May PHD 2025 Update

Hi Quilting Friends,

April was a hard act to follow, with Nathan and Gaby’s wedding in Aruba on the 26th, but May made its best efforts to please and it did not disappoint. Here are some highlights of our activities during May-

As far as my PHD list is concerned, some months are very productive and others are not so much, at least in terms of finishes. I was able to complete several tasks from my PHD list during May, but I didn’t take anything from my list across the “finish line” this month.  No matter; June awaits, filled with possibilities!

Here’s my May update-

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Project #4 – Autumn Throw Quilt

My “One Monthly Goal” for May was to finish stitching the pieced blocks. Ta-done! Read about it HERE. 

Now that the blocks are all finished, it’s time to decide on a layout, get them stitched together, and make a decision about the borders.  Stay tuned!

Project #5 – Christmas Place Mats

I finished piecing the four scrappy Christmas tree place mats in April, and they are ready for quilting.

My “One Monthly Goal’ for June is to do just that, with a little help from Rosie (Susan’s Gammill quilting machine).  Ready? Set. SEW!

Stories from the Sewing Room One Monthly Goal June Link Up

Project #8 – Scrappy Pinwheel Star Quilt

I stitched up two GREEN Pinwheel Stars this month for RSC 2025.

Project #10 – Christmas Tree Table Runner

I used my red and green Christmas fabric scraps to stitch five FPP tree blocks, creating the center of the table runner, and then I added borders that coordinate with the Christmas Tree place mat set (See Project #5).  No photo today, since the place mats are still “secret sewing”.

My “evil plan” is to quilt the runner when I am ready, and practice my FMQ moves.

Project #13 – Neutral Scrappy Rectangle Bag #2

This “play with toys” project will use some of the “Thangles” foundation paper pack that I purchased (years ago), to make 2″ by 2″ HST squares out of neutral scraps for another rectangle bag (like bag #1, shown in “New Projects).

Here’s how the “Thangles” work with scraps-

Each foundation paper yields six HST squares, in exactly the size you need. Easy peasy! I set my finished triangles into two rows of seven squares each, making two panels like this-

Now that the panels are finished, it won’t take long to complete the bag.

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New Projects

I spent some time last week playing with my cream and tan scraps, and made this rectangular zipper bag, which will be a Christmas gift for a special someone.

I pieced the outside panels with rectangles and squares, and then I quilted them with a FMQ woodgrain pattern. I used the instructions from Elm Street Quilts to make my bag.

I’ll (eventually) make at least 5 more zipper bags like this, in various colors and patterns, to give to friends and family for Christmas. (I did this last year with the zipper bags that I sewed for RSC 2024, and they were a hit with “the girls”.)

Ongoing Projects

The RSC color for May was GREEN, so I stitched up another adorable FPP coffee mug-

And I added another Rolling Stone block to the growing stack of scrappy blocks-

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PHD Progress Update

Here’s my updated PHD list, with completed tasks shaded in-

Here’s my PHD tracker, updated for May-

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Linky Party

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PHD in 2025 May Update

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Thanks for visiting! We hope that you’ll have another fabulous month of working toward your PHD in 2025.

Happy quilting,

Sharon