Thursday, January 22, 2026

Getting stuff done and I Quilted This!

Hello and welcome 😊 Has your winter started yet? Apparently the weather here is cold enough for the Rideau Canal to be open for skating - so it's officially winter in Ottawa. The weather inside my studio is lovely so stuff is getting done! My plans for 2026 are ambitious, but at least I'm working on them.

FMQ the Cowboy panel quilt (SAHRR 2025)


I stitched-in-the-ditch most of the quilt and it was time to start quilting the blocks. I used the walking foot for the quilting that was straight lines and then switched to the FM or darning foot for the rest. I'm very happy to report that my tension was perfect even with the cotton thread.

Here are a few of the blocks. Some of them were quilted in straight lines with the walking foot.

Straight line quilting

Other blocks got a mix of straight line quilting and then FMQ. 

Straight line and FMQ for this block

Some blocks were FMQ.

Lots of fun FMQ

FMQ with dark variegated thread.
The cow will be outlined in another colour.

FMQ with the possibility of adding
more details on the hat and boots

I worked through the quilt by colour. The straight lines were mostly done with blue thread. I then started FMQ with the dark variegated thread and finally a soft gray polyester thread. Once I finish quilting the blocks, I'll tackle the panel. I really don't mind following the fabric's pattern but I have to be careful to actually stitch on the line! 😁

First baby quilt in the making

My youngest adult child has three friends who are having babies so we are making them baby quilts. JJ helped me decide on the patterns and the fabric. This first quilt is from the Martingale book, Modern Baby. We chose the Square Dance pattern because we want to include fabric that relates to the parents' hobbies and lives. 

Square Dance pattern
Modern Baby by Martingale












I'm using my stash of Kona cottons to make the shapes while the squares within will be novelty fabric to reflect their interests and of course baby.

This is what the quilt looks like so far. Unfortunately my design wall is note wide enough, but you get the idea.

The first row of the quilt

The first block is a Star Wars fabric, the second is cute dinosaurs, the third fabric has a rainbow and flowers and says "Be happy, be kind, be you" and the fourth fabric is adventure themed.

It took me a while to figure things out because the pattern assumes that you'll make all of the same pieces at once. Since I'm using the fabric I have, I had to figure out how to make each block. The trickiest part was to make the half square triangles with three different fabrics. It took a few tries but I got it!  I'm happy to report that I didn't have to use the seam ripper much 😁

I've made a rough plan to keep me organised. 

The plan to keep me on track

Embroidery

Yesterday I finally put away our Christmas tree. Now I have my slow stitching space back in our living room. I started by stitching the year in the next square of my Not so daily stitching project. I couldn't help stitching it in white 😀 as a nod to the silly colour of the year, but I then had to add a bit of colour!


I also experimented with the turkey stitch. I stitched it in beautiful silk yarn. Our local yarn store is closing since the owner is retiring. I've been in there a few times in the last couple of months to pick up some beautiful yarns to embroider with. You can get quite a bit when it's 40-50% off.

Practicing the turkey stitch with silk yarn

before the haircut!

Turkey stitch with a trim











This was very much a practice block, but I guess I should add a little something to make it more cohesive.

I've been wanting to practice this stitch but didn't remember its name. Fleur Woods, the textile artist that I took a course from last year is offering the same course again and since I registered last year, I can participate in this one. I reviewed parts of the course and found the turkey stitch. I want to use this in the last coiled project that I was working on to add flowers to the piece. The turkey stitch will be perfect! 

What I learned
  • I've really enjoyed quilting the cowboy panel quilt. With so many blocks to quilt, it's fun to jump from one to another to use the same coloured thread.
  • Since my tension is doing great, I don't even have to change the bobbin thread except from dark to light to match the top thread.
  • I do enjoy FMQ by following the lines in the fabric images. It's just getting harder to stay on the line but I'm OK if I take it slowly.
  • I'm also FMQ with a strong pair of reading glasses, that has a clip-on magnifier attached to them. What a difference it makes. I now have two sets (upstairs and down) and use them to embroider and get that darn thread/yarn into the needle!
  • I really enjoyed figuring out the Square Dance baby pattern. I should be able to use the Kona solids from my stash. We also have some really cool novelty fabrics to choose from.
  • I've been really scattered and overwhelmed during the last week. Today doing some slow stitching really helped to calm me down. I feel so much better. 😊
Coming up
Things are getting busy so I'm going to use this space to keep myself organised!
  • This week's prompt for Project Quilting is plaid - the finished project is due Sunday.
  • Round 1 of SAHRR 2026 is now out - it's the hour glass block. I need to get fabric from my stash and make at least one block. The linking party closes on Monday.
  • The Cowboy panel quilt is my January OMG - I have until January 31th to post it.
  • The blue house for A Quilter's Cove QAL needs to be done by January 31th so that I can host the linking party!
Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Why not check some out, after you've linked up below? 


I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party. I'll be  featuring the projects from last week's  party that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. Thank you everyone who linked up. Feel free to grab the button. 

Kat of Scrapbox Quilts quilted another charity quilt with a donated flimsy and backing. Kat quilted this baby quilt in a continuous circle.

Baby quilt quilted by Kat

Melva, of Melva Loves Scraps, made a quilted panel for her t-shirt. Melva quilted the block before adding it to the t-shirt using a reverse appliqué technique. If you're interested, read her post to find out how to make your own!

Melva's finished t-shirt with a quilt block 

Melva and her Arches National Park t-shirt

Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts participated in the Starry Seas Blog Hop. Her quilt, Dawn to Dusk, was inspired by her commute. You'll want to check out her post for more details of the story. 

Preeti's Dawn to Dusk quilt for the Starry Seas Blog Hop 

It's now your turn!😍

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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Thursday, January 15, 2026

Starting Things and I Quilted This!

Bonjour and welcome! 😄 It's been raining, snowing, raining and snowing for the last week. I'm sure that the January cold will eventually come back but it is nice not bundling up to go outside! I've been busy with all kinds of things, but not much sewing. Oh well, there's always tomorrow 😉.

Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR) 2026


I pulled out blocks that had never been put together - of course they were made in a Quilt-Along from a long, long time ago. Specifically, the Growing Up QAL with Alida in 2017. 

Blocks from the Growing Up QAL from 2017

The blocks were supposed to be 12½" x 12½" but the New York Beauty style block was smaller so I ended up trimming them all. The four blocks measure 23½" square.


The blocks that I chose are block 5 - improv piecing, block 6 - Famous Jane Style block, block 7 - EPP, and block 11 - New York Beauty style block. If you want to read more about the Growing Up QAL, all the links are posted below.

A Quilter's Cove QAL

As I mentioned in my planning post, Kat of Scrapbox Quilts is hosting a QAL. We'll be making houses in the monthly colours of the 2026 RSC. This month it's blue! Kat has already made her lovely blue house block. I have no idea what I'll be making, except that it will be a blue house. Since my goals for 2026 are scrappy, small, playful and experimental - that's exactly what I'll be doing. 😁

If you want to join, just check out the colour of the month at soscrappy (see link below) and make one or more house blocks. The linking party will open the last Saturday of the month for 7 days. So come back between January 30th and February 6th to link up!

Cowboy Panel Quilting (SAHRR 2025)

I have started the stitching-in-the-ditch of the Cowboy panel quilt. I'm almost done! Then starts the fun part - FMQ. I used the walking foot with cotton thread - it worked wonderfully.

Proof of the work being done!

Here's the backing flannel fabric.

Backing flannel fabric

What I learned
  • It was so cool going through my blocks. I can't say that they are orphan blocks, they just haven't been put into a quilt yet!
  • I was pretty impressed with the sewing that I had done. At the time, I was doing a lot more blocks, so my block construction wasn't quite as wonky....also, I think that I cared more about accuracy back then, than I do now😊
  • I think that the SAHRR 2026 has lots of potential. I'm hoping to add some awesome fabric that will hopefully play well with the more sober solids. 

Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties, including the Centre Block SAHRR linking party. You may want to check some out before linking up below! Monday Musings, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2025, Oh Scrap!, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell,

I Quilted This!


Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party. I'll be  featuring the projects from last week's  party that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. Thank you everyone who linked up. Feel free to grab the button. 


Donnalee has been busy making a lot more Christmas placemats. Here are some of them waiting to be bound.

Donnalee's placemats, quilted and ready for binding

Gwyned Trefethen made this very lovely piece, Holiday Sparkle, for Project Quilting. She used her embroidery machine to stitch these ornaments to the fabric.

Holiday Sparkle by Gwyned

See the stippling on the back of Holiday Sparkle by Gwyned

It's now your turn! 😍

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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Friday, January 09, 2026

My plans, goals & dreams for 2026

Hi and welcome 😊 Although I'm hosting the Plans, goals & dreams linking party, I was not ready to even think about 2026 until it started. Time is now running out for the party - and I seem to be overwhelmed already! I'm probably going to over commit, but in the end, what ever gets done, gets done😉

Goals


I'm so glad that I took a couple of weeks to prepare my Best of 2025. This helped me reflect on what I did and what I want to keep doing. I realised that my favourite projects were the scrappy cuddle quilts, the hand-stitched mats, the coiled art pieces and hand-weaving on paper. All of these have the same thing in common - they're scrappy, small, as well as playful and experimental! Of course that doesn't mean that I won't make other things but if possible, I will choose to keep my projects scrappy, small, playful and experimental!

Plans

Now for a few details about what these might be.

UFOs

Like most quilter, I have lots of UFOs (Un Finished Objects). Quite a few are at the sandwich and FMQ stage. I really would like to do more FMQ this year and flimsies are perfect for this since they only require backing, sandwiching and then quilting. I have mentioned previously that sandwiching is one of my least favourite part of quilting - but when it leads to some FMQ, it's not as bad!😀

Since finishing up the Christmas Panel Quilt, I realised that I had missed  FMQ and would like to keep my skills up. 

I just washed the flannel backing for the Cowboy panel quilt. I'm hoping to start quilting it this week. This project is also my January OMG (One Monthly Goal), a party to which I will continue to participate in the hope that it will help me get things done!

Cowboy panel quilt - first in line to be quilted

I also have these cuties to FMQ.

Scrappy orange baby quilt

SAHRR 2023

Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL flimsy

Baby Quilts

JJ has three friends who are going to be mothers soon! We have three baby quilts to make! We'll be using some of the fabric below as well as Kona solids.

Some of the fabric for the baby quilts

Challenges

SAHRR 2026

I would like to participate in the SAHRR 2026 this year, but it needs to be scrappy, small, playful and experimental! I'll look in my stash for a finished block and then work like the panel quilts, making only one of each week's block. Hopefully I can come up that will let me experiment with.

 SAHRR 2026

Project Quilting Season 17

The first challenge of PQ 17.1 came out today. A clean state was interpreted as a blank page. I'll be participating to any of the challenges that interest me.😊

A blank page - to be filled up :-)

A Quilters' Cove QAL

I've decided to participate in A Quilters' Cove QAL with Kat of Scrapbox Quilter. We'll be making a quilt with houses based on the colours of the #Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I'm justifying this to myself that it will replace the Table Scraps Challenge that is no longer running. You'll be hearing more about this since I'll be hosting the linking party at the end of each month. BTW, January's colour is blue. 

Look for the linking party at the 
end of each month!

Bloomers SAL

I'm looking forward to finishing up my Bloomer's SAL. 

Bloomers SAL - a little more work needed!

Declutter Challenge

I came upon the Declutter Challenge last week. I've been receiving and reading the posts - there are excellent ideas for decluttering. Unfortunately I'm not quite ready to tackle this - I need to start by putting things away before I can declutter. I plan on decluttering this year - anything I do will be better than nothing!

Hosted by Just Get It Done Quilts

Fibre Arts & New Techniques

Although I will be playing and experimenting with weaving on paper and coiling art, I would really like to learn more about watercolour painting. This isn't to make beautiful landscapes (I'll leave that to other artists) but to make interesting marks on paper to then embroider into them. I like embroidering on paper, but I believe that it becomes magical when it's done on designs that you've created yourself.

Handweaving on watercoloured paper

Coiling projects - Desert Landscape

There were made based on a workshop presented by Sam Owen in July 2023 with Textile.Artist.com Stitch Club. This Christmas, JJ got me a virtual course with Helen Wells, a British artists whose sketchbook practice I love. I just posted the results of the Creating Bold Botanicals course and I'm really looking forward to the Nurture and Nature course.

4" x 4" abstract watercolour and stitch

Echinacea flower

 
















Playing with watercolour and stitching

I also have two wedding art quilts that I've been thinking a lot about. It's time to get them done!

Embroidery

In the Fall of 2024, I enrolled in a Fibre Arts Take Two course - Joyful Embroidery with Fleur Woods. I really enjoyed it but didn't finish any of the projects that I started. I'm really hoping to advance these projects this year. (that's pretty much what I said last year!)

These are two of the flower embroideries that I worked on 

I also want to keep working on my not-so-daily stitching project, as well as my Narrative textile squirrel book  I really didn't get much done in 2025. Maybe I'll be more successful this year.

Another square on the not-so-daily stitching project 


Narrative textile squirrel book

As I was putting all of these WIP and UFO embroidery projects together, I discovered that I have many, many more unfinished embroidery projects. I hope that some of them will interest me enough to get back to them. I guess we'll all find out together!

I haven't made any new journals or hand-made books since 2024. I think that it's because as much as they are fun to make, I've given them away to almost everyone I know who would appreciate one. My son and DIL gave me an amazing package of Japanese paper scraps for Christmas. I will probably make more hand woven projects on paper with them....but who knows, I do have a huge stash of journal making supplies that either need to be used....or....decluttered!  😕

Dreams

I guess that I did put that in the title, so my dream is for a healthy, stable, happy 2026. I hope that your dreams for 2026 come true 😍

Goals for 2026

Linking parties


If you've subscribed to my post, I promise that the rest of the year won't be quite as busy. Thanks for following me on my journey - I really appreciate it! Happy 2026!

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Project Quilting 17.1 Challenge - A Clean Slate

 Hi and welcome to the first challenge of Project Quilting for the year. The theme is a clean slate and should probably include some white. 

Here is my thinking process - a clean slate reminded me of a blank page - nothing on it yet, full of possibilities. However for many artists, a blank page is not always a good thing. It can lead to tension and indecision - what to do? how to do it? where to start?

Filling the blank page


I was going through my email (to get rid of some of those 100s of unread email) and went down a rabbit hole of free motion quilting (FMQ). What's a blank stitching area? How to fill it? What to make? 

Filling the blank page starts with some tentative white on white FMQ. This slowly opens up to a light pink - nothing too bold, just making marks. Eventually it leads to more colour. In this case, a light variegated thread that flourishes into bold feathers. 

Filling the blank page

I was inspired by the book Free-Motion Framework by Jen Eskridge. I drew circles and triangles on white fabric with a FriXion pen. I then started filling the blank page. To be honest, I was going to do much more of the white-on-white but I couldn't see what I was stitching - so it became pink more quickly than I had planned 😉

Filling the blank page with thread

From a blank page


















Thanks to both Kim and Trish for this interesting start to season 17. Looking forward to more challenges.

What I learned
  • It took me a while to go from a clean slate to a blank page. After that, it was a question of what to do on that blank page. As I mentioned an email from Jen Eskridge took me to her book and that was that!
  • I'm very happy to say that I used cotton thread and that my tension was fine. However, that was probably because I went slowly and my FMQ was small. It's when I expand to larger designs that I get tension problems. 
  • It was a fun FMQ exercise and I've prepared a couple for blank pages to practice on. However no white-on-white is allowed!
  • Practicing every few months when a quilt is ready to FMQ isn't really enough if you want to get better. I'd like to work on that this year, at least a little bit.
Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties, including PQ Challenge 17.1 and I Quilted This!. You may want to check some out. Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, TGIFF, Monday Musing, Needle & Thread Thursday, 


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Wednesday, January 07, 2026

Playing with watercolour and stitch

Bonjour and welcome 😊. I've taken some me-time to play with watercolours and stitching. It's been so much fun! I love watercolours, the way that they mix with each other to make something different. I have no interest in becoming a proficient painter, rather I want to make cool marks and blobs that I can stitch into (spoken like a true fibre artist😁) 

Creating Bold Botanicals 


I've been following Helen Wells, a very cool British artist, who exudes energy! She does wonderful work in her sketch books and loves to share and teach. Last winter I bought her virtual Creating Bold Botanicals course and I finally took  a day this week to do it. It was wonderful!

My first Bold Botanicals sketch book

The sketchbook is a work in progress. I painted watercolour botanical shapes on 5 pages of sketching paper and then used lightly coloured card stock to paint various designs that end up being vases and such. I cut out funky vase shapes from the card stock pages and  collaged them onto the botanical pages. I'm afraid I got carried away and didn't take any progress photos.

The front page of my accordion sketch book

The back page of my accordion sketch book

I couldn't wait to put the accordion book together. The book is rather wonky, just like its botanicals and vases! 😃Then I started stitching into the book. As you can imagine, that's my favourite part. Here are some details of the stitching. I mostly used the running stitch in various colours and thickness of thread. It'll be fun to experiment with various colours - some of the thread blends in but we also need colours that pop.

Stitching on paper - what fun!

Running stitch and chain stitch

Part of the accordion book


January's One Monthly Goal (OMG)

I've been playing a lot...mostly as a procrastination technique. I really want to get the Cowboy panel quilt finished. If I work hard, it can be finished by the end of January!!!

January's OMG

What I learned
  • As I stitch, I can examine what happens with the watercolour paints. The way that they blend and play with each other is so fun. I also used a bamboo stick to spread around the paint, like a pencil. 
  • Helen suggested that we use thick sketching paper (instead of watercolour paper) - so that it's not intimidating or feels too precious.  That was a great idea but I'm looking forward to using water colour paper because it's so much easier to stitch into.
  • I should have stitched some of the pages before turning them into an accordion book. Once attached to each other, they are awkward to stitch into. That's why I've worked more on the front and back pages.😊
  • I used a half inch fold to stick the pages together - I should have used one inch. It would have made for a sturdier book.
  • For Christmas, JJ got me another of Helen Wells' course - Nature and Nurture. I'm looking forward to sketching natural objects and then use watercolour paints.
  • A couple of years ago in the TextileArtist.org's Stitch Club, we had a workshop with Sam Owen where we used water colours and then stitched onto them. I've wanted to explore this further - so this will be my chance. 
Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking to many fun linking parties, including January's OMG. Sew & Tell, Monday Musings, Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday, Slow Sunday Stitching, 

I Quilted This!


Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party. I'll be  featuring the projects from last week's  party that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. Thank you everyone who linked up. 

Feel free to grab the button. 


Last week Donnalee made more Christmas placemats for her and her husband. Apparently many more will be needed by next year!


Christmas placemat made by Donnalee

Deb, the Scrappy Quilter, made this gorgeous quilt through the Spring String sew along. Those lovely brown and blue fabrics really go well together.

Deb's first finished Spring String quilt

Melva of Melva Loves Scraps finished her RSC Color Wash Hexagons - what a great quilt.

Melva's RSC Color Wash Hexagons 

It's now your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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