Hi Quilting Friends,
And, just like that, it’s over. My last day of teaching is today. The graduation ceremony is tomorrow evening and then I’m done forever, after 25 years of full-time teaching. I’ve taught nine different science classes in ten classrooms at two campuses to around 3600 students (give or take, and certainly not all at once!), grades 6 through 12. I probably won’t notice that I’ve retired until school starts up again in August, but I think that I’m gonna enjoy this new gig!
This month I spent a day at jury duty, hosted a puppy play date + family lunch, got spoiled at Mother’s Day brunch, attended the end of year staff party as well as a happy hour with work friends, enjoyed game night + puppy play date with our neighbors, and celebrated Madison’s high school graduation (she’s Susan’s eldest granddaughter). Here’s a picture of Madi and I with the quilt that I made for her graduation gift (Isn’t she gorgeous!) –
We lost our power, phones, and internet for two days after the big storm on the 16th, but suffered no major (or even minor) catastrophes from the experience. If you’ve been watching the news, you already know that others in the area were much less fortunate. School was cancelled for three days because of power outages and final exams were cancelled for nearly all students. I was able to catch up on grading the end-of-year projects (once our power was back on) while I was at home so the time off was productive.
Some of my planned sewing time was disrupted by the big windstorm/ power outage, but I’ve managed to make a little progress on several of my PHD projects. The end of the school year is always a busy season, so I keep my expectations low regarding the amount of time that I can spend in the studio.
That’s yet another strategy for PHD in 2024! “Setting realistic expectations” is an important skill in preventing burn-out and frustration. Set those goal posts a bit closer during the busy times, and then let it go.
And here’s my PHD update for May-
Project #3- Lone Star Quilt
I pulled the quilt top out of storage to press it, and found that I had saved leftover blue and red fabrics that match the quilt. (Score!) I added a narrow blue border all around the quilt’s edges to stabilize it further, and I’ve prepared the red binding. I’ve purchased binding and batting as well. I took her to school to use the empty floor space for layering and pin-basting.
Next step is to get her quilted. I enjoy hand-quilting, so I look forward to the slow-stitching. It is going to take quite a while to hand-quilt this baby; she’s about 85″ by 85″ square. I will be very suprised if I’m able to finish quilting her in 2024, but I can at least get started.
Project #8- Mint & Chocolate Batik Quilt
I made 12 more Hunter’s Star blocks this month, bringing the total to 36 blocks finished. I can’t highlight anything on my spreadsheet for this project but progress is steady. I have enough fabric to make about 24 more blocks, so I’ll keep on stitching!
Project #9- FPP Vehicles from Scraps
My “One Monthly Goal” for May (which I failed to link up at the start of May) was to design and stitch at least two FPP vehicles with my scraps. Ta-done! I had a blast drawing and stitching these cute little vehicles, and I shared the new designs during the “On the Road Again” blog challenge, HERE.
Project #11 – Blue Ridge Mountain Star Topper
I made the center block for this project last weekend because I couldn’t wait to get started –
My “One Monthly Goal” for June is to finish the table topper with scraps and stash fabrics that I have on hand, and write a pattern for it. Ready, set, SEW!
Stories from the Sewing Room One Monthly Goal June Link Up
Project #13 – Holidays at Home Kit
A friend passed this pretty Christmas quilt kit along to me, and I’ve decided that it would be a fun project to play with this year. I’ll need to find suitable fabric for backing and (maybe) binding, but that shouldn’t be much of a challenge.
New Projects
The May RSC2024 color was PINK, so I made a PINK zip bag,
PINK place mat with some feather quilting in the borders,
and a PINK Rolling Stone block.
Read more about them HERE and HERE.
PHD Progress
Here’s my updated PHD task list-
And my updated PHD tracker for May-
How is your PHD coming along? Link up here to share your progress!
Happy quilting,
Sharon
Ms P Designs USA 
I thought about all of my Texas friends during the storms. It’s been crazy with all the tornadoes and rain everywhere. So thankful you didn’t have any damage. I know you are ready for your retirement now! Despite the power outage, you were able to get a good bit accomplished. I love that center block you made. Gorgeous! The Lone Star – WOW!! Your great niece is definitely beautiful! I know she will enjoy her quilt. Have a great weekend!
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Thanks Brenda! Enjoy your weekend. 😊 Ms P Designs USA
http://www.mspdesignsusa.com
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Congrats on your retirement.
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Thank you! 😊 Ms P Designs USA
http://www.mspdesignsusa.com
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Congratulations on the retirement! I retired a couple of years ago after 38 years of teaching high school language arts and computer science. And yes – when school was starting in the fall, then it actually felt real.
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Thank you! 😊
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Congratulations on your retirement. It does take a while to sink in. For having such a busy month, you did really well on moving along several projects. So glad you didn’t have any significant damage from the storms. I’m ready to see the end of storm season, it’s been a scary one this year.
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Thank you! We’re nearly done with the spring storm season, so I’m hoping that hurricane season ends up being quite this year. We shall see. . . Ms P Designs USA
http://www.mspdesignsusa.com
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