October PHD 2025 Update

Hi Quilting Friends,

Happy Halloween!  I hope that the creepy ghouls who ring your doorbell tonight will leave some candy for you.  We usually buy an extra bag, because chocolate is my favorite vice and I must ensure that the quality is up to our rigorous standards by sampling it frequently.

I’ve had another busy month, but I don’t have many pictures to share.  I was focused on the fun instead of the documentation. 😁 Here are some of the highlights-

Now that most of my projects from the 2025 PHD list are finished, I’m being lured by shiny new projects.  I will yield to temptation, most likely, but I will try to exercise self control.

Here’s my October update-

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Project #2 – Lone Star Quilt

Progress continues, and it makes me SEW excited! My “One Monthly Goal” for October was to finish quilting two corners of “Lone Star”. Ta-done! Read more HERE.

My “One Monthly Goal” for November is to stitch down the binding by hand.  It is already attached to the edges of the quilt; miles and miles (well, actually, around 360 inches) of solid red binding to finish before I can finally wrap up “Lone Star”. Ready?  Set.  SEW!

Stories from the Sewing Room One Monthly Goal November Link Up

Project #8 – Scrappy Pinwheel Star Quilt

I stitched two more Pinwheel Star blocks for RSC 2025, bringing the total to 20.  The official RSC color for October was “neutral”, but that didn’t fit my vision for this project and so I did my own thing instead.

Here are my October blocks-

Here’s the stack of Pinwheel Star blocks so far-

It feels like I need a few more stars to fill out the warm end of the spectrum (Think “yellow, gold, orange, warm red. . .”); five more blocks would probably do the trick, and that would make a square quilt.  What do you think?  This project will continue into 2026, so I’ll set it aside until January.

Project #11 – Scrappy Rolling Stone Quilt

I stitched my final “Rolling Stone” block for RSC 2025 this month, with pretty golden brown scraps.

I finished adding sashes and cornerstones to the blocks, but I haven’t played around with the layout yet. (I’ve been consumed with Lone Star of late.)

My plan is to wrap up this project by the end of 2025, so I hope to get it ready to quilt by the end of November.  Plenty of time, right?

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New Projects

Out of the Dark, Times Two

We shared our recent Halloween projects during the “Out of the Dark” blog hop.  I ended up making two versions of our new pattern.

Read our post for the “Out of the Dark” blog hop, and purchase the pattern HERE.

Glorious Scrappy

I’ve also finished up “Glorious Scrappy”, as you can see below.

I quilted the center area with simple straight lines, and the borders with straight lines and spiral chains. 

I need more practice with FMQ spiral chains!  Mine aren’t as smooth and consistent as I would have liked.  I probably should have done more “echoing”, but the space seemed too narrow for it.  It’s not bad for an early attempt and certainly not unsightly enough to warrant tearing out, but it wouldn’t win any prizes either.

Here’s a detailed photo of the quilting. I’m  considering the addition of small swirls or echoing to distract from fill in between the spiral chains, but for now I’m calling it finished, and this is how it will likely remain. . .

The binding is dark gray Kona solid to match the borders.  I’ve washed the quilt since taking these photos, and the border quilting looks somewhat better than it did before laundering.  Yep, it will probably stay as it is.

Ongoing Projects

The October coffee mug block is a brilliant golden yellow stripe-

I just couldn’t go neutral with this collection, despite the prescribed RSC theme.  The coffee mugs project will continue into 2026, since ten coffee mugs isn’t quite enough to make a quilt.  I’m setting them aside until January.

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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 October, with just one finish left for my PHD in 2025 (assuming that I stay on track with finishing up the new starts).

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Linky Party

Your turn! Add your link, and then visit the others to comment and encourage their progress during the past month.

https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

We’d appreciate a link back to this post. Here’s one to copy and paste into your post-

PHD in 2025 October Update

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

Happy quilting,

Sharon

P.S.  In case you’re wondering, yes.  I plan to continue hosting PHD in 2026! Here’s the new image for your blog, if you like-

Stay tuned for more information, coming in early January. Subscribe to our blog or the newsletter to ensure that you receive updates.

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