PHD in 2021 July Update

Hi Quilting Friends,

I can’t quite believe that July has gone so quickly. I’ll be back to work on August 9, so I’m savoring the remaining days of summer! July included a few leisurely lunches with friends, and a road trip to check out a new (to us) restaurant in San Leon, Texas. We also spent a relaxing weekend with our neighbors at a beach house in Galveston, Texas. (No, we didn’t build the sandcastle in the picture, but it was very cool!) Ah, those crazy lazy hazy days of summer!

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In other news, we were able to complete several DIY home projects during the early part of the month, including a long-awaited repainting of our master bedroom. I LOVE the new wall color, which feels fresh and restful, and I really love the fact that it is finally finished. :o)

I’ve made significant progress on my PHD this month, as you shall see. . .

Project #1: Make the “Southwest Critters” Quilt

All done! This was my “One Monthly Goal“ for July. We’re not quite ready to show the whole quilt, but will share a picture when we release the pattern for sale. (Probably in September!)

Project #7: Make a throw with my “Diamond Star” blocks

Now that I’ve started working on it again, I seem to be on a roll with this project. Ten more blocks have been finished this month, so I have 38 of the 63 blocks needed. I hope to finish sewing the rest of the blocks by the end of this year.

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My “One Monthly Goal” for August is to stitch up ten more blocks for this project.

Projects #14 and #15: Christmas stockings for the Grand-doggers

This is going to be such fun! We’ve chosen the applique designs for the dogger Christmas stockings, and I’ve traced the pieces. Naomi (my eldest grand-dogger) will have a stocking with a moose design (on the left), and Ruth (my youngest grand-dogger) will have a stocking with a giraffe (on the right).

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These photos are from projects past; I’ll take new pictures when I get the stocking appliques put together and will document progress as I create the stockings for my Grand-Doggers.

Project #16: Finish the teal, purple, and gray quilt

I finally pulled this project down from the top shelf of the closet and had a closer look at it. I’ve decided to abandon the idea of hand-quilting it since you can’t see the stitches anyway, and will continue in-the-ditch quilting by machine. I’ve stitched around the purple chains and the teal stars now, so I’m calling it half quilted. I’ll wait for a photo until the quilting is finished, as it would be hard to see a difference at this point.

And now, as promised, the rest of the story. . .

This is my oldest existing UFO project, dating back to either 1992 or 1993, when we lived in Odessa, Texas. My older son was 4 or 5 at the time, and my younger son was a toddler. Our home had a nice, sunny loft area which was perfect for my quilting frame, so that’s where I worked on my beautiful quilt when I had some time to myself.

One afternoon, after I had put the little one down for his nap, I went up to quilt for a little while. I was shocked to find that “someone” had “helped” me out by drawing all over the exposed area of the quilt top with his markers. (The “artist” was our older son, Ian, who is now a graphic designer.) I don’t recall the consequences that he received for his endeavors, but I remember that I took the quilt off the frame to wash it, and I was able to remove most of the markings. However, my heart just wasn’t in the project any longer so I packed it away to finish “later”.

By the way, I redirected the “artist” to his own authorized project since he had made it clear that he enjoyed drawing on fabric (EEK!). I ironed freezer paper to several muslin squares and turned him loose with the fabric crayons. I treasure his 5-year-old signed drawings of Batman, Robin, a toy gun, and a popsicle, shown in the quilt photo below. This colorful piece of art hung on the wall in his bedroom for several years:

Project #18: Finish the “Monster Mashup” quilt, pieced in 2020

All done! I quilted in the ditch around the sashes, and around the facial features of each monster. The flanged binding is made with the black and purple sash fabrics.

Here’s a picture of the finished project-

Project #19: Finish the Autumn table runner

All done! I used a gold and brown variegated Sulky thread, quilting with my walking foot along each edge of the pieces. The binding is the same black leaf print as the outer border. I plan to give it to our younger son next time we see him, since he had asked for a table runner for each season. I hope that he loves it! (If not, then it will come home with me, LOL.)

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New Projects

Double Arrow Hot Pads

I made these for the “It’s A Guy Thing” blog hop.

Sort of “Secret Sewing”

I’ve started a fun (to me) project, which involves stitching up some teeny tiny quilt blocks! I haven’t worked in miniature since the early 1990’s, when my boys were small. The finished blocks will be just 2″ by 2″, with itty bitty pieces. We haven’t quite decided upon an end use for the new little blocks at this point in time, but I’m enjoying my latest adventure into miniature quilting.

Red, White, and Blue Scrappy Road to Oklahoma

I shared the blocks a few months ago, and now it’s a quilt top! I’m thinking about how (and when) I want to quilt this one, and what I’ll put on the back, but I’m pretty sure that I’ll use solid navy blue for the binding (and a narrow border) when I get there. . .

RSC 2021 Blocks

I made two more Sawtooth Stars this month, in Navy:

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I didn’t make any string blocks in July, as I had used up the 1.5″ strips to make 12 blue string blocks back in April. Most of my NAVY scraps were used up in making the scrappy “Road to Oklahoma” quilt, shown above.

Here’s my task list spreadsheet for 2021:

And my UFO list for 2021:

Happy quilting,

Sharon

August PHD Update Link-up

Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal August Link-up