What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Do you ever sit at your computer at the beginning of the week and think, "What happened to last week"?  We had guild meeting on Tuesday and I spent a chunk of Tuesday morning rewriting the instructions for the November BOM block. I decided the instructions weren't very clear, so more diagrams were needed.  I've not heard from anyone, so I'm hoping that means the instructions were OK. Late night sewing was canceled for various reasons, so no big evening of productivity.  Progress was made, but it still feels like an off week.   

My mother's 84th birthday was this weekend.  We went to visit and take her out for dinner along with the rest of the family. So I missed one day of stitching this week.  There was still good progress on last week's to do list.  

To Do List for 10/6/2026

1. Squared Away: Make label and binding, trim quilt ✔

2. Glowing Hearts: Continue quilting ✔

3. Celtic Solstice: Finish quilt assembly, decide on borders ✔

4. Marigold Mystery: Finish Sept blocks, start Oct- progress

5. 2026 Guild BOM: Start assembly - progress

6. Wild and Goosey: Continue working on teal ...

Since September felt like August, it's surprising to realize it's October.  Third quarter is over and we've started fourth quarter.  Just three months left in the year!  I'm always amazed at how fast the last half of the year goes. It's definitely time to take a look at what my strategic plan for the sewing room was for 2026 and see how I'm doing on the execution part.  

1. Guild BOM 2026

All the blocks are finished and all the sashing/border strips are cut, now it's just assembly time. 

2. Wild and ...

Not quite a full week into October and it feels like the month is rushing by.  Probably because we've got stuff on the calendar for this month. Not fun stuff, necessary stuff. 

I took a lazy approach to last week, but I still didn't do too badly with my to do list. 

To Do List for 9/29/2026

1. Squared Away: Make binding, sew to front - no progress

2. Glowing Hearts: Continue walking foot quilting ✔

3. Celtic Solstice: Continue quilt top assembly ✔

4. Marigold Mystery: Finish September blocks - progress

5. 2026 Guild BOM: Start quilt assembly - no ...

September felt like summer rather than fall this year.  It also went really fast. I'm not ready for it to be October.  We'll blink and it will be New Year's at this point.  I'm never ready for how fast the end of the year goes. 

The drive from Houston to home Monday was just over 11 hours. Needless to say I was pretty wiped out yesterday. I slept late yesterday, got up just in time to go work out at the gym and make a run to Walmart.  After lunch, it was nap time.  I just never worked up the energy to dig my computer out of the bag and get it set up.  So I'm a day late with my to do list. 

If you are in the US, hopefully you are enjoying your Labor Day holiday. Being retired, it's just another Monday in our schedule. Though we do usually skip our normal chores if it's a holiday, so we feel like we've celebrated. Which means I get a three day weekend in the sewing room.  

My priority this weekend was to get Squared Away (Soscrappy) ready to go to the long armer this next week. If I want it back before Christmas that needs to happen.  First job was to press and then cut the wide backing to size ...

The big thing that sticks in my mind for August is just how hot it was all month.  Normally we get those triple digit temps for a couple of weeks. It was pretty much the whole month, with just a few days of temps dipping into the 90's. It was a good month for sewing, it was too hot to do much else.  No finishes last month, but there was still enough progress to do an August PHD report to link up with Ms. P Designs.  

No finishes, but there was a new project started last month. It was ...

August seemed to go both fast and slow. The high temperatures did make the month drag a bit.  I'm ready for autumn temps, but I'm not ready for it to be September.  If this year is like past years, I'll blink and it will be December!  

This is the last to do list for August.  Next Tuesday we'll be starting September.  I'm hoping that means at least a cool down for us.  But it does feel like the end of the year goes faster than the first of the year does. It will be the holidays before I'm ready that's for sure. 

It's tempting to start another post off with the weather, it's been an exceptionally hot summer this year.  But I'll try to stop with that and move on to all the sewing that happened last week as a very happy consequence of not wanting to leave the house.  

Hard to believe over half of 2026 is already past. The end of the year will come up quickly. So far I've stuck to the main strategy that was posted in January, but the priorities of some of the projects has changed.  That's not so bad.  The plan for second and third quarters was to focus on moving UFOs to finished, or at least closer to finished.  I'm going to stick with that strategy.

1. Guild BOM 2026

The 2026 Guild BOM has to be finished by the November guild meeting.  The first draft of the block ...

This year will be my seventh attempt to earn a PHD. Ms. P Designs USA is again hosting the 2025 PHD challenge.  The rules are simple, 1) finish twelve UFOs and 2)Finish all new starts (unless they are mysteries/BOMs that run into 2026).  I've never finished more than seven quilts in one year. I'm hoping that all the progress last year will help me finish 12 this year. Even if I don't get that far, if I can reduce the total number of UFOs this year I'll be happy.  

Last year's efforts reduced ...

It's always an adjustment to move from the previous year to the new year.  Mostly it's a mind reset, but it did take me the better part of the morning to reset my quilting tracking spreadsheet for the new year.  That first meant making sure all of the quilty stuff that went on in 2024 was captured. With that all done, it made pulling all the information for my end of the year PHD report easier. 

The year ended with six finishes, six projects moved to finished quilt tops, progress on the rest of the UFOs on the ...

November was a quiet month, well except for Thanksgiving week. I got a lot done so there's a bit to report for the November PHD report at P Designs USA.  Though you won't see a lot of progress reflected on my PHD spreadsheet.  

No finishes in November, but one new start. But the Bonnie Hunter mystery has been on the list since the beginning.  Besides the clues won't end till the new year, so it's not one that has to be finished this year.  I'm hoping to have one more finish this month, so hopefully ...

I'm slowly recovering from our yard work marathon on Saturday.  Thankfully my back and knees held up pretty well, it was the rest of me that hurt afterwards.  Even My Guy was feeling it on Sunday.  We definitely aren't as young as we used to be.  

Even with the Saturday yard work excursion, I had a good week in the sewing room, Squared Away is sashed and bordered. 

I'm pretty happy with how it came together.  This is upside down from how I've had it on the design wall during assembly, but it looks good from ...

Mid-November has come and gone.  Thanksgiving is next week. I'm really not ready for the holiday to ramp up and the year wind down.  But as I don't have a choice, it's time to just go with the flow.  I've been keeping my to do list's pretty simple and it's paying off with good progress.  

It's been a pretty good year in the sewing room. All the stitching time has allowed me to make some progress on every project that was on my stitching plan (and a couple that weren't).  The focus on progress has meant I've gotten 5 finishes so far this year, but I'm set up for even more next year.  

The last project on the plan is Squared Away. This project was the 2018 Rainbow Scrap Project quilt along.  I finished all the blocks in 2018, but then they sat waiting for inspiration on how to set them ...

It finally feels like autumn here.  It's been pretty chilly in the mornings, but warmer in the afternoons. We seem to be done with the highs in the 80s.  I'm hoping to get back to my photography walks this week, assuming it stays dry most of the week.  Before I get to far into on what else is on the list for this week, here's how I did with last week's to do list.  

This time of year it seems the weeks just speed by.  We'll hit mid November by the weekend. I'm really not ready for the end of the year, which will be here before we know it.  So it's probably best to concentrate on the now and look at what's getting done.