Mid- June PHD Progress

Hi Quilting Friends,

One of my personal goals for 2020 is to participate in the online quilting community, and so I’ve chosen to work on my PHD in 2020 with Gail at QuiltingGail! Here’s what I’ve been working on since my last update!

Project #4: Plum & Gold King-sized Quilt

I spent an entire afternoon pin-basting the quilt, which was laid out flat and taped to my kitchen floor. This quilt is HUGE, at about 9 feet by 9 feet square! I was a little surprised that Rowdy didn’t “help” me by lying down in the middle of the quilt as I was pinning, but I managed to finish my task without any canine assistance. (Good boy!)

The quilting has commenced! I decided to stitch a grid pattern, since the project is HUGE and I’m most comfortable with my walking foot. I can only quilt this monster for an hour or so at a time, since moving it around becomes exhausting. I have finished quilting the central pieced area, and I’m considering my quilting plan for the plum borders. These photos aren’t fabulous, but you can see the progress!

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New Projects

I’ve finished making a pretty pieced pillow cover for the “Stitching Sunshine” blog hop next week. No photo today, as it is “secret sewing”, but you are invited to visit on June 24 to see it.

Our “Christmas Cheer” quilt is quilted and ready for Susan to add the binding. Again, no photos today. You can see the finished quilt when we release the pattern in July. Trust me, it is adorable.

I have continued working on models for our “12 Days of Christmas” event, scheduled for December 1-12, and our “Stash Bustin’ Scrappy Sampler” Sew Along, which will start in January. One more Christmas project is finished, a casserole dish carrier with an elf applique! (Sew stinkin’ cute!) I’ve stitched up 18 of the 26 blocks for the sampler as well, and I’m ready to get back to it after my adventures in machine quilting come to an end. This is all “secret sewing”, so I won’t share any photos yet. (Yep. I’m teasing you again. My bad.)

“NEW” UFO Project

In my quest to find additional safety pins to use for basting my plum & gold quilt, I remembered a hand-quilted throw that I had started several years ago and then set aside with the intention of “finishing later”. Well, we all know how that goes, right? At any rate, as I was removing those safety pins I found that I was closer to finishing that I had recalled, so I’ve been hand-quilting again. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the rhythm of the needle and the quiet time to think as I hand stitch in the evenings. Susan gave me a couple of finger cots to make it easier to manipulate the needle as I stitch, and that really helped prevent sore fingers! Here’s a picture of my “new” quilt project, in progress:

Here’s the updated progress spreadsheet. Not a lot of change since my last update, but that’s OK:

Happy quilting,

Sharon

Linking up with Quilting Gail!