A Great Quilting Start to 2026 - More Finishes!

I have a donation pile of 7 quilts already for 2026 and it's still January! Yay!!! (One was finished December 30.)

I decided to use some squares for some quick quilts this year. Using leftover fabric, I paired a print with a 'solid' for each quilt. I'm hoping to diminish my stash and gain some extra donation quilts. Blue with Paint is the first Simply Squares Quilt. 

I used a striped fabric for the binding. It seemed to have the perfect colors.

I used a red fabric for the back.

Size:         56" by 56"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - 38201 Steel Blue

                 back - 70001 Cardinal

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Very large meander

I wanted to do something with different grays. I saw a photo of a quilt with string blocks set in opposite directions in a monotone. I decided that would be a good background for a large flower. I made Grays with a Flower as a donation quilt. 

When I cut the various gray fabrics, I cut straight pieces in varying widths, 1" to 2.5". I added in a few fabrics that had rosy reds since the flower fabric was rosy red/pink. And now there are some pinkish pieces mixed in with the grays - when I laundered this quilt, the Color Catcher did not pick up any color but a few of the gray fabrics did. They seem to be dyed well and have not changed with a few washings. Since the dyeing seems to be very even and just on entire pieces of fabric, I'll go with it.

The back is a bright rosy pink that blends in well with the front. 

 

The small border (white with pink), the large border (dark grey with white), and the flower petals (pink with white) are all from the same fabric line.

I'm not sure if you can see the quilting. Here are a couple closeups.

Size:         58" by 68"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - 10430 Battleship

                 back - 70187 Ruby

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    flower center - spiral,

                 flower stem - serpentine stitch,

                 flower petals and leaves - lazy eights,

                 background - meander

When I realized that I had a lot of 2.5" squares that were multiples, I collected them to make 9-Patch Postage Stamp. I made this over a period of time and tried to use some brighter colors. 

Bright sun is coming in the window
on this below zero winter day.

I quilted my favorite for these postage stamp quilts - a loop de loop with a loop in each square.

The back of this donation quilt is a navy print with blue, turquoise and purple.

Size:         55" by 66"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - 17543 Light Gray

                 back - 32965 Navy

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    loop de loop with a loop in each square

I kept seeing this quilt on Facebook and eventually bought the pattern. Luminary was interesting and fun to make. 

I did add the borders on the two ends to make the quilt a little larger. The colored pieces in the strip are left over from the diamonds and trimmed to be the same width.

The large star is made from diamonds - I sewed strips together, sliced them across the seams into strips (no measuring), sorted these strips into piles, and then sewed the pieces together. Diamonds were then cut from each piece. The small pieces in the diamonds are all different shapes and sizes.

You can easily see one end of a diamond and
maybe figure out where the other end is.

The back is from my stash and I thought the colors were perfect. 

I love interesting fabrics on the back of quilts.  This quilt will be donated.

Size:         49" by 66"

Thread:     Glide 50-wt, 32975 Lt Turquoise             

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Meander

Health Update: We saw the doctor again.We still had Covid or another virus. She decided we should quarantine for another week and take heavy doses of a steroid. That meant I did not go to my retreat but as I felt better, I was able to do some quilting, especially handwork.These quilts all just needed the binding hand sewn. Our week is up and we are both better. We've been told that it will take a while to feel really good but we know we are feeling some better every day. (We still are on some meds.) As of today, we can rejoin the world so I think I'll go to the grocery store. ;)

Finishes Finishes!!!

I've been doing a little quilting and projects were finished!

The first project is wool work and not quilted. Like Father, Like Son is a pillow that I made using a Primitive Gatherings Kit. I actually had this done in time for Christmas.

I enjoy wool work and this 16" square pillow was pretty quick to make. The back is black wool which came in the kit.

I made Bursting In Air from a Riley Blake Table Topper Kit. I was attracted to the box that the kit came in 

and when I looked closer, I liked the kit too! 

I used a 'plain' red fabric on the back 

and I quilted this on my domestic Juki. 

This little quilt will stay with us.

Size:         36" by 36"

Thread:    Aurifil 40wt thread, top - Dove Gray 2600

                 back - Red 1103

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Straight lines

Postage Stamp with Lights and Darks is made with 2.5" square. I decided I had plenty of light fabric scraps to use in this quilt rather than using white yardage. 

I enjoy making these quilts with 2.5" squares and I hope the recipient might find a few unexpected I-Spy sightings in this donation quilt. The back is a 'plain' red fabric. 

I enjoy quilting quilts like this on the long arm when I quilt a loop in each square - it's very zen for me.

Size:         60" by 60"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top - 10877 Sterling

                 back - 70187 Ruby

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Loop de loop with a loop in each square

Partly Sunny is another donation quilt. 

I have an abundance of red scraps (still) and decided some kind of string quilt would be good. Since I needed to cut all of the pieces and there was a 2.5" strip in the pile, I chose to cut all of the pieces 2.5" wide. Then I made long foundation strips in various sizes and sewed them together.

I felt that a little interest was needed with all of the red, so I added some yellow pieces. 

The backing is red with a deeper red swirl.

Size:         60" by 72"

Thread:    Glide 50-wt, 70187 Ruby

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Loop de loop with a single and double loops

I've made a dent in my works in progress but there's still quilts to have binding sewn and still quilts that need to be quilted and I need to figure out a graduation quilt. I have a quilt retreat coming up and hope to come home with more finishes.

Health update:

We survived Covid. Now, I think, we are recovering from Covid Rebound. We may need to go visit the doctors again next week. At least we both feel some better.

Colour Value Mystery Quilt Finish.

Whew! I squeezed in one last finish this year. This mystery began March 16 and I posted a little about it here. It's been a weird, busy year and life and other quilts got in the way. Then, when this quilt was finally quilted, I realized that a needle had shredded quilting threads in various spots meaning I needed to do multiple repairs. Last night I finally finished the last problem so now all is well.

The Colour Value Mystery Quilt is now known as Evening Light by Canuck Quilter Designs. I used fabric from my stash for this entire quilt including the dark royal blue batik on the back.

This donation quilt was fun to make and a number of people in the mystery QAL used various layouts for the finished quilt.

Size:          57" by 74"

Thread:     Glide 50-wt, top - 30290, Baby Blue

                  back - 30281, Blueberry

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Large double and single loop design

There are lots of ideas moving around my brain for quilts to make in 2026. Of course I already have a pile of quilts to bind and a pile of quilts to quilt. I'll make a concerted effort to use some larger stash pieces in some simple 2-fabric donation quilts.

We were at the UW Health American Family Children's Hospital
earlier this month and dropped off a big pile of quilts. I always wish I had more. Maybe in 2026, I'll be able to make more than any other year or at least more than this year - we'll see!

I hope your family enjoyed the holidays. Ray was diagnosed with Covid on the 24th and I got sick on the 25th so our holidays have been all about rest. We are beginning to feel better. Hopefully things will get back to normal around here within the next week or so.

Happy New Year!

The Last of the Backyard Fabric Quilts

Months after Seams Like Quilting opened in Spooner, WI, a few years ago, I bought a pack of fat quarters - Ruby Star Society Backyard by Sarah Watts. I slowly began making quilts and finished them this year: Backyard 1 Whirly Jig, Backyard 2, and Backyard 3. Recently, I was cleaning out some scraps, and I realized I still had enough of the Backyard line to make a small donation quilt, Backyard Fabric Scraps.

Size:          47" square

Thread:     Glide 50-wt, top -17543 Light Grey, 

                  back - 10439 Battleship Gray

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    3Cs or Open Blossom

I quilted this with 3Cs. The first C is elongated and the second and third just echo the first. Of course, you can vary things and use just 2 or as many Cs as needed.

I think you can see the quilting here. I used large Cs on this quilt.

The backing on this quilt is a fabric that I purchased on our fall trip while we were at the Fabric Patch in Ironwood, MI.

I think I'm caught up blogging about quilt finishes. Whew! So it's time to get back to quilting.

Sweet Kisses

Sweet Kisses is a pattern from Gigi's Thimble. I had seen a picture of the pattern and I drafted my own measurements. In hindsight, it would have been much easier to purchase the pattern. The blocks are set on point and setting triangles are used on all four sides. 

Size:          59" by 81"

Thread:     Glide 50-wt, top -17443 Bone, back - 38201Steel Blue

Batting:     Dream Cotton                                           
Quilting:    Loop de loop (large circular loops)

This quilt was a great stash buster for my neutral scraps. The kisses are all bright fabrics also from my stash.

Here's a photo with different lighting; maybe you can see details better. The quilting is a large loop-de-loop with a loop in each square.  

The backing was fabric in my stash that I purchased a long time ago because I loved it. It's a modern print that speaks to me. I hope the recipient of this donation quilt likes the back as much as I do.

A closeup view of the back.

This is the last of the three quilts that I finished binding on a recent retreat.

Scrappy HST's

A long time ago, I saw a picture of a quilt made with triangles or Half Square Triangles (HSTs). I knew I wanted to try the idea of having a square in the middle and triangles radiating out in four directions. After a little figuring, Scrappy HSTs was created. I have no idea if it is like the quilt I saw but the middle is the same.

You can see the white square in the middle. I began with HSTs that were 3.5" square and finished at 3" square. I wanted the colored fabrics to read solid but I did vary from that a little.

I made this a quarter at a time. My very rough line shows you a quarter. Think of cutting the quilt on the two diagonal lines through the middle.

For each quarter, I began at the right with a setting triangle. Next I made a strip with an HST and a setting triangle. Then I made a strip with 2 HSTs and a setting triangle. I continued working to the left until the last strip had 13 HSTs and a setting triangle. Then I joined the strips. When I had 4 quarters made, I joined them. I like the design made on each of the corner-to-corner diagonal of the quilt - it looks like flying geese.

Size:         64" square

Thread:     Glide 50-wt, top -17543 Lt Grey, back - 50172 Autumn

Batting:     Dream Cotton
Quilting:    Loop de loop (large)

I quilted this with a large loop-de-loop, one loop in each HST.

The back is orange fabric from my stash.

The binding is some leftover orange Grunge fabric. This is a donation quilt on which I finished hand-stitching the binding at a recent retreat.

Large Postage Stamp with White

I was at our fall quilt retreat recently. We had a great time quilting, talking, eating, and relaxing and we got our first snow of the season! I look forward to our retreats (there are just 4 of us and we enjoy this time together.) This fall, one member of our group couldn't make it so maybe we'll have a winter retreat to catch up on things.

I sewed blocks for a few different quilts but I didn't finish any quilt tops. However, I hand stitched binding on three quilts! 

Large Postage Stamp with White is finished and I love it. It's supposed to be a donation quilt but...

Size:         60" square
Thread:    Glide 50-wt, top-17543 Lt Grey, back 20404 Med Brown
Batting:    Dream Cotton
Quilting:   Loop de loop

The quilt used 900 2 1/2" squares - 450 white and 450 cut from scraps. One would think that many squares would make a dent in a basket of scraps but not much!

I think you can see the quilting in the following photo. I did a loop in each 2" finished square. I found this fun and very relaxing to quilt

The back is brown fabric that I purchased on our October trip at Barn Door Quilts in Door County.

I used the same brown for the binding.