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. ;)