February - Severe Weather and Hand-quilting

 February - Severe Weather and Hand-quilting

The end of January and the first week of February brought severe weather, lots of well below freezing temperatures, ice, and then snow. At my house we got almost 5 inches of snow.

One of my goals for 2026 is to hand-quilt one quilt top, one of the many finished quilt tops that I have that still need to be quilted and bound. So the first snowy weekend of February I began working on my hand-quilting goals.

It snowed all day on Saturday around 5 inches of snow and single digit freezing cold temperatures.

I trudged through the snow to fill my bird feeder, the birds were very happy and swooped in to dine.

This bird feeder was a birthday gift and I love it!

I have been enjoying this sight of birds in my feeder everyday since I put it up.

I'm ready for Spring ... 

Single digit freezing temperatures is not my idea of fun!

Weekend Vibes

 Weekend Vibes

Quilting and bread making, two of my favorite activities.

Finally getting a few moments to stitch up the backing for this quilt. A quilt top I finished two years ago. I presently have 12 finished quilt tops that need to be quilted and bound.

Sadly, I haven't been very motivated in my quilting journey and a journey I am very passionate about. In 2026 I hope to be much more motivated and re-spark my quilting passion.

A new passion of mine is bread making and I hope it continues in 2026 as well.

Gibby Girl Design - Economy Block Quilt - SOLD

 Gibby Girl Design

Economy Block Quilt - SOLD

This quilt caught the eye of a friend who's grandson will be graduating from high school this year. This quilt is headed to a dorm room in 2026!

😎

Back on the Sewing Table

 Back on the Sewing Table

My Shimmer quilt - in Tula Pink fabrics collected over the years.

I've been sorting, organizing, and cleaning in my sewing room as of late ... and sadly, I haven't even made a dent! This Fall and winter it is my goal to get all of my sewing, crocheting, knitting, and crafting ... ah ... shall I say supplies, all sorted and organized in my sewing room. Just my sewing room ... as to the current state of said supplies, which are in every single room in my house! 

Anywho ... while tackling this task I have unearthed my Shimmer quilt project and decided that a little "stop and sew on something" therapy was in order. One can only clean so much for so long ... right?

I love this particular quilt pattern. It is by Allison of Cluck Cluck Sew

and Tula Pink fabrics never disappoint. EVER!

English Paper Piecing - Hexagons

 English Paper Piecing

Hexagons

I've been working on this EPP Hexagon projects for sometime. This is all hand-stitching and I take out my little box of EPP hexagons and get to work.

I have no idea when this project will be completed or how large it will be, I'm just enjoying the process.

The blocks are KONA solids and fussy cut scraps.

I'm Still Obsessed

 I'm Still Obsessed

... with Red/White Quilts ...

How it usually begins ... I'm making binding for a red/white quilt that is ready to be bound or I'm sorting through the red/white scrap box of orphan blocks.

Just 11 more blocks to go.

This pattern is called Lilac Breeze by Amanda of 

WestwoodAcresFabric.com

The finished quilt size will be 56 x 74 inches

The Red fabrics are from my fabric stash and the low volume fabrics come from previous quilt kits by Amanda that I have made. 

Smoky Mountain Quilter's 44th Annual Quilt Show

 Smoky Mountain Quilter's 44th Annual Quilt Show

Week before last I took a couple of days of vacation and over that weekend the Expo Center hosted the Smoky Mountain Quilter's 44th Annual Quilt Show. 

This quilt show is near and dear to my heart, in years past I have entered quilts in the show and won a couple of ribbons. The Smoky Mountain Quilter's Quilt Guild do a wonderful job putting on this annual quilt show with quilts on display and quilty vendors with amazing fabrics, patterns, kits, machines and notions of all sorts. This year's show was no different.

Mountain Top Fabrics and More

A friend from my hometown and her husband have a quilt shop that had a wonderful booth at this year's quilt show. It was great to see her and browse their booth.

I purchased a quilt pattern by Lori Holt called Millie's Dresses and a beautiful stack of blue fabrics.

I think I am entering my "Blue" Phase.

Anchors Aweigh

 Anchors Aweigh!

As it turns out I had another very nice day in my sewing room.

I had, had plans to go out of town that didn't work out, so I spent the weekend finishing the piecing of my current quilt project.

This quilt project was very enjoyable.

The process was very much like putting a puzzle together.

You definitely have to trust the process.

This quilt top measures 100 x 100 inches

Row by Row

Anchors Aweigh

Pattern by Tula Pink

**{see previous post for more detailed information}**

GO Navy!

 GO Navy!

Anchor's Aweigh!

As a young woman I served in the Navy ... fast forward a few years 😉 and I come across a quilt pattern called Anchor's Aweigh, by Tula Pink, which is FREE on her website. I knew that if I were ever going to make a quilt for myself it would be this one.

Well, this chilly, overcast, and rainy Memorial Day weekend seemed the perfect opportunity to begin this quilt project. I've made more than a few quilts over the years but I have never made a quilt that was specifically made for me.

I am using mostly fabrics from my stash but purchased the Freedom Edition fabric bundle by

Art Gallery Fabrics

I made this purchase via the Fat Quarter Shop which happens to be having a Memorial Day Sale if you are interested.

I liked the patriotic colorway but I also like the floral and geometric designs of this fabric bundle.

It took a bit of time to get the fabric requirements cut and sorted before I could begin this project but I was excited to get this quilt project started.

The piecing of these blocks is exactly like putting a puzzle together. 

This quilt project is going to be a fun one.

Still Obsessed

 Still Obsessed

I do believe that red/white quilts will forevermore be my obsession.

This week, two of my finished red/white quilt projects were masterfully machine quilted by my master machine quilter and friend Jo.

This quilt pattern is called Bear Paw

A vintage quilt pattern that I had wanted to make for several years.

These blocks were made from red/white scrap fabrics from my red/white orphan block box.

Machine quilted with soft white thread in a continuous cat motif.

The quilting is so stinking cute!

I love it!

This red/white quilt is comprised of string pieced blocks.

The red fabrics are all scraps from previous red/white quilt projects and the white fabrics are all various shades of white to off white to tone on tone white fabrics from my stash. The machine quilting continues the diamond shape theme and it is STUNNING! I had originally planned to hand quilt this quilt but I'm so very happy I decided to have this quilt machine quilted.

I am so happy with both of these quilts.

Now to get them trimmed and bound.

For the last few years I have been making an intentional effort to use fabrics from my fabric stash before buying more fabric. I won't lie I have fallen of the "no buy fabric" wagon a few times but seeing these two quilt projects make me feel good about working through my fabric stash. 

Work Space Decor

 Work Space Decor

My work space is a cubicle, a well used cubicle that is a beige color. So I enjoy decorating my cubicle to reflect my personality and the seasons.

On Monday of this week I changed the decor to a more spring like look.

The scrappy patchwork quilt draped over the back of the "blue chair" in this picture was the quilt that was hanging in my cubicle until I changed it up.

Being the quilt I chose for my wintery cozy cubicle decor.

The scrappy patchwork quilt is from a pattern by,

https://sewhungryhippie.com/

I chose the Denim and Lace quilt that I finished last year for my spring time cubicle decor.

This quilt was a quilt kit from Westwood Acres Fabric

https://www.westwoodacresfabric.com/

Work space cubicles do not have to be drab and colorless, especially if you are a quilter in real life ...

😉

Challenges

 Challenges

...

What was that I was saying about enjoying a challenge

...

...

This one may ended up being a HUGE challenge!

Lots and lots of tiny tiny pieces, really tiny pieces!

Llama Llama Llama

Llama Llama Llama

A new quilt project in the making ...

This project has taken 2 days to cut out the pieces ... and I still haven't cut out the borders. 

I enjoy patterns written by Elizabeth Hartman, they always challenge me.

I'm sure this one will be the same, a good challenge.

 

Red/White Checkerboard Quilt Top

 Red/White Checkerboard Quilt Top

My obsession with red and white quilts continues.

This scrappy red/white checkerboard quilt started out as a stack of orphaned 9 patch blocks, a few fussy cut motif blocks, and two other orphan blocks I found along the way.

I love being able to incorporate orphan blocks into my scrappy quilt projects. No orphan block left behind!

😂😂😂

The first quilt top finish of 2025

First Quilt Project of 2025

 First Quilt Project of 2025

Red/White Checkerboard

Of course it is a Red/White quilt ... and a Scrap quilt

My personal favorites

I'm using up all of small red/white scraps from my red/white orphan block box. Along with a few bits here and there such as fussy cut motifs and labels from my yearly Advent Box.

I have no idea how large this quilt will end up being. I'm just going to continue on until all of the scraps have been used.

Memory T-Shirt Quilt

 Memory T-shirt Quilt

This quilt is the first quilt that I have completed from start to finish in a very long time. This year has not been a very productive quilting year. 

Making this quilt was a labor of love and I was honored to be asked to make it. It felt really good to make something so special and to complete it from start to finish.

A Sweet Gift

 A Sweet Gift

This year I was commissioned to make two very special gifts for the loved ones of two of my friends.

This bear is made from a shirt of my friend's father who passed away.

The Bear is a gift for her mother who is terminally ill.

I was asked to make this memory quilt for a friend's wife. Their son was killed in an accident 10 years ago on the 16th of December. The quilt is made from t-shirts printed with special photos of their son and the t-shirts and clothing that were special to him.

I was and still am very honored to have been trusted to make these special heart felt gifts.