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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 ...

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 ...

 I managed to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve.   I watched a new movie and an old one on Netflix.  New: Wake Up Dead Man, the third (and best, so far) in the Knives Out series.  Old:  How to Steal a Million with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole. A fun caper from 1966.  

As I watched I quilted and bound the golden bowties wall hanging.  (I left for Florida with it basted. I was afraid I'd make a mess of the quilting. But it turned out okay! I hand-sewed the binding to ...

No change in the numbers.

This week I finished Herringbone and Holes, a free pattern for members of EGA (Embroiderers’ Guild of America). 

Back when I was a member of the local EGA chapter, we did this project as a stitch-along.  I stopped four bands short of a finish.  For reasons that had more to do with me than the pattern, I did not enjoy this project. 

I decided it was time to either finish it, pitch it, or frog it.  I added one more band to make it look like a complete design.  I backed the pulled work with ...

No fabric in this week.

I finished the ornament quilt.

I’m so pleased with how it turned out.  Now I’m sorry I waited so long to finish it.

I started sewing Snow into a pillow.  Here’s the finished stitch.

I’m going to count out the fabric for both here.  I used less than I expected, but they were small projects.

I still hope to hit net 20 yards out this year.  So close, and I still have time.

Fabric In:  8.625 yards

Fabric Out:  28.375 yards

Net Fabric Out:  19.75 yards

How did ...

No change in the numbers.

After finishing a big project, I started something much smaller.

I stitched these designs over 25 years ago from a Bucilla ornament kit.   I knew from the start I didn’t want to make ornaments.  I already have more ornaments than I can fit on the tree.

I was thinking a small wall hanging but never figured out a design.  Then I stopped stitching and forgot about them for 20 years.  Now that I’m stitching again, I’m determined to finish all my old pieces (and the new ones too).  There is no sense ...

The boys are back! 

The nutcracker collection began with a gift from my mother shortly after we were married.  She gave us two or three more.   I've acquired the rest at TJ Maxx, estate/rummage/garage sales, and thrift shops.   They're all German.  

I made Good Cheer in 2013 from swap blocks.

Just as forecast, it began snowing at noon Saturday and continued all night long.  This was the view from the front door this morning.  9" accumulation.  

I shoveled the front stoop and ...

No fabric in this week.

I finished Verticals for 4 yards out.  It’s a free pattern from The Fat Quarter Shop website.

Some of the border fabric came from an Art Quilt Group member destash.  The backing fabric came from the Guild, part of a donation that was earmarked for charity quilts.  The quilt will go to Safehouse, a battered women’s shelter.

I constructed the quilt using QAYG.  I basted the backing to the batting and pieced the quilt onto that.  I took a lot of space (quilt is 60×80), more than my sewing room could handle ...

No change in the numbers.

I am determined to finish Verticals sooner rather than later.  The center is sewn and the side borders added.  It still needs borders on the top and bottom.

I managed to start a little too far over (assembling QAYG), and the backing was ½ inch too short on the bottom of one side.  I was annoyed, but it was easily fixed.  I knew I hadn’t cut the backing straight.  I could see it angled in on one side.  Sometimes you squeak by, sometimes you don’t.

Fabric In:  8.625 yards

Fabric Out:  24 ...

No change in the numbers.

Work continues on Verticals.  I need to add four more strips and the borders.  I would really like to have it finished by the end of the month.

Many days I wasn’t able to get in the sewing room, but I was able to stitch.  I haven’t shown my progress on Fairy Tales Live on the Roofs for a good while.  The backstitch on this piece is no joke.

I’m about halfway across the design, with maybe 40% stitched.  The left side of the pattern is more stitch heavy than the right ...

No change in the numbers.

I sewed on Verticals this week, less than I’d hoped. I have 1/3 of the narow strips sewn. My sewing room isn’t big enough to spread it out and get a good picture.

I think you get the idea.

It has taken over the space. I need to finish it to be able to work on other things.

Now that it’s November, I’m starting to think about what I want to work on in 2026. I like to let ideas rattle around for a bit before committing to anything. I ...

I'm giving out bags of  caramel/cheese popcorn.  Our Rotary Club sold it as a fundraiser and I bought three cases of 24 4-ounce bags.  Rather than re-selling it (which other club members have done) I'm giving it away.  Whatever is left will be part of the snacks for the Zion Woman's Club Bunco night in two weeks.  (That is, if I can refrain from any more snacking.)

No change in the numbers.

I spent a lot of time catching up on all the things that don’t happen when you are away for a week. No sewing, but I plan to start working on Verticals again today.

I began a mindless stitching project while on vacation and worked on it some since. The tree on the right is in progress. I finished the frame, the snowmen bodies, the snowflakes, and the snow on the ground.

I only work on it when I don’t have the mental capacity to do anything else. Otherwise, it would be a ...

No change in the numbers. We were on vacation last week, enjoying a lot of this.

I didn’t take my sewing machine, just hand work projects. We did a lot of hiking, and I had less down time than I thought I would.

I visited one quilt shop, but they didn’t have much fabric. The bulk of the floor space was taken up by sewing machines.

I’m looking forward to getting back in the sewing room this week.

Fabric In: 8.625

Fabric Out: 24 yards

Net Fabric Out: 15.375 yards

How did you do this ...

No change in the numbers. I don’t think I touched fabric this week.

I finished the secret project and needed a new project that doesn’t require much concentration. I looked at a lot of kits and patterns, and finally decided on Snow from Crab-apple Hill.

Fun fact, Meg Hawkey decided to retire earlier this year. The Crab-apple Hill website is gone, and all her paper patterns were sold. Patterns may still be available though various shops and on the secondary market. I’m a huge fan of her aesthetic and will miss seeing new patterns from her in ...

No change in the numbers.

I finally reframed Pumpkin Seeds this week.

A lot of dirt came out when I soaked it, along with some of the staining. The fabric wouldn’t tolerate a lot of scrubbing. When I switch it out for a Christmas piece, I’ll adjust the slack on the left side. Sometimes you do what you can.

I also finished sewing and pressing the pieced strips for Verticals, a free pattern on the Fat quarter Shop website.

Next step is to cut all the background pieces.

Fabric In: 8.625

Fabric Out: 24 yards

Net Fabric ...

Yesterday Lynn and I had a nice catch-up and a good long walk in the sunshine at Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve.  We've known one another since kindergarten and reconnected at our 50th high school reunion.   She lives about 30 miles southwest of me.   After the walk we continued the conversation over lunch.  

She is a realtor and a writer/editor (EmpowerWritingService . com)

Image from bunnybunch.org

Now it's time to welcome a new month with an autumnal rabbit, rabbit.

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In the studio:   

The Christmas monkey wrench quilt is under the needle.   

I've made 10 out of 20 ...

No change in the numbers.

I made decent progress on Verticals this week. Six strips are finished.

Three more are in process.

I also made good progress on a project I intend to gift. Because the recipient sometimes reads the blog, I can’t show that one.

I’d like to have 20 net yards out this year. Finishing Verticals will get me a lot closer.

Fabric In: 8.625

Fabric Out: 24 yards

Net Fabric Out: 15.375 yards

How did you do this week?

No fabric out this week. I won a fat quarter at a local quilt show because my program had a sticker.

I decided this week that I need to keep my projects simple. Although work has improved some, I still put in long hours. I don’t have the mental bandwidth by evening to do a lot of thinking. With that in mind, I started a new charity quilt with the jelly roll from the Donation Sale. The pattern is Verticals, free on the Fat Quarter Shop website.

Lucky there is extra fabric because I cut several pieces wrong and ...

No fabric in this week.

I finished the 12 Days of Christmas wall hanging for fabric out. I love Nancy Halverson’s designs.

I had the binding fabric left over from the border on a different Christmas panel. I didn’t have enough fabric to do the diagonal join. I had to overlap it, and even that was a challenge with less than an inch extra.

Fabric In: 8.375

Fabric Out: 24 yards

Net Fabric Out: 15.625 yards

How did you do this week?