What's in Store for '26?

It's a new year, time to share a few of my dreams for this year. This year I don't intend to have as intensive of a list as last year's list was. Most of the projects on that list were worked on if not completely finished. There are several in the flimsy stage that will be quilted this year.

This year is going to be more freeing. There are at least 10 kits I've made by putting fabric and the pattern into a bag. Some of these project have been waiting for years, hopefully some of them will happen this year but definitely not all of them.

Progress continues of quilting Rhapsody in Blue and appliqueing the Stonefields blocks. The Stonefield blocks should be finished this year, then arranged and sewn together. I haven't decided if I'll make the EPP hexie flower for the border or not, applique would look very nice on that quilt. I won't make that decision now, I'll think about it after the center flimsy is completed.

There are several 'out of character' quilts (for me anyway) to work on. I haven't touched my Fabric Vortex since 2022! Here is a link to the November 2022 post.

I didn't remember I had this many blocks and bits & pieces completed. I'm adding in some orphan blocks too. Be warned if you decided to make a fabric vortex it will definitely create vortex chaos in your sewing room!

Here is a link to Amanda Jean's scrap vortex sew-along from 2015. She was able to keep her pieces small, I'm adding larger pieces to my blocks because I don't have the patience to mess with all the tiny blocks!

Or you can check out Jo's Youtube video about Diamond Crumb creating.

Another project started were these very small pineapple blocks. These blocks are foundation paper pieced and use a lot of the small triangles and scraps leftover from other projects.

The pineapple blocks finish at 5", these blocks will definitely not be used for a king sized quilt.

Of course there are all the compassion flimsies that were pieced last year to be quilted this spring. Some will be donated, some will stay here until the right person comes along to gift the quilt to.

The finishing kit for the Designer Mystery quilt, through the Fat Quarter Shop, was sent to me several months ago. I would like to get started piecing the sashing for the blocks so they're ready to add to the blocks.

There are several long term quilts I want to start this year, I'll share those with you when I actually start them.

And . . . I really want to get the bookshelf in the sewing room organized! 

What do you have planned for 2026? Feel free to share your plans and dreams.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss, Free Motion Mavericks, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Patchwork & Quilts

Rhapsody in Blue

The inside applique border has been quilted. There is no background stitching, the quilting is around the applique.

The pictures are from the left outside border to the right outside border.

This border was 9" wide so now there is 86" left to quilt. I'm hoping to be ready to start the center medallion by New Year's Day. 

The next section to be quilted is another 9" row of the blue patchwork. 

Just to remind you, I did not do the applique, that was completed by my friend Elaine.

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Sew & Tell, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

Rhapsody in Blue

I've completed another row of hand quilting, the patchwork border is completed. I took pictures of the whole row this time, there are a lot of them! Going from the left side, the applique border to the right side, the quilted border.

The patchwork border is 9" wide so now I'm down to 95" to quilt, it's getting smaller!

The next border is a 9" applique border. Elaine and I had discussed if I needed to add background lines and she didn't think we did.  We'll have this conversation again after it's quilted. I can always add them after the quilt is out of the frame if we think they're necessary. There will be spaces in the border but not big spaces like what there would have been in the outside border.

Linking to Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

Rhapsody in Blue

The first part of the patchwork section from Rhapsody in Blue is quilted. Here are the pictures from the left side to the right side.

First is the feather border behind the applique.

Then we have the patchwork made from 9 patches. I didn't photo all of the section, just a few pictures because the blocks looked all the same.

The space between the diagonal lines is 2" which is wider than the diagonal lines in the outside border. This is a nice contrast to the border. Unfortunately the pictures don't show the texture. The blue squares puff up slightly and show a nice contrast to the quilted border.

Next is the right feather border.

Here is a picture from the side, across the quilt.

I keep the quilt covered when I'm not quilting to keep the dust from settling on top.

It's starting to cool off in northern Indiana. We haven't had frost yet but it will be happening soon. I've brought the Christmas cactus into the garage to quarantine. I've been spraying them with an insecticide so I don't bring any bugs into the house.

I keep them on the south porch up against the wall for the summer. Apparently this is the perfect place for them, they're blooming!

These are the same type of cactus. The 'old' cactus is a different type and is not budded yet. The white and yellow cactus are smaller then the pink and orange ones. Perhaps next summer I'll repot the smaller plants into a larger pot together.

Linked to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

Rhapsody in Blue

Rhapsody in Blue went into the hand quilting frame in August, I gave you a preview in the August 31 post. Normally, when I'm hand quilting, I give you a week by week progress report. I'm not doing that with this quilt, I'll give you a monthly progress report.

I had a quilting goal which was to have the first border quilted before I left for my vacation at the end of September, that goal was accomplished!

The background fabric is a light gray fabric but looks darker in the pictures. I use overhead led light while I quilt but they're not so good for taking pictures. These pictures were taken using regular lighting, the quilting shows but the background fabric looks darker than it is.

The pictures are from the left side to the right side. There is some overlap of the design but that's how it is. All of the applique has been stitched in the ditch.

I always cringe when I view a quilt that has a pretty quilting design but the background is left unquilted. To me (this is my opinion, you don't have to share it) the quilt looks unfinished, it's baggy and spoiled. That is why diagonal background lines are added to my quilts.

The next section to be quilted is the blue/gray patchwork. The plan is to diagonal stitch both directions in the light gray fabric, this will make the blue chain more predominate.

The width of the border is 14". The quilt flimsy is 118", just 104" more to be quilted! This quilt will be auctioned in the 2027 Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale.

Rhapsody in Blue is a collaboration between my friend Elaine and I. Elaine stitched all of the applique.

I thought about making all the pictures extra large but that takes up so much space. You should be able to click on the individual pictures to enlarge them.

I don't quilt every evening, I aim for 5 nights a week and quilt approximately 2 hours. Sometimes it's less than that, sometimes longer, I don't keep track of the hours of quilting. In my location hand quilters charge by the yards of thread used in the quilting. I've started with a 500 yard spool of white YLI thread. I'll let you know when the spool is empty.

YLI hand quilting thread is available from Red Rock Threads.

Linking to Patchwork & Quilts, Kathys Slow Stitching Sunday, Stitching Stuff, Oh Scrap, Handmade Monday, Sew & Tell, Craftastic Monday, Design Wall Monday, Monday Musings, To Do Tuesday

This 'N That

Elaine came one afternoon, the week between Christmas and New Year's. She has the applique finished for the center of the relief sale quilt (Rhapsody in Blue) we're collaborating on. We don't have a pattern for this quilt, we're just making it up as we go. 

We trimmed the center and added a 2" border, then it measured 36.5". We added a double row of 9 patches, both types. I had sewn the 9 patches last autumn sometime, maybe in October?

We laid out a single side and I sewed them together. The border looked good so Elaine left to run errands while I kept sewing. 

Three hours later the center looked like this.

This isn't the greatest picture but you get the idea. Does the center applique look familiar? Elaine contacted Nancy Rink and received permission for us to use the center applique from Lady Jane in this quilt. We did decide to change the center circle in the bottom center flower, that fabric is too dark, you don't see the circle!

As of now the center measures 54.25". The project went home with Elaine so she can add another applique border, this time a improvisation of the Lady Jane applique.

Rhapsody in Blue is #5 on my long list of projects for this year.

While I'm piecing blocks for other projects, I also sew 4 patches, leader/ender fashion. I try to clean up scraps after each project and cut various sizes of blocks. Right now I'm sewing to diminish the 2" square box. You already know how to make 4 patches so I won't bore you with details. This box contains twosies.

These 4 patches were sewn while I was piecing Peter Rabbit.

I know, poor picture 😕.

I did sew some of the 4 patches into larger blocks several months ago, now I'm piecing 4 patches again so there is more variety. Eventually there will be enough blocks to piece a large quilt. These blocks are 8 across by 10 down and will measure 12" by 15" finished.

In 2024 I sewed bindings on 59 comforters. It's a new year so it's time to start a new tally. I've sewed bindings on 3 comforters last week. They are all very pretty.

First is a bowtie quilt. The squares finish at 3". 

I don't know the name of this pattern but it's a fun design made with bright fabrics. The squares in this comforter finish at 5".

Who doesn't love a scrappy trip around the world? These squares also finish at 5".

These comforters were delivered to the MCC resource center where they will be distributed to the many places that need them.

Linking to To Do Tuesday, Wednesday Wait Loss, Needle & Thread Thursday, Put Your Foot Down, TGIFF!, Finished or Not Friday, Off the Wall Friday, Beauty Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts