continue piecing backing ✔

2. Scrappy Butterflies: Continue making border blocks, start assembly ✔

3. Wild & Goosey: Make 2 aqua blocks ✔

4. Chilhowie: Continue as leaders/enders project ✔

My goal is to make progress on my projects, so the items on my to do list are mostly just "keep ...

Someone shared recently that a group of butterflies is known as a Kaleidoscope. I'm sorry I don't remember who shared it, but I think it's a very fitting moniker for those colorful creatures.  It's very high in the running for the name of what I've been calling scrappy butterflies.  

The top and bottom border rows are sewn together. The top border and the next two rows are sewn together.  I've been working on assembling the bottom two rows of blocks.  The final two pieced side border blocks are under construction.  I'm happy with ...

I'm really not ready for it to be September.  The last four months of the year seem to speed by, I guess because we've got the holidays at the end of them.  Even though I'm not ready for the new month, I am happy with all the progress in August. So though I have no finishes to show off for the PHD in 2023 challenge, I can link up over at Quilting Gail's and not feel too badly this month.

Still no new finishes, but also no new starts.  So there ...

I'm really not ready for August to be over, though I'm ready to loose the hot 100 plus temps we've had the last few weeks. Thankfully, we got a bit of a cool down this weekend and I was able to enjoy a much cooler sewing room the last couple of days.  That helped a lot with getting all the items on last week's to do list checked off. 

To Do List for 8/22/2023

1. Macaron Mystery: Start assembling backing ✔

2. Scrappy Butterflies: Continue making alternate blocks ✔

3. Wild and Goosey: Make 2 yellow ...

I'm not ready for it to be Monday again. I don't leave the house to work these days, but Monday does mean a return to household chores and other necessary things that really have to get done.  We spent most of the weekend in Tulsa, so I didn't get in my usual weekend stitching time.  But it was nice to do something different.  We volunteered at Wild Brew, a fundraising event for George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center.  My Guy has helped rebuild Masked Bobwhite habitat in Arizona and spends a number of his Sundays driving/hiking ...

We've had the hottest temps of the year this week.  The heat index yesterday was 120 F.  My Guy was going to go ride, but that's too warm even for him.  I've mostly been hanging out in the sewing room. It's been so warm the upstairs air conditioner is having problems keeping up, we've raised the thermostat a bit so it's not running constantly.  Which means the sewing room has been a bit warm, but with the ceiling fan on it's still inhabitable. Consequently I made good progress on last week's to ...

It was really warm this weekend. Plus the late rains this year have produced a bumper crop of ragweed, so my sinuses have not been happy.  Definitely time to stay in and stitch. It's been a good week on that front, a couple of projects hit major milestones.  Melodic Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs 2022 mystery quilt) is now a finished quilt top.

The colors aren't really true in the photo, the pinks are much brighter and so is the green used in the sashing and borders.  I'm happy with my color choices for this one and pleased ...

I seem to have gotten my startitis under control. And I finally tackled the project that's been filling me with dread ever since it became a finished quilt top. So definitely a good week for the to do list. 

To Do List for 8/8/2023

1. Unity: Finish prep, send out for quilting - progress

2. Wild and Goosey: Make 2 yellow blocks ✔

3. Melodic Mystery: Continue assembly of quilt top ✔

4. Chilhowie: Continue as leader and enders ✔

5. Sewing room clean up: Reorganize project boxes ✔

I'm happy with the 4 check marks with progress on the 5th ...

Year three of Stitching Gail's 2021 PHD program went pretty much like the first two.  I didn't manage 12 finishes, I didn't finish what I started, but at least my UFO count stayed the same.  

There were three finishes this year, I only started 3 of 4 planned starts, and I made progress on 5 other projects.  So it wasn't a horrible year.  

So though it's not PHD worthy, I'm happy with the progress in 2021. 

Cabins and Fans finally made it to the Post Office and Trudy is working her quilting magic on ...

I actually spent some time in my sewing room in November,  so I made some good progress on my PHD in 2021. 

There weren't any new finishes, but I'm close to one.  The Bonnie Hunter 2021 mystery kicked off in November, so that's added to the list. Both mysteries on my list won't finish till 2022, so they won't count towards my PHD in 2021. 

I'm not going to get anywhere close to 12 finishes this year.  I had hoped for at least 8, but work had other ideas. I readjusted my attitude in ...

Being off work is really conductive to finding time to sew.  I checked off every item on my to do list for the week. 

To Do List for 11/23/2021

• Cabins and Fans: Prep for quilting, pack for shipping ✔
• Macaron Mystery: Make flying geese for steps 4 and 5 ✔
• Rhododendron Mystery: Start step 1 ✔
• Unity: Make flying geese for step 8 ✔

To Do List for 11/30/2021

Cabins and Fans: Mail out for ...

This year certainly hasn't gone to plan on the work or quilting fronts.  The calendar says it's October, just three months in the year to make good on those goals we set back in December.  I'm disappointed in the lack of progress this year, last year was so good for finishing projects. But life sometimes throws us curves, so I'm trying hard to remember that progress counts too.  So I'm going to celebrate the progress made with Quilting Gail's 2021 PHD quilt along.  

There are two updates to my 2021 PHD report. 

There's ...

It's been a fast month.  Work is still insanely busy, but I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Keep your fingers crossed for me on that front.  I'm not working as late as much as I was, that's meant more time for stitching stuff at home.  That shows in the progress on last week's to do list. 

We had a nice visit with the family this weekend.  Thankfully everyone is healthy.  We celebrated 3 birthdays, so it was a fun weekend.  Between work and the family time, there wasn't a lot of stitching time last week, but there are still a few check marks on last week's list.

To Do List For Week of 8/31/2021

• Cabins and Fans: Sew halve together, start borders - progress
• Scrappy Butterflies: Continue making Irish Chain blocks ✔
• Unity: Make HSTs for step 6 ✔

August has become September, just 4 months left in 2021.  One of my goals for this year was to finish 8 quilts. I've been playing along with Quilting Gail's PHD in 2021 as one way of staying motivated to meet that goal.  

No new finishes, but no new starts either.  So that's a bright spot. There was progress on all of the active projects so that's another plus. 

Morewood ...