What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Happy Mother’s Day!  Do something nice for yourself today.

No change in the numbers.

I finally came up with a quilting plan for K’s quilt.  I’m about half way through the quilting.  I’d love to get the quilt finished this week.  I don’t like that I have to keep it a secret. 

I’m also looking forward to working on other projects and starting the paint chip challenge.  As a reminder, this is my paint chip.

In addition to the beach runner, I also started working on this UFO from a class several years ago ...

Another month done and dusted.  I didn’t post an April OMG update, but I did finish K’s top.  It’s a group challenge with the reveal at the end of May, so no pictures.

My May goal will include finishing K’s quilt, but I also want to finish the beach runner.

I’m about 20% through the quilting.  I haven’t free motion quilted in a long time.  The runner gives me some practice before I start quilting on K’s quilt.  I’d hate to make a mess of the quilting on her project, although I ...

No change in the numbers.

Work continues on K’s quilt.  All the components are made, and I am sewing the top together.

I also basted the beach runner and REALLY want to start quilting it.  I pulled some coordinating threads.

I hesitate to start quilting because I won’t want to stop until it’s done.  The other quilt has a deadline.  I sometimes struggle with finishing projects on time and don’t want to get in a crunch situation.  My work days don’t always go as planned and evenings can be a bad time for sewing.

We ...

No change in the numbers.

I have no idea where the week went, but I don’t think I spent much time in the sewing room.

When I did, I worked on K’s quilt.  A few people in the group look at the blog, and I don’t want to spoil the reveal with pictures.  I admit using some of those tiny HSTs.  That surprised even me.

I also pulled backing and binding for the beach runner.  The backing is a nice pale blue floral.  It’s rainy and overcast outside, making the fabric look gray.

Fabric Added: 1 ...

It’s that time to pick a new goal for the new month.  Time passes so quickly….not sure where the days go.

I’m moving on to a new project for April.  I pulled out all the pieces for my Art Quilt Group challenge, which I refer to as K’s quilt.  The challenge is to complete a small project out of another group member’s UFO.  As a reminder, I’m starting with this.

And this.

I haven’t quite figured out what I’m making.  Regardless, my April OMG will be to put the top together, whatever ...

At Art Quilt Group this week we started a new challenge.  Everyone brought a small unfinished item in a paper bag, which we traded.  We have two months to turn the contents into a finished project.

This is what I put in my bag for someone else to finish.  I made it in a class many years ago with no real plans for it. The fabric is painted with leaves stamped on it. The circles are Shiva paintstik over rubbing plates.

This is what I received.

There are three blocks, some random fabric pieces, and 2/3 of a gift ...

Last Saturday was our local guild show for Worldwide Quilting Day at our small shopping mall. The stands and black drapes were set up along a wall, and the entries were pinned to them. The show was set up and ready to view before the mall opened. There were 31 entries, and visitors in the mall were encouraged to vote for their three favorites.

As usual, the creativity and imagination of our members is amazing. This challenge was all about imagination, so even more so this year. In most of the entries, the challenge fabric was easy to see, which ...

The third Saturday in March is Worldwide Quilting Day, and our local guild always celebrates it with a challenge show. Our members are given a challenge theme and purchase a fat quarter of the challenge fabric we have to use. This year, the challenge was “Looking Out My Back Door”, and we were admonished not to take it literally. It is taken from the Creedence Clearwater Revival song about imagination. Some of the lyrics were given to us at a meeting last fall. Like these:

There’s a giant doing cartwheels, a statue wearin’ high heels
Look at all the ...

No change in the numbers.  There was opportunity to buy but no motivation.

I had a Guild meeting yesterday with Jane Sassaman as the guest speaker.  She gave an interesting talk on her journey as an artist.  I enjoyed the opportunity to study her quilts up close.

I also turned in my charity quilt and the red, white and blue blocks.  With that challenge finished, the guild announced a “paint chip” challenge.  It’s something I did years ago in a different group, and many other quilt groups/Guilds have done it since.  Here is the paint chip from my ...

January went mostly as planned.

My OMG was to finish the challenge quilt, Winter Tree.  I posted details about it here and here.

That project was also on my PhD list.

I’ve now moved on to another project on that list, although I don’t expect to finish it in February.

I’m linking to Stories from the Sewing Room, where you can see what everyone else is creating.

No fabric in this week.

I finished Winter Tree, my art quilt group’s January challenge.

I talked about the idea and the construction in the last two posts.  From there, I added beads to suggest snowflakes and used a dark binding as a frame.  I also added a fence made from railroad yarn that I painted white and then gray.  The original yarn was too bright and didn’t fit the color scheme.  The yarn is so delicate I hand stitched it down.  The quilt is about 11″ x 13”.

This quilt was my January OMG and the first ...

In my last post, I shared the AI generated Art Prompt that was the basis for my challenge quilt.  I used some suggestions and ignored others, and put my own spin on what I used.

I kept the suggested color palette, but didn’t use solid fabric.  No surprise there- I never use solids.  Instead of a pine tree, I took a picture of a tree in the backyard and used the photo as a reference.

The suggestion of texture surprised me.  I wouldn’t have thought to go there.  I limited the texture to the ground.  I tried using ...

No change in the numbers.

Work continues on the Challenge Quilt, which I ended up naming Winter Tree.

This is a challenge for my Art Quilt Group.  Throughout last year, members took turns presenting short programs on different techniques.  We covered a variety of topics, including trading cards, junk journals, using AI for idea generation, dimensional fabric sculpture, creating portrait quilts from photos, free motion applique, and others.  The challenge for January is to make a small quilt using one of the program techniques.

I chose AI for idea generation.  I started with a prompt that generated a picture, but ...

After reading my January OMG post, a reader suggested I join the PhD Challenge at Mrs. P’s Designs.  My focus for 2026 basically mirrors the challenge.  After reading the details here, I have to agree.

I’m not one to pick a list of projects for the entire year and stick to it.  I have eclectic interests.  Some creative methods appeal more than others, depending on my mood and how much life is happening.  That said, everything after #7 is questionable.  If I get six things on the list done this year, it’s a good year.

1. Fairy Tales ...

Welcome to the first Stash Report of 2026!

Everyone gets to start over with nice shiny zero balances.  Did you hit your usage goal last year?  Do you have stash goals for this year?

My goal for 2026 is to use more than I buy.  I expect to add fabric this year as I am out of light yardage in multiple colors.  Scraps will get me by on smaller projects but less so on larger ones.  We’ll see how the year plays out.

I’m still working on the challenge project.  There was a lot of trial and error ...

Happy New Year!  Wishing you health and happiness in the new year.

I’m not one to recap the prior year, but I did finish more projects than I expected.  Now I’m ready to look forward. 

For my own benefit, I’m taking stock of what is in process and what has been neglected.  If you don’t know where you’ve been, how do you know where you’re going?  That, and a year from now I won’t remember where I started.

In have two stitch pieces in progress, Fairy Tales Live on Roofs (RTO kit)

and ...

Time for the last Stashbusters check in, the final count of how much came in and went out for December and the 2025 year.

I did OK for the year, finishing with more out than in. December ended with more in than out. I bought with half a yard of this fabric, so I could get this motif along with the one I used in a project.

The mystery box had just over 1 yard of fabric. The little piece is 10-inches square, hardly enough to count.

A friend gifted me with these two cute prints, total in 2-1/2 ...

We’re fast approaching the end of 2025, and it’s time to think about 2026.

The past two years I’ve focused on completing a few projects in several categories.  This worked well for me, but the one category that hasn’t seen any finishes is UFOs.  No way am I making that my focus for 2026.  That, for me, would be an inspiration killer.

Instead, I decided to focus on kits, and I use that term loosely.  A pattern with all or some of the supplies fits my definition of a kit.

These are your standard kits.

This ...

With the holidays upon us, it should be a great time for fabric out. Did you finish some projects last month? Perhaps gave some fabric away? Anything that left your sewing room for good counts.

For Fabric Out, I finished the Garden Panel Quilt and delivered it to the committee at the November meeting. Total fabric out for top, backing and binding = 6-1/2 yards

Knowing that I needed a bit more out, I pulled some fabrics from the stash, including a couple of pieces I just brought home in October. the bright floral print is one yard, the blue ...

It’s check in time! Can you believe that another month has gone by? Only two more check-ins left before the end of the year for our Stashbuster challenge! Once again, there is no judgement when the sale table calls, an adorable print shows up in the quilt shop, a vendor’s offerings at the quilt show are uniquely appealing, or retail therapy is needed. There is only one rule, report as ‘out’ only what is completely finished, quilted and bound. For small items like purses or totes, they have to be finished and ready for use or gifting. The ...