Just Hand Stitching

It's been a couple of weeks since I've posted a Monday post on just stitching stuff.  The eclipse trip, along with prep and recover from knee surgery has limited my sewing room time.  So my stitching efforts have been focused on my long term travel project.  My goal was one full thread of stitching time each day while we were on the road. The first top wing of the butterfly was finished off last week.  

Since I had to go off my anti-inflammatory before surgery, it was really uncomfortable to manage the stairs, so I kept to the hand stitching all of last week.  The hoop got moved to allow for stitching on the bottom half of the wing. 

So the plan for today is to finish off this half of the butterfly.  I'm hoping to cut back on the pain medication today so that I'm not sleeping so much (I slept 6 hours during the day yesterday).  We'll have to see how that works out.  

Linking up with Design Wall Monday, Patchwork & Quilts, plus Slow Stitching Sunday.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 16 of 2024

I've been a bit scarce on the blogging front this week.  There hasn't been much to post.  I had to stop the anti-inflammatories a week before surgery and it hurt to move without the medication. So other than handwork, there wasn't much stitching stuff going on with me.  Surgery was on Friday. Whatever they gave me during surgery worked till Saturday morning.  When it wore off, my whole lower leg hurts now.  I started the pain medication about noon yesterday.  If you see any errors below, that may be a factor.  

I only made it up to the sewing room one day last week, but I kept up with the handwork the rest of the time. I even managed to get my 15 minutes of stitching time before we left for the hospital on Friday. Of course I couldn't have breakfast or even more of downer, any coffee. I definitely needed something to take my mind off that.   

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Apr = 20/20 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 111/111 days
• Success rate = 100%

So I've managed to keep my 100% stat for most of April.  The short term goal is see if I can finish April with that metric.  We'll see how that goes.  

How did you do at working in some stitching time this week?  

1. Gretchen 2. Frédérique 3. Julie in GA 4. maggie f 5. Karen

6. Deb in Canada 7. Melisa- Pinker n' Punkin Quilting 8. DonnaleeQ 9. Quilting Gail 10. Bonnie in Va

11. amanda 12. Dq 13. Andrée

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Week 108 and 109 Photo Challenge: Birds and Frozen

It's been almost 4 weeks since I posted about the family photo challenge.  Both Grad Girl and I struggled with the photo challenge for week 108.  

My knee problems were limiting my mobility, so it was hard to get out to walk.  As Grad Girl was a bit time strapped due to lab work, we extended this challenge for another week.  During our trip to Texas, we visited the Monument Hill/Kriesche Brewery historic site.  My Guy hiked the trails, I found a bench to hang out on finally found my bird shot. 

Kate: Soaring

This is one of the black vultures that were riding the updrafts from the valley below.  There were four of them just hanging out and riding the winds.  It's not the best picture, but it's the best I could manage with my lens. 

My Guy definitely had a advantage with this challenge, it's one of his preferred subjects to photograph.  He didn't disappoint.  

My Guy: Northern Flicker

This Northern Flicker's coloration allows him to blend in with the bark of the tree so well. My Guy has incredible eyes when he's on the look out for the birds.  Northern Flickers are woodpeckers. They can be found throughout the continental  US, while their breeding grounds include all of Canada up into Alaska. 

Grad Girl is managing two concurrent projects, one of which is new.  So she's been putting in a lot of lab time.  Consequently, she had to get inventive. 

Grad Girl: Queenie's Birdie

Queenie does love her toy birds, especially her red ones. This one at least still has it's feathers. She's pretty good at plucking them all out over time.  

We finally drew a new challenge card after we got home from Texas. 

My Guy said once it was drawn that it was definitely the wrong season for this card.  Which just means we have to look a bit harder for subject matter.  I didn't have to think to hard to find my photo. 

Kate: Yummy Frozen Stuff

I love ice cream. But these ice cream sandwiches are all that hang out in our freezer as it's easier to control intake.  It's amazing how quickly a gallon of ice cream disappears from the fridge.  

My Guy struggled with this week's photo, but he still came out with a cool image of a common item.  

My Guy: Cube

Ice cubes have such interesting textures. This photo illustrates that well. 

Grad Girl pulled her image from her lab work (as that's about the only place she's been the last week). 

Grad Girl: Filter Freeze

 

One of the solvents she uses in her reactions freezes as it evaporates and it builds up on the edge of the filter funnel. She finds such cool subjects in her lab. Chemistry is indeed fun.  

I pulled the card for this week.

This is one subject that is definitely open to interpretation. It should be interesting to see what we all come up with this week. 

Stitching Stuff: Week 15 of 2024

I'm a bit late posting this morning. I'm a bit dragged out from all the travel.  We spent all of last week in Texas. The big draw was the eclipse on Monday, but we stayed a few extra days to spend some time with Grad Girl.  I shared one of my photos earlier this week. My Guy used his DSLR and a filter.  Here are some of his shots. 

As you can see in the photos, the cloud cover cleared just before totality, but was back before the eclipse ended.  

As we were on the road all of last week, my stitching time was all hand stitching.  Some mornings I only had time to stitch one full length of thread, but that still met my 15 minutes goal. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Apr = 13/13 days
• 15 minute days/2024 = 104/104 days
• Success rate = 100%

So I'm still at 100%.  We'll see if I can keep it up through Friday when I have surgery.  It's been pretty motivating to see if I can keep the 100% through April.  

How are you doing with working in a bit of stitching time each day? 

1. DonnaleeQ 2. Frédérique 3. Deb in Canada

4. Shelina @ High Road Quilter 5. Quilting Gail 6. Dq at Dreamworthyquilts

7. Bonnie in Va 8. Andrée at Quilting & Learning

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To Do Tuesday for the Week of 4/9/2024

The big thing that wasn't on my to do list for last week was to watch the eclipse. We ventured down to Texas so we could see totality.  My Guy had the special filters and such for his camera, I didn't get that motivated. Even so,  I did get a cool photo during totality.  

We'd had mostly cloudy skies all morning, but we got lucky and the sun was in a clear patch for almost all of totality.  This photo was taken with my cell phone with no filters.  My Guy had his DSLR set up with a tripod and special filters. He's not looked at his photos yet, but I'll post a few sometime this week once he's had a chance to sort through them.  I'm sure the got a few cool ones.  

Since we did travel for the eclipse, I didn't get as much done on my to do list as I had hoped. 

To Do List for 4/2/2024

1. 2023 SAHRR: Fabric requirements, start assembly - progress

2. Rhododendron: Work on last 2 borders ✔

3. Wild and Goosey: Work on purple blocks ✔

4. Indigo Way: Continue as leaders and enders ✔

Even though I didn't get as much done as I wanted, three check marks and progress on the fourth is still a good week.  

The plan for this week will need to take some travel time into consideration.  But I'll still have sewing room time after we get home to move a few things forward.  

To Do List for 4/9/2024

1. Butterfly Medallion:  Continue to embroider while on the road. 

I've made some good headway on the next butterfly.  There should be a bit more progress before we get home.  

2.  2023 SAHRR (Quilting Gail): Cut fabric, assemble backing

I worked out the fabric requirements and cutting measurements, but didn't get any farther. I doubt this gets sent out before I have surgery.  I've got a number of things that have to be done before I'm out of commission for a few weeks, so sewing room time is likely to be limited.  

3.  Rhododendron (Bonnie Hunter): Finish last border

The next to last border is attached and I'm working on sewing together the strips for the last border.  

4. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making purple blocks

I won't get as many made this month as last month, but any progress will cut down on what has to be made to finish this up next year.  

5. Indigo Way (Bonnie Hunter):  Continue as leaders and enders

Still working on making the component for the remaining blocks.  

I'm to to the point that whatever I can get done before surgery gets done. What doesn't will have to wait till I'm mobile again. Fingers crossed that doesn't take too long to happen. 

Linking up with The Quilt Schmilt: For the Love of Fabric for To Do Tuesday.