Stash Busting Progress

Winter came back yesterday.  Spring will show up for midweek and then we'll be in summer by the weekend.  My Guy and I joke that spring only lasts about 2 weeks here. This year, it's been a day here and there, with winter in between. I'm not looking forward to 90+ days, hopefully we'll get more spring after that. 

Oh well, the nasty weather (cold, hot, and stormy) have kept me in the sewing room.  Even so, I've slipped pretty badly on the time line for the quilts that have deadlines.  Scenic Waypoint was supposed become a finished quilt top by midnight Wednesday.  That didn't happen.  The last two borders got added yesterday. 

I'm pretty happy with how it came together.  Scenic Waypoint was the project I picked to sew along with the Meadow Mist Designs Stash Busting Quilt Along. The bright polka dot fabrics are from a Connecting Threads Quilter's Candy fat quarter bundle purchased between 2011 and 2012.  The black background is another Connecting Threads basic. It's probably not quite that old, but it's been the stash a while. Definitely time to move these oldies, but goodies out of the stash and into a quilt top.  

The other deadline sewing that got done was finishing up a donation block for the guild's veteran's quilt program.  

The pattern for the block was handed out at the February guild meeting, so I don't know the name. It's an 18" block. It won't take many to make a quilt or two. The striped fabric worked out really well, it adds a lot of motion to the block.  All the pieces for this block came from my scrap strip bins. Being able to pull pre cut strips made the cutting part go really fast.  I have strips pulled for a second block. We'll see if it gets made before this month's guild meeting. Not a lot of stash out with this one, but I at least used my scrap bins!    

Linking up with the Meadow Mist Designs Stash Busing Quilt Along Parade. Also linking up with the normal Monday linky parties: Patchwork & Quilts and Sew & Tell Monday.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 11 of 2026

It was one of those winter/spring weeks.  Winter a day, then spring a day, then repeat. My sinuses aren't happy with the wild shifts.  The forecast says we'll have another week of that in our future.  It's definitely made hanging out in the sewing room more attractive. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Mar = 14/14 days
• 15 minute days/2026 = 73/73 days
• Success rate = 100%

So not surprising it was a good week on the time front, not so great on getting things done.  It's not from lack of trying, but I bit off more than I could reasonably do this week.  I still have the better part of two days to make some head way on my to do list.  

How are you doing with your stitching stuff this week?  

Week 151 Photo Challenge: Water Splashes

It's been over 2 months since my last photo challenge post.  The new deck of photo prompts we are using are a lot more challenging then the previous two decks.  On the one hand, it's fun to have the challenge. On the other, some of them require specific conditions and very special set ups to capture.  That just takes more time and effort. Even My Guy struggled to get good shots for the last challenge card. 

I really tried the experimental approach and just didn't get anything photo worthy at all.  So as we often do in these challenges, I went with a different interpretation.  

Kate: Splash Initiator

Capturing the splash was very elusive, but after our big snow storm back in January, I did capture a drop just starting to separate from one of the ice cycles on the tree outside the office window. A splash starts with a water drop, so I just photographed a different part of the sequence.   

My Guy's photo is from about the same time period.  

My Guy: Snow Melt Splashes

This was taken in one of the local creeks just after the snow fall back in January.  Definitely a nice splash, but not one created from an experiment.

I kept hoping to get a better shot. I did try to capture some splashes during our last big rain storm, but those didn't really work out either. Grad Girl just didn't have the time to play with splashes. Since she's not working in a lab these days, but is still working a full time job with a commute in Houston traffic, subjects and time for photography have been a bit narrow for her.  So she really struggled with the last two challenges.  When I sent her the next challenge card, she was happy to see something she could do.  

  

With the spring flowers just starting to bloom, we should all be able to get photos sooner, rather than later.  

To Do List for the Week of 3/10/2026

There's a lot going on in my sewing room this week (and next week and the week after). All the quilt alongs have ended and I need to have finished quilt tops for the quilt parades.  So my priority will change for this week's list. Before I get to that, here's how last week's list went.  

To Do List for 3/3/2026

1. Kate's Choice: Finish borders ✔

2. Scenic Waypoint: Finish block and start quilt assembly - progress

3. Magnificent Mystery: Finish block, start quilt assembly - progress

4. SAHRR: Work on final border, quilt assembly - no progress

5. Wild and Goosey: Work on blue blocks ✔

6. Guild Challenge block: Make at least one block ✔

I had hoped to make lots of progress yesterday, but the massive sinus headache made that impossible. There was time spent in the sewing room, just not the hours I had hoped for.  But at this point, progress is progress.  Here's this week's list.

  

To Do List for 3/10/2026

1. Scenic Waypoint (Meadow Mist Designs):  Finish block and quilt assembly. 

The blocks for the first 4 rows are all sewn together. That leaves row 5 blocks to assemble and then start the sashing the blocks to sew into a top.  Probably not going to be a finished quilt top in time to post for the quilt parade for the 2026 Stash Busting Quilt Along.  

2. Kate's Choice: Finish binding

One side done, one corner rounded.  Just 3 more left.  

3.  SAHRR (Quilting Gail): Work on final border blocks and quilt assembly. 

The first row of blocks is sewn together.  That's as far as I've gotten.  It will my first priority once Scenic Waypoint is a finished quilt top.  

4. Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Work on block assembly

Half the blocks are assembled.  So still a ways to go on this project. But the deadline for the linky party is still three weeks away.  I might just get this one done in time.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue working on blue blocks

Four blocks have been finished since the beginning of the month. I'm hoping to make good progress on these. It would be nice to be able to assemble the quilt before the end of the year.  For now, I just keep two blocks going as my leaders while I'm working on other projects. 

That's my list for this week.  It's pretty much the same list I've had since the beginning of the year.  But a couple of projects should fall off in the next week or two at the most.  Will I add something new? Probably not, the plan is to move all the current quilt along projects to finished quilt tops (except for Wild and Goosey), then see what UFOs I tackle next.  

Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

Closing in on Finishes

Most of the quilt alongs/mystery quilts I sew along with start in 1st or 4th quarter.  That only becomes an issue when it's time to produce a finished quilt top for the quilt parade at the end of the quilt along.  That happens for 3 projects over the next 3 weeks. The deadline for the Meadow Mist Designs 2026 Stash Busting Quilt Along is this Wednesday.    

The last 2 blocks in row 4 of Scenic Waypoint are lined up by the sewing machine ready for stitching. 

Still need to finish the 4 blocks for row 5.  The quilt is assembled with sashing and corner stones. So there is a long way to go to have a finished quilt top by Wednesday. Will I get there? We'll see. 

One reason I'm not farther along on Scenic Waypoint is that I spent 3 days last week working on finishing up the borders on Kate's Choice.  Once those were all on, it just made sense to get the binding made and attached.  I'm hand stitching on the back and made it past one corner. 

   

Finishing up the binding will have to wait a few days. Fingers crossed I can have a finished quilt by the end of the week. But any progress on Kate's Choice will have to wait till after Wednesday.    

Linking up with Patchwork & Quilts, along with Sew and Tell Monday.