To Do List for the Week of 10/13/2026

My mother's 84th birthday was this weekend.  We went to visit and take her out for dinner along with the rest of the family. So I missed one day of stitching this week.  There was still good progress on last week's to do list.  

To Do List for 10/6/2026

1. Squared Away: Make label and binding, trim quilt ✔

2. Glowing Hearts: Continue quilting ✔

3. Celtic Solstice: Finish quilt assembly, decide on borders ✔

4. Marigold Mystery: Finish Sept blocks, start Oct- progress

5. 2026 Guild BOM: Start assembly - progress

6. Wild and Goosey: Continue working on teal/purple blocks ✔

Definitely not a bad week considering I missed one of more productive days in terms of sewing room time.  Hopefully I can do as well this week.  

To Do List for 10/13/2026

1. Squared Away (Soscrappy): Finish binding.  

The binding and label got made.  The binding it sewn to the front, but I didn't get very far on stitching it to the back.  Only the part between that green clip near the top and that first blue clip on the bottom has been stitched.  Still lots to do on that this week.  

2. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Continue quilting

The top three rows of hearts are all quilted.  Just one more row of hearts, the sashing and the borders left.  I've decided what to quilt in the sashing strips and am working out an idea for the borders.  

3. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Work on borders

The blocks for the pieced border are coming along, slowly. I'm still hoping to have Celtic Solstice to the finished quilt top stage by the end of the month. 

4. Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish Sept, cut fabrics for October blocks

One of the five Ohio Star blocks has been finished.  A second one is partially assembled.  I should be able to finish the September blocks this week and get going on the October blocks too.  

5. 2026 Guild BOM: Start Assembly

I didn't make a lot of progress on this project, but I did make some progress on the border strips for the Carpenter Star block.  Still lots to do on this project.  

6. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue working on teal/purple blocks

Sashing the teal blocks should be done this week.  Just two teal blocks left to complete. Then it will be all purple till those get finished.  

There is lots I'd like to get done before the end of the month. Realistically, it's not all going to get done. I'll try to be happy with whatever progress I can manage this week. 

Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.   

Contemplations on My Project List

This last week went really fast. It just that time of year.  We'll be mid way through October this week!  That just doesn't seem possible.  But it did get me thinking about what my sewing room plans are for next year. It may seem early, but we always started developing next year's goals about this time of year when I was working.  Some habits don't fade completely when you retire.  

I was looking for some left over pieces in case I needed a bit extra for the binding for Squared Away and realized, there is a nice stack of empty project boxes on the shelf.  

To be fair, some of the still full project boxes have more than one project in them, so I should probably do a redistribution so each project has it's own box.  Instead, I decided conduct a quick assessment of where all my quilting projects stand.  

Glowing Hearts and Squared Away are in the quilting and binding stages.  So those are almost finished. There are 13 quilt tops hanging in the "to be quilted" closet. 

That leaves 13 projects sitting in the remaining project boxes/bags. Of those, the 2026 Guild BOM has to be a finished quilt top before December.  So that one should join the projects in the "to be quilted" closet. I've been making steady progress on Wild and Goosey this year, it should be ready for assembly next year. Celtic Solstice needs the remaining borders added. 

So it should also be hanging in the "to be quilted" closet before the end of the year.  

The plan is to sew along with the Bonnie Hunter mystery this year.  That's my last new project for 2026.  After the expected additions and subtractions from my lists, that leaves 12 projects that need blocks finished and 15 quilt tops in the "to be quilted" closet. Obviously, I'll need to balance the quilting with the finishing quilt tops.  Things to contemplate for next year's plans to get more projects finished: do I start with the oldest projects, or stick with working on the projects that have the most done? That may not matter as my oldest project is probably the closet to finished of the ones left in the project boxes.     

Linking up with Patchwork & Quilts, as well as, Sew & Tell Monday.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 41 of 2026

 

This week went really fast.  How is it Sunday again?  It's been a good week on the stitching front, lots got done.  But I still didn't get to everything I had hoped to even though stitching happened every day.  

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Oct = 10/10 days
• 15 minute days 2026 = 277/283 days
• Success rate = 97.88%

It's been a good year on the stitching front. All that time at the machine has meant more quilts moving to finished this year then last. Not hard when I only finished one quilt last year.  I'm on track to finish 5.  Not my best year ever, but definitely a solid one.  

Earlier this week, My Girl sent me this picture of Queenie with the statement "I don't know what I did."

I'm not sure either, but it certainly looks like My Girl is in the dog house with her kitty.  My Girl has been talking about Queenie needing to go to the Vet for her annual check up.  So maybe that's it, or maybe Queenie is just practicing for Halloween?  

How's your stitchy week going?  

2026 Quilt Making Strategies: Fourth Quarter Plan

Just one quarter left in 2026 to complete what ever plans one had for getting quilty things done this year.  When the year starts in January, it's so easy to think you've got the whole year ahead, so much time to get projects moved along and finished.  By October, it's where did the year go and why don't I have more done?  The last two months of the year have big holidays in them, so it's hard to make up time for what you didn't get done earlier in the year.  Considering all that, how do I put together a strategy for this quarter?

1. 2026 and 2027 Guild BOMs

All the blocks are made for the 2026 Guild BOM. This needs to be a finished quilt top before the November Guild Meeting, so this project will move up in priority this quarter.  I've finalized the layout for the 2027 Guild BOM and have my fabrics selected.  The yardage handout for 2027 has to be ready by the November meeting and the first block needs to be ready for the December meeting.  So lots to do on this front.  Definitely my #1 priorities for October and November.  

2. Wild and Goosey

All the teal blocks are sashed. That just leaves piecing and sashing the purple blocks.  There has been good progress this year on getting the blocks made and sashed. I should come close to finishing up the purple blocks before the end of the year.  I may have to spend some dedicated time to them so the quilt is ready to assemble in 2027.  

3. UFOs to move to quilt tops

Progress on Celtic Solstice started in third quarter.  It should be a finished quilt top before the end of October.  Marigold Mystery was a new planned project from last quarter. The clues run into next year, so that project won't be complete at the end of the year. The goal is to keep up with monthly clues this year.  The Simply Sensational Summer Scrap quilt hasn't seen any progress this year. It should see some progress this quarter. If I can get that far, the year will end with at least some progress on all the UFOs that were on my list for this year.  

4. Walking foot quilting

It's pretty much the same projects for 4th quarter as it was for 3rd quarter.  Glowing Hearts is more than halfway quilted. It should be finished this quarter. I'm hoping to make a start on Betty before the end of the year.  At this point all I'm hoping for is progress. I don't quilt very fast, so I'm going to need to scale back my walking foot quilting list for next year.  It's OK, I got more finishes this year than last, so I'm happy with the progress this year.  

5. Externally Quilted

At the beginning of the year, Lupine and Laughter was on the to be quilting via the walking foot list.  But one of My Girl's friends selected this as her graduation quilt, so it's going out for quilting now. I have the backing fabric.  I'm hoping it goes out for quilting before the end of the year, but with the Christmas rush to get quilts done by long armers, I doubt it will come back before next year. That's Ok, just getting it ready to go is good progress and will get 2027 off to a good start.  

6. Planned New Projects

The last planned new project for 2026 is the Bonnie Hunter Mystery.  She normally posts the fabric requirements in late October.  Is one clue a week from Black Friday on. I never keep up with the clues and I doubt this year will be any different.  It's a fun challenge, so I'll play along again this year.  

The guild BOMs will be the highest priority this quarter.  I'm starting all over on a new set of blocks.  And those projects have deadlines. So those will get done if nothing else does this quarter.  

Third Quarter Progress on the Quilting Strategy

Since September felt like August, it's surprising to realize it's October.  Third quarter is over and we've started fourth quarter.  Just three months left in the year!  I'm always amazed at how fast the last half of the year goes. It's definitely time to take a look at what my strategic plan for the sewing room was for 2026 and see how I'm doing on the execution part.  

1. Guild BOM 2026

All the blocks are finished and all the sashing/border strips are cut, now it's just assembly time. 

2. Wild and Goosey: 

Continued to use two blocks as my leaders for the quarter, plus I've been sashing blocks as I finish a color. I've got quite a pile of blocks finished at this point. Just the purple blocks to finish now. 

3. UFOs to move to finished quilt tops

Three projects progressed this quarter. Lupine and Laughter, plus Good Fortune are quilt tops.  All the quilt blocks for Celtic Solstice were finished before the end of the quarter.  There wasn't any progress on the Simply Sensational Summer Scarp Quilt.  Both Good Fortune and Celtic Solstice needed a lot of blocks constructed. I'm not unhappy with the progress on these UFOs that needed borders or blocks finished.   

4. Quilts to Quilted with my Walking Foot

There was good progress on quilting Glowing Hearts, but it's only about half finished. So there was no progress on Betty during the quarter. I am getting a better feel on how much quilting I can actually get done in a quarter. That will help me set my strategy for 4th quarter and next year.  

5. Quilts to send Out for Quilting

Squared Away is back from the quilter, but it's not trimmed or bound yet.  At least it's quilted. Magnificent Mystery didn't see any progress.  My Girl has now given me the complete list of quilts to be given to the grad school friends for graduation and an expected graduation date for each. That will set the order for for which quilts go out next.   

6. Planned New Starts

The Meadow Mist Designs 2026 mystery, Marigold, kicked off back in July.  The block clues started in August. This is my 12th Meadow Mist mystery, it's one of the few new projects I've allowed myself over the last few years.   

Looking at the progress for third quarter, I've been pretty successful at moving UFOs from sets of blocks to finished quilt tops. Less successful on moving projects to being quilted. Things to consider when I decide what's the plan for 4th quarter and next year. Even though my strategy for 3rd quarter wasn't fully implemented, there was still really good progress.  I've done better this year than last, so I'm feeling pretty positive about how 2026 has gone in the sewing room. Now to figure out what's the strategy for 4th quarter.