A quilty update - June 2026

It was only March when I set out my quilt plans for this year, and to be honest it seems like yesterday - but one of the things I want to do more consistently this year is my quilty updates, even if there isn’t that much to share.

I’m being harsh on myself, there are some quilt updates to share but while last year’s stretch project took over a bit, I’m finding that without that structure I’m not quite so productive. I’m sure I’ll work it out, but hopefully when the weather’s not so warm!

So how am I doing?

1. The teal flying geese

2. The jeans and pyjamas

3. My floral fancy

The update for all of these is there is no update, so that was easy!

4. My English Paper Piecing (EPP) blue diamonds

There is progress of sorts on this one, albeit small. It’s become my project to take to my monthly Monday evening sewing group, and so it has had an outing and a small update. I’ve even moved it into an organised bag so I don’t need to think about getting it all together before I head out, the issue has been life - and I’ve only managed two out of five of the monthly meetings, but then again this was always going to be a slow burn project.

5. Scrappy houses charity quilts

I have completed my first village quilt, and I’ve almost got enough houses for the second one, so that’s real progress. I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out, especially as these are all pieces of fabric that were leftover from other projects (mostly the stretch project) and might have been deemed on the small side for keeping. And I’m sure whoever the recipient is won’t mind about that one bit.

6. Wonderland meets Moda

7. Word Star

Again, there is no update on these.

A couple of bonus quilty updates

1. My mystery block of the month quilt has been playing heavily on my mind, but now the quilt top is finally finished. After I joined the monthly blocks together and added the sashing between those blocks, I spent some time pondering the borders - or specifically how wide they should be.

I wanted them wide enough to add some width to the quilt so I can use it on a double bed, but not so wide that it looked silly. In the end I settled on increasing each border by an inch, and ahead of adding the final border I did the sensible thing and took it to my patchwork group for confirmation and reassurance, and the use of the floor in the village hall to check it out once and for all.

So the quilt top is now done - yay! Now it needs basting, quilting and binding which for the size of the quilt is no small job.

2 The second bonus quilty update is another quilt, but not one made by me. Mum decided to use up some of her charm packs and make a quilt to donate to Project Linus, which I’ll take along with me when I donate mine.

Isn’t it bright and cheery - I love it (but will still donate it, honest)

So there has been quilty progress against my long list, and none of it has been a chore - I just need to work out how to do more with my sewing time, and to make time for more sewing time!

My quilt plans for 2026

I do like a list, and so once again I’m setting out my quilting plans for this year. After setting out my plans for 2025 I’ve learnt it’s a good way to keep me (broadly) on track, and to remind me of the things I actually want to achieve and sew throughout the year.

Last year I also learnt that sometimes my list might be a little too long and ambitious, but that once I’ve set myself a challenge (ahem stretch project I’m looking at you) then I’m loathed to quit. I also know that while I will still sew charity quilts, I won’t be doing one a month this year as there’s so much more I want to sew.

I still have a long list…

There are always ideas and projects bubbling about my head, and often my craft room, and it’s still hard to turn down a beautiful quilt, but I’m trying to keep this list as achievable as I can (for a change), though even now I think I may be adding to what I thought was my agreed in my head list. Oops.

I’m also including the quilts from last year which I didn’t get to (with updates since my quilty update in early February), and I’m ok with that as they are still quilts I want to make, so here goes…

1. The teal flying geese

It was on the list last year and it’s here again this year. I have the fabric, and still love it all, and the idea of a flying geese quilt despite patchworking friends raising their eyebrows a notch or two whenever I mention it.

While I tested making many flying geese blocks in my first charity quilt, I didn’t find the method completely foolproof. I knew I had some flying geese rulers on my pegboard which I’d never used, so I’ve recently set myself a challenge to master these - and I have (I’ll share how I got on with these in a post hopefully next week), so now I think this quilt will be an absolute starter (and hopefully finisher) this year.

2. The jeans and pyjamas

Another one that remains from last year, and I think once it gets cut out then it’ll happen fairly quickly. I’m still planning to use old jeans and pyjamas for this, and its purpose will be to live in the back of my car. I’ve a feeling that this could be a condensed project for when I get a block of time to myself, and maybe secretly (or not so secretly now!) I’m willing that to happen.

3. My floral fancy

I still need my cutting boards back, but I also need a small collection of green fabrics and some more hours in the day. If I could get this central panel appliquéd I think I’d give myself a lot more confidence for starting the surrounding blocks.

4. My English Paper Piecing (EPP) blue diamonds

This was always a long term, slow sewing project - and let’s be fair it hasn’t disappointed! It remains on the list for this year as it’s always handy to have a hand sewing patchwork project to take to my patchwork group if needed.

5. Scrappy houses charity quilts

For this year’s charity quilts I’ve decided to make use of the scraps of fabric I already have, and those which I will create as I continue to sew this year. I’ve found a really cute ‘village’ quilt pattern by Sherri on A Quilting Life which I will use for these quilts, and I’ve already started to assemble my houses.

My biscuit tin of scraps cut to size is working well for me, I’m finding that knowing what size to cut scraps is a great discipline - and it means I’ll always have a project to grab and go to either of my sewing or patchwork group meetings.

I haven’t yet worked out how many houses I need in my village for each charity quilt, but I don’t think I’m that far off finding out. This year I’m not setting a number for how many charity quilts I’ll make, as I discovered last year by doing that I set myself a challenge which I didn’t want to not meet.

6. Wonderland meets Moda

This one is new for this year, and as ever it’s not quite as straightforward as it might be which you may have guessed by its name.

For a while now I’ve had the Alice’s Wonderland Sampler Quilt book, which contains ‘100 quilt blocks to improve your sewing skills’ and it’s a gorgeous book, which will result in a gorgeous quilt. The blocks in the book use 100 Liberty Tana Lawn fabrics, and there are kits available to make the quilt, and I know they are stunning.

However I’m not one for taking the easy route and while I like Liberty fabric, I much prefer bolder designs. At last year’s Festival of Quilts Show I picked up a ‘Petunia’ fat quarter bundle by Moda just because I liked it, and then when I got home I realised I already had a charm pack of the same range - I knewI liked it!

On holiday last year in the US I picked up a couple of fat quarter bundles which also turned out to be Moda (Pivot and Bird is the Word ranges) which also ‘fit’ quite well with the Petunia style, and so I’ve decided to use these Moda fabrics for the Alice in Wonderland sampler quilt, like you do.

I will have a reduced number of fabrics, roughly about half, so there will be more repetition than in the original design, but that’s ok. When I was initially working out if my idea for this quilt would have a chance of working I painstakingly went through all 100 blocks noting when and where the 100 fabrics were used; some are used in as many as four or five blocks, where others are used in just one so I think I can make it work. Or in other words it’s this year’s ‘you don’t know unless you try’ project!

7. Word Star

This is the project that seems to have snuck onto the list at the last minute. It may not actually be sewn this year, but who knows it may be. I’ve recently been smitten by some more fabric - the Type/Ography range by Lori Holt for Riley Blake. Well the smitten bit happened a while back, but each month my to do list reminds me to buy it, or actually my reminder was to buy a charm pack. When I looked the other weekend the charm packs were sold out, which I found more disappointing than I expected, so I looked online for another supplier. All I could find were the 10 inch layer cakes, which were obviously a bit pricier than the 5 inch charm squares.

More searching online found the cheapest option, but something made me hesitate and think on it overnight. I can’t tell you what or why, but I’m so glad I did. The next morning I received an email with a 20% discount across the site from the original supplier who I’ve bought from regularly, saving £25 and postage on the cheapest option I’d found the night before. It was clearly meant to be, so the fabric was quickly ordered and even more quickly delivered.

And it’s just as good as I’d hoped.

I seem to have thing for words on fabric as not that long ago I bought a set of ‘Spread the Word’ fat quarters, which I’m hoping that at least some of will be a good fit with the rainbow of colours I have in the Type/Ography sets I’ve just bought.

I don’t have a firm plan for them yet, but on my long term ‘to make’ list is a Lone Prairie Star quilt, and if I’m lucky then my Word Star quilt may just be the thing. We’ll see.

And one to finish, and more

Of course there is one more, and that’s to completely finish the Mystery Block of the Month quilt. The blocks are made, and the internal borders are cut and I have a plan for the outer borders, binding and even the backing fabric - just don’t ask about the quilting yet!

I also want to do plenty of ‘other makes’ including making myself some more dresses, I’m still thinking about what exactly that list looks like, but having a list for quilt projects for the year worked so well that I’m planning on doing something similar for everything else - watch this space!

A year of my 'stretch' project

Around this time last year I rather foolishly (with hindsight!) set myself what I said at the time was a ‘potentially crazy project’ as part of my quilt plans for 2025. It was borne out of wanting to make use of the test blocks I was determined to make so that my mystery block of the month quilt would be the best it could be.

The thing about setting myself this challenge, however crazy it seemed, was that it became a thing that I didn’t want to fail at, even though back then, and every month since, I said I wouldn’t know if I could do it unless I tried…

Well I tried, and I succeeded!

Not only have I made the equivalent of a quilt a month for charity, I’ve also improved my sewing skills and sewing confidence too. I hoped that I would also sew through my stash rather more than I have, and while I clearly have shifted a fair bit of fabric, I’m very much of the opinion that scraps of fabric breed when you’re not looking!

Seriously.

But I have a plan for dealing with that in 2026, as you knew I would, but more of that another day.

My ‘stretch’ project quilts

These quilts aren’t the largest quilts, but the are big enough to give a quilt-sized hug to children that need one. They have been/will be donated to Project Linus who provide quilts to children who are sick, disabled, disadvantaged or distressed through the donation of new, handmade, washable quilts and blankets.

They are:

1. A log cabin log cabin

2. A mostly repurposed vintage star

3. Four pink hearts and a hug

4. The Friendly Bee

5. Pleated Tulips

6. A Raspberry Plus

7. Half the Scraps

8. Blues and greens

9. Marmalade hearts

10. Ohio flower garden

11. My Dresden buttercup

12. Stars and spots
    

PICTURED (FROM BOTTOM): BLUES AND GREENS, MARMALADE HEARTS, OHIO FLOWER GARDEN, MY DRESDEN BUTTERCUP AND STARS AND SPOTS WHICH ARE WAITING TO BE DONATED TO PROJECT LINUS

Lesson learned

I am proud to have finished all of these quilts and to donate them to charity, but I won’t be setting myself any such similar challenges for this year, though I will still continue to make quilts for charity. What I found was that this was the focus of my sewing time, and it meant that I didn’t spend anywhere near as much time as I hoped on the other quilts on my list, or on garment sewing - though of course, I found there’s always time to make a pouch or two!