February 2026 PHD Report

February is such a short month.  January was 5 weeks, so a true 4 week month is a shock afterwards.  Now that the second month of 2026 is finished,  it's time to report on how I'm doing on my PHDs (projects half done) and link up with Ms P Designs' PHD in 2026.  My PHD report is unchanged from January.   

No finishes, but no new starts either. It was still a good month because there has definitely been progress on several projects.  

Kate's Choice is an almost finish. The second border is attached.  The top border is quilted, but I had to stop and figure out how to deal with the sashing for the top and bottom borders. That's figured out. Hopefully both borders get finished and added this week. Then all that's left is binding.  It would be nice to have a finish for March.  

Since the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for February was green, I took the month to sash all the green Wild and Goosey blocks (Bonnie Hunter).  Now that those are done, they go back into the project box with the yellow, orange and red sashed blocks. I may make some changes later, some have triangles that stand out a bit much. But I'll wait till I get all the blocks done and see how it looks when these are up on the wall with all the other blocks.  

The quilt assembly instructions came out for the Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs) in February. I'm not quite half way done with constructing the blocks.  So not completely caught up, but not way behind either.  

The January, February and March blocks for the Guild BOM have been released. April will be shown at the guild meeting this month. I've started on the instructions for May, I should get back to the instruction writing and block construction this month. It would be nice to have May, June and July ready to go before April gets here.  

The SAHRR (Quilting Gail), is over for this year. I chose a large center block with much smaller sampler blocks as my approach to the challenge this year.  I've changed up the blocks in the sampler rows to better balance the color density in the blocks. There are still  some borders to add, but it's coming together pretty well  

 

When Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs kicked off her 2026 Stash Busting Quilt along in January, I couldn't resist starting Scenic Waypoint.  I'm about a week behind schedule. But for me, that's not too bad. The blocks are turning out nicely and it feels good to use up some older stash fabrics. 

There was an error in my project mapping graphic last month, I over stated how far along I was on Magnificent Mystery.  So that bar is shorter, but to compensate Kate's Choice became an assembled top, so that bar got a bit longer.  

I should finish up the three quilt tops that have been my priority since January this month.  So hopefully a few lines in the graph will be longer. I'm hoping that happens earlier in the month, so I can start working on that big block of quilts that need to be quilted before the end of the month.  We'll see how far I get on those.  

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

Hard to believe we've already started on the third month of 2026. We'll be one quarter through the year by the end of the month.  Not to scare anyone, but wow, it's been going by fast.  February was a pretty good month, I didn't check all the items off my to do lists each week, but I got close.  The last week of the month was consistent with the previous 3.   

To Do List for 2/24/2026

1.  Kate's Choice: Work on borders ✔

2.  SAHRR: Start 6th prompt ✔

3.  Scenic Waypoint: Assemble blocks - progress

4.  Magnificent Mystery: Continue block assembly ✔

5.  Wild and Goosey: Continue sashing green blocks ✔

I didn't check off all of my to do list, but at least there was progress on every project.  My to do list hasn't changed much since the first of the year. It's going to be pretty much the same this week.  

To Do List for 3/3/2026

1. Kate's Choice: Finish borders

The fabric strips are cut for the sashing and the borders. The top border is quilted, but hasn't been cut to size yet (I started with the border pieces being a bit longer to account for any loss the quilting causes).  I'm hoping to finish quilting the bottom border and get both attached this week. I'm excited to get at least one quilt off my UFO list. 

2. Scenic Waypoint (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish block assembly, start quilt assembly

All the blocks for rows 1 and 2 are finished. A couple of blocks for row 3 are done. The deadline for the quilt parade for this quilt along is March 12th. I have a lot of stitching to do before then. Can I get this to finished quilt top by then?  

3.  Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish block assembly, start quilt assembly

The deadline for the quilt parade for this mystery quilt along is March 11th. Not sure I can move both this one and the one for Scenic Waypoint to finished quilt tops by the due dates.  The more likely scenario is that I don't make either.    

4.  SAHRR (Quilting Gail): Work on final border, quilt assembly

With all the effort going into Scenic Waypoint and Magnificent Mystery it's good that I have a few weeks before the final quilt parade for the SAHRR.  What gets done, gets done this week on this project.  

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

The RSC color is red, but as I've finished all the red blocks for this project, I'm going to pick back up on the blue ones.  

6.  Guild Challenge Block: Make at least one block

The guild challenge block for this year is one for Heartland Quilt Network.  This group creates patriotic quilts for veterans. Several guild members sew with this group weekly.  I've pulled some scrap strips from my bins. We'll see how far I get with it this week.  

That's the list for this week. If I can make a lot of progress on it, several projects should hit significant milestones.  It probably won't happen this week, but surely by the end of the month my list will look a bit different. Fingers crossed on that front.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.   

2026 SAHRR: Quilter's Choice

The sixth and last prompt for the 2026 SAHRR comes from AnjaQuilts, "quilters choice".  Well that leaves it pretty wide open doesn't it?  I've had some of my block books out searching for blocks for next year's guild BOM (Yes I start early. It takes me a while to decide on a final design and pull the fabrics).  I wanted something that worked with the previous blocks and carried similar elements to the Snail's Trail block from week 3.  

 

Dutchman's Puzzle seemed to be the best option. (Texas Quilt Gal decided the same for her prompt 6. Great minds think alike).  I really wanted a block that used the very lightest fabric with the darkest.  I think it worked out pretty well.  

  I added to the design wall with all the other blocks.  

I'm pretty happy with how the sampler looks, but I'm going to need to change some blocks around to balance out the blocks with the light fabric with the two without it.  So I'll have to play a bit before sewing the rows together.  Thank you  to Gail and all her partners for another very fun SAHRR.  There are still some borders to add, the design for those is still work in progress.  I have a couple of weeks before the final link up to get that done.  

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

Stitching Stuff: Week 9 of 2026

 

We hit the low 80s on Friday and Saturday, but it's supposed to cool off today with a chance of showers. We need the showers, but that's not looking too lightly right now.  Unfortunately the higher temps have meant more pollen so my allergies have been keeping me up at night.  Afternoon naps have been my theme all week, but that didn't keep me from the sewing room.  

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Feb = 28/28 days
• 15 minute days/2026 = 59/59 days
• Success rate = 100%

Two months into 2026 and I've sewn every day so far.  It won't last, but it's nice to make the most of the first two months of a new year. Progress has been good, even though I've not finished anything yet.  

I don't post my fabric stats any more.  I love fabrics and discovered that managing my stash is just not something that works for me.  But I was doing so well this year at using more than I bought. Till yesterday. 

   

I went to the local shop for open sew yesterday.  Only to discover the lovely owner had decided she was overrun with batiks, so some needed to go. At $6 a yard, it was hard to say no.  There may be another quilt for My Guy here. We'll see. 

So how has your stitching week worked out?  

 

To Do List for the Week of 2/24/2026

February will end and March will start between now and the next week's to do list.  This month is such a short one, I always feel behind at the end. Looking back over February's to do lists, it was actually a really good month.   

 

To Do List for 2/17/2026

1.  Kate's Choice: Cut borders, layer and pin for quilting - progress

2.  SAHRR: Start 5th prompt ✔

3. Scenic Waypoint: Finish corner units ✔

4. Magnificent Mystery: Continue block assembly ✔

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue sashing green blocks ✔

All the progress is starting to show up on the design walls in the sewing room. This week's to do list will look pretty much like last week's.  

To Do List for 2/24/2026

1. Kate's Choice: Work on borders

I finally decided on the dark green as the border, it makes the best frame for the blocks. The left border is completely quilted and attached.  All the strips are cut for the remaining 3 borders, but batting is only cut for the right border.  It's not likely that the all the borders will get done this week and attached. Fingers crossed the next three borders go on as easily as the first. It would be nice to have a finish this month.  

2. SAHRR (Quilting Gail): Start 6th prompt

Just one block left in this year's quilt along.  I'll decide how to assemble the block rows once that's done.  I have a loose finishing plan, so I need to firm that up once the last block is decided.  

3. Scenic Waypoint (Meadow Mist Designs): Assemble blocks

Last night I started laying out the possible blocks on the design wall.  Once that was done, the panic hit, it looked like a hot mess. I've moved a center here and a set of hourglass blocks there.  But nothing seemed to help.  So I stopped and built the quilt in Electric Quilt using very similar colors.  Once you add the sashing, it doesn't look like such a hot mess.  I have some thoughts on how to set the blocks so there are patterns that draw the eye. The other option is to make each block a single color.  I'm going to play in EQ a bit more before I start sewing the blocks together.  

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

It's been slow going on block assembly as this project isn't my priority at the moment. There are enough blocks finished now to see how the pattern is going to work.  This is a mystery quilt, so I'm always happy when my color selections work out.  It's not as bright as most of my quilts are, but I've wanted to use these three teals together for a long time.  It's nice to see them out of the stash and into a quilt.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue sashing green blocks

Sashing these blocks has been my leaders and enders project for February.  I'm around half way done with these. I'll keep these in the rotation until they are all sashed.  

It's been the same list for several weeks now.  Hopefully I'll get far enough along to be able to rotate some things off and others back on.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.