What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Last week was very productive, but the weekend was a bit rough since my back decided it needed to let me know I'd over done it.  We had to switch fitness centers (it's a long sordid tale that I don't want to dwell on).  The new fitness center equipment is the same, but different.  Different enough that my "normal" fitness routine is using muscles and putting me in positions different from before.  My back finally cried "Stop!" late Friday night.  So I have some rethinking to do when we go work out tomorrow.  Thankfully, I felt much ...

There's a lot going on in my sewing room this week (and next week and the week after). All the quilt alongs have ended and I need to have finished quilt tops for the quilt parades.  So my priority will change for this week's list. Before I get to that, here's how last week's list went.  

Most of the quilt alongs/mystery quilts I sew along with start in 1st or 4th quarter.  That only becomes an issue when it's time to produce a finished quilt top for the quilt parade at the end of the quilt along.  That happens for 3 projects over the next 3 weeks. The deadline for the Meadow Mist Designs 2026 Stash Busting Quilt Along is this Wednesday.    

The last 2 blocks in row 4 of Scenic Waypoint are lined up by the sewing machine ready for stitching. 

February is such a short month.  January was 5 weeks, so a true 4 week month is a shock afterwards.  Now that the second month of 2026 is finished,  it's time to report on how I'm doing on my PHDs (projects half done) and link up with Ms P Designs' PHD in 2026.  My PHD report is unchanged from January.   

No finishes, but no new starts either. It was still a good month because there has definitely been progress on several projects.  

Kate's Choice is an almost finish. The second border is attached.  The top border is ...

February will end and March will start between now and the next week's to do list.  This month is such a short one, I always feel behind at the end. Looking back over February's to do lists, it was actually a really good month.   

To Do List for 2/17/2026

1.  Kate's Choice: Cut borders, layer and pin for quilting - progress

2.  SAHRR: Start 5th prompt ✔

3. Scenic Waypoint: Finish corner units ✔

4. Magnificent Mystery: Continue block assembly ✔

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue sashing green blocks ✔

All the progress is starting to show up on the ...

Hard to believe that February is already more than half over.  I need to get busy on a few projects if I'm going to stay on track with my goals for the year.  My weekly to do list helps to keep me on track, most weeks anyway.  I didn't do too badly last week.  

To Do List for 2/10/2026

1. Kate's Choice: Assemble Quilt top and decide on borders ✔

2. SAHRR: Start the 4th prompt ✔

3. Scenic Waypoint: Finish hourglass/center units, start corner units ✔

4. Magnificent Mystery: Continue block assembly ✔

5. Wild and Goosey ...

I'm playing along with Ms. P Designs' PHD in 2026 again this year.  It's my sixth year and I've yet to earn my PHD.  Maybe I can make it work this year?  We'll see. 

Only one month into the program and I've started 2 new projects already.  One was planned, the other unplanned.  I'm hoping to finish both quilts this year. Fingers crossed on that plan.  No finishes yet, but there has been good progress on moving several projects closer to that point.  

My big goal for January was to restart the quilt as ...

Winter hasn't completely relented, but we at least got a bit of a warm up yesterday.  I'll take highs in the 50's after a week of highs just above freezing.  The cold weather has been really good at driving me into my sewing room. One certainly doesn't want to be out and about much in those temps.  More sewing time was definitely a good thing for making progress on last week's to do list. 

It's definitely winter here.  Our low has been -1 F for the last couple of days.  We won't warm up much, barely above freezing most days.  Definitely good days to just stay home and stitch.  I mostly did that last week, so my to do list got a lot of attention.

To Do List for 01/20/26

1. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish April block ✔

2. Kate's Choice: Assemble fourth row ✔

3. SAHRR: Make block for first prompt ✔

4. Scenic Waypoint: Cut fabrics - progress

5. Magnificent Mystery: Work on Dec/Jan clues ✔

6. Wild and Goosey: Work ...

It's been bitterly cold this week. It's great sewing weather, but not so great for much of anything else.  It certainly kept me in the sewing room.  That made last week's to do list look a little short.  

To Do List for 1/13/2026

1. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish March, start April blocks ✔

2. Kate's Choice: Assemble third row ✔

3. Magnificent Mystery: Work on Nov/Dec/Jan clues ✔

4. Wild and Goosey: Finish green blocks, start on blue ✔

Definitely a productive week!  Can I do the same this week? Maybe, maybe not. Two quilt alongs ...

Two weeks of January gone and two weeks left in the month.  It hasn't been a bad start to the year.  My hardest commitment to stick to is moving some of my quilt tops into finished quilts, with me doing the quilting on a number of them.  I stuck with that plan this week and managed to assemble row 3 of Kate's Choice.  

There are 6 rows in this project, so I'm half way done with row assembly.  It will be a challenge this week to switch to quilting as late night sew is on Thursday, not ...

My quilt making strategy for 2026 was to focus on just a few projects  and make progress on those.  After the first full week of the new year, I can say that I've not done too badly with that approach.  

Happy New Year!  Ready or not, it's 2026.  I'm definitely not ready. The first step in deciding my ambitions for 2026 is to look at how 2025 went.  Since 2018, I've played along with Quilting Jetgirl's Planning Party.  Yvonne has announced that 2025 is the last year she's going to host the party and the quarterly link ups.  Her quarterly check ups have been really helpful at making me look at my goals each year, which usually means I do something on them.  I'm not sure that worked so well for 2025.  At any ...

I'm never ready for the end of a year. With holidays in November and December, there are so many other things to think of. It always comes as a shock the day after Christmas to realize that the end of the year is a little less than a week away.  My thought's naturally turn to what I didn't get to this year and thinking of what to do better next year.  In all of those thought sessions it's so easy to loose track of all the cool things that happened in 2025.  So it's always ...

It's been hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it's October already.  Wasn't it just June?  The time went fast, probably because I was busy helping Grad Girl with the transition from student to working woman.  She defended her thesis, graduated, moved home, found a job, finished her first quilt top and then moved back Texas. Most of that has happened since June.  I didn't spend as much time in the sewing room over those months.  Consequently, there was this sinking feeling when Yvonne of Quilting JetGirl posted the Q3 CheckIn. 

Looking back at my blog, my last to do list was posted over a month ago. Life's been busy with getting Grad Girl set up in her new situation.  I'm going to need a new blog nick name for her since she's not a graduate student any more.  I'm sure we'll come up with something suitable that she can tolerate.  

It was nice to get back to the sewing room on Sunday.  After a week away from home, the first decision was to decide what to work on.  I finished off the August inverted star block for the guild BOM so I was free to work on something else.  Since I'd really like to get another finish in soon, the project box with the quilted Kate's Choice blocks was pulled off the shelf.  First step was to cut the sashing strips for the front and back of the quilt and attach those. 

July was a busy month. I was away from home for over a week helping Grad Girl move.  So there's not a lot of progress to report for the July PHD report over at Ms. P Designs.  

There are no updates to my PHD log.  No finishes, but no new starts either.  I can at least celebrate that!  There has been progress on some other projects this month.  

There's been a bit of progress on the Rose Throw counted cross stitch project.  I just didn't feel like doing much handwork this month.  Does it look like a ...

We've been enjoying a bit of cooler weather the last few days. It was a nice start to August.  I'm still working on getting used to my new schedule.  Grad Girl takes care of herself, but the keeping the cat happy still takes a bit of work.  Though neither affected my time in the sewing room this last week, but for some reason I struggled with my to do list.