Best of Life in Pieces for 2025

I'm never ready for the end of a year. With holidays in November and December, there are so many other things to think of. It always comes as a shock the day after Christmas to realize that the end of the year is a little less than a week away.  My thought's naturally turn to what I didn't get to this year and thinking of what to do better next year.  In all of those thought sessions it's so easy to loose track of all the cool things that happened in 2025.  So it's always fun to take some time to put some thought into what fun things happened this year and share them over at Meadow Mist Design's Best of 2025 linky party.  

Here's my Best of 2025. 

Most Viewed Post: New Projects Coming 

Not sure why this post had so many views. I'm not convinced the views are all from "real" people if you get my drift. But I can't prove it one way or the other.  At any rate, the coolest thing in this post was My Girl's first completed quilt top. 

 

The embroidered squares are from Ingrid's Wildflowers from Missouri Star.  She did all the embroidery last January and February.  When she moved home this summer while job hunting, she finished the quilt top.  It was a big learning curve for her, but she did such a good job.  I'm hoping she decides to start a new quilt sometime in 2026. We are planning a couple of nothing but sewing weekends, maybe with a few friends in the coming year.  

Most Comments: The 2025 SAHRR: Round #1

This year was my third time playing along with Quilting Gail's SAHRR quilt along.  I designed my own block for this quilt, I wanted something modern as the quilt was intended as a thank you for My Girl's grad school roommate. 

  

Round #1 was either a King's Crown block or to make a block that start's with the letter of your first initial.  The Key border was my choice. It proved to be a really good starting point.  

Oldest UFO Progress:  Progress on Kate's Choice

Kate's Choice started out as Grandmother's Choice, part of Barbara Brackman's 2012 quilt along. I quickly discovered that sewing with templates is just not my thing.  So the project was put in time out till January of 2024.  The plan was to use the existing usable blocks and add whatever blocks needed to make a good sized sampler.  I picked the blocks.  Those were done by the end of 2024. The plan this year was to put it together as a quilt as you go project.

 

 All the blocks are quilted and the first row of blocks got assembled. Then I stalled. The QAG method where you quilt with the back on and then add the sashings is a lot harder than I expected.  I plan to get back to this in January and get this one finished.  

Most Fun Collaboration: Slaying the Big Scary Walking Foot Dragon

Before putting her embroidered quilt together, My Girl first practiced piecing by making some trivets she could use under her long cookie sheets. She made her first set during the guild retreat last January.  I eventually got up enough nerve to get out my walking foot so I could quilt those for her.

This is the second one I quilted, it's definitely much, much better than the first one.  Working on this project gave me the confidence to actually start quilting the Kate's Choice blocks.  My Girl made two more sets of trivets and I quilted those too. 

Mushroom trivets for one of her high school buddies. 

And two more kitties for her cousin (my niece).  I've learned a lot about quilting with a walking foot finishing these three projects.  My Girl has learned a lot about piecing and is starting to get a handle on the math part of cutting pieces.  The biggest learning is that she needed better rulers and a nicer rotary cutter. Both of those got addressed at Christmas.  

My Favorite Finish: First Finish for 2025

Obviously I was optimistic when I wrote that post. It turned out to be my only finish for 2025.  

I was so happy with how this quilt worked out. I ended up adding one additional border because it didn't feel finished once the prompts ended.  This was the last quilt to be quilted by Trudy before she retired.  That's a big reason why I didn't have more finishes this year. It's not easy to find someone new to quilt for you.  But I'm going to make a big effort on that front next year.  So even though it's my only finish, it's still one of my favorite quilts. 

That's my best of 2025.  It wasn't the most productive year for me. But looking back helped me remember all the time I got to share with My Girl as she took her first steps with a sewing machine.  The memories we made making those trivets are my favorite for the whole year. I'm hoping for more fun adventures in 2026. 

To Do List for the Week of 12/30/2025

Hard to believe this is the last To Do List for 2025 and the first for 2026.  I haven't really given a lot of thought to what my sewing room goals are for 2026.  Once upon a time (like a couple of years ago), I had a strategy for my To Do Lists.  When I was doing that, my impression is that I got a lot more done.  Maybe that's just wishful thinking. But I'll revisit that approach while I'm deciding on next year's goals.  Before moving on to this week's list, how many check mark's did I have on last week's list?  

To Do List for 12/23/2025

1.  2026 Guild BOM: Start February block ✔

2.  Butterfly embroidery: Take a few stitches - no progress

3.  2026 SAHRR: Decide on /start center block - progress

4.  Magnificent Mystery: Work on Oct/Nov/Dec clues ✔

5.  Lupine and Laughter: Press fabrics and start clues - no progress

6.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making green blocks ✔

Considering we had lots of family stuff last week, I didn't do too badly with the check marks and progress. Normally handwork dominates my stitching time during holidays, but I spent most of my "sewing" time deciding on an approach for the SAHRR in EQ8.  I got as far as getting my embroidery bag out, but it never made it out of the bag.  

This week's list will look pretty similar to last week's. 

To Do List for 12/30/25

1. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish February block, start March

The flying geese are for the border, but the HSTs are for the February block.  I have all the pieces cut for the flying geese, so I'll work those in while I'm sewing other things. It will be nice to get at least that much finished.  

2. Stay at Home Round Robin (Quilting Gail): Start center block

I've picked the center block and the fabrics. The fabric collection I'm using for this year's SAHRR is left overs from a kit I bought years ago. I'm not 100% happy with my choices, but I'm working with what's left with the right yardage for how I want to put the quilt together.  It will either look fine or like a hot mess.  We'll see.  

3.  Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Work on Oct/Nov/Dec clues. 

I've been working on all three sets of clues and making progress. But there are a lot of blocks in each clue, so it's not going very quickly.  Clues come out on the first Thursday of the month, so the January clue will likely drop this week too.  

4. Lupine and Laughter (Bonnie Hunter): Press fabrics, start clues

I'm not sure that is going to happen this week, but I'll keep it on the list. I'd like to get started on this one, but I keep getting side tracked with other stuff.  

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

I'm close to finishing up the green blocks, but I'll switch back to blue since that's the RSC color for January at SoScrappy.  I'm hoping that this is the year I finish all the blocks. We'll see. I'm close on green, but still need lots of teal, blue and purple.  

That's my list for this week. I should have more stitching time this weekend as My Girl has to head back to Texas on Saturday. I'll need lots to distract me while she's in route.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.

Getting a Start on 2026 Deadline Stitching

We've reached that time of the year when the three of us are off work and have a hard time remembering what day it is. We have no place to be, so the days can just drift by without you even realizing it. We check in with each regularly just to ensure we'll all at least in sync in our belief of what day it is.  

My sewing room time has been ramping up since the holiday.  Friday and Saturday were figuring out where I was before the holiday and deciding what needed to get done next.  The Guild 2026 BOM is one project I can't let slip.  Yesterday afternoon I managed to cut the pieces for the next 3 blocks.  

I've started assembly of block 2, which is the January block.  My goal is to get a couple of blocks done each month the first quarter to help keep me on track if my schedule gets wacky.  

I wasn't going to do the 2026 SAHRR (Quilting Gail) next year, I just wasn't sure I was up for all the sewing needed to keep up with the borders each week.  But it's hard to pass up a really fun quilt along.  I have a plan, the center block has been picked, but not made. One of my justifications for playing along with mysteries and quilt alongs is that it uses up stash. I try hard to pull mostly from stash for these type of projects.  After some consideration, I found some left overs that should work for this project.  

These pretty batiks are an older Timeless Treasures line that I purchased as a kit.  I used these same fabrics to make a Meadow Mist Designs project, String Lights, from Cheryl Brickey's book, "Just Two Charm Packs" back in 2023.  I think they'll be fun to play with again. I still need graduation quilts for some of My Girl's grad school buddies, this one will likely become one of those.  

Neither of these projects have imminent deadlines, but getting starting on them now means I have some wiggle room if things don't go well first pass.  

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

Stitching Stuff: Week 52 of 2025

This is the last Sunday in 2025.  The years seem to go faster and faster the older I get.  Maybe this upcoming January will be quiet.  I'm ready for some slow and steady stay at home time.  

It can be hard to find time to stitch during Christmas week, I did pretty well this holiday. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Dec = 26/27 days
• 15 minute days/2025 = 316/361 days
• Success rate = 87.53%

I'm not going to make 90% this year, but my long standing goal has always been to do better than 75%.  So I'm on track there.  When you really think about it, managing to sew most days out of the year is really a good accomplishment.  

Now it's time to look towards 2026. Do you have your sewing room goals all lined up?  Is improving your sewing time one of them? 

1. Gretchen 2. maggie f 3. Linda at Texas Quilt Gal 4. Melissa G 5. Karen

6. Julie in GA 7. Frédérique 8. DonnaleeQ 9. Bonnie Stapleton 10. Andrée at Quilting & Learning

11. Quilting Gail 12. Marsha's Spot 13. Carol Andrews

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Merry Christmas!

 

To Do List for the Week of 12/23/2025

I'm in the coasting portion of the Christmas holiday. The shopping is done, the presents wrapped, groceries bought (mostly). Now I can hang out with family and just chill out. There won't be any sewing room time between now and Christmas, but I'll have lots of time next weekend to decompress from the holiday with my machine.  Before getting to my probably bigger than realistic plans for next week, here is how this week went. 

To Do List for 12/16/2025

1.  My Girl Trivets: Quilt the kitty trivets ✔

2.  2026 Guild BOM: Start February block - no progress

3.  Magnificent Mystery: Work on Oct/Nov/Dec clues ✔

4.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making green blocks ✔

Not a bad week, three out of four items with check marks by them. With all the holiday prep in the works, the shorter list was definitely the way to go.  Since I'm hoping for some "nothing but sewing days" after the holiday, I'm going to go for a much longer to do list.

To Do List for 12/23/2025

1.  2026 Guild BOM: Start February block

The instructions are written, I just to make the block to ensure that they are correct. I have till the third week in January to get this done, but starting early is wise.  Plus, I'd really, really like to work ahead a bit so that I'm not in a bind if something happens and I can't get to my sewing room for a couple of weeks.  

2. Butterfly embroidery: Take a few stitches in the current butterfly

Not sure how much I'll get done on this, but any progress would be good.  

3. 2026 SAHRR (Quilting Gail): Decide on/start center block

I've played along with Stay at Home Round Robin the last 3 years. The resulting quilts are some of my family's favorites.  I wasn't going to play along this year.  I enjoy the challenge of designing a round that adds to the quilt, but it's a lot of sewing room time. After looking back at what other's did last year, I opened up Electric Quilt and played around a bit.  Out of that came a quilt that won't take endless sewing of small pieces to meet each round.  Now to figure out the fabrics and decide on the center block. 

4. Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Work on Oct/Nov/Dec clues

Progress has been steady on all the clues for the last 3 months, but still aways to go to finish up these three.  At least all the component parts are made for the October clue, I just have to but them together.  

5. Lupine and Laughter (Bonnie Hunter): Press fabrics and start clues

I'm pretty far behind on this mystery, but there is a plan.  Last Friday's clue was a block. I'm going to start with the clue for the hour glass blocks used in the block and go from there.  I very often bail on some of Bonnie's sashing and borders. So I'll start with that block and go from there on what else I decide to make for my version.  That's usually what happens in the end anyway, so I may as well start off that way.  

6. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making green blocks

Just need 2 more sets of 4 like this and the green blocks will be done.  Can I finish those before the end of the year?  It will be close, so maybe, maybe not.  

That's my list for this week. It's ambitious, but it's the end of the year, so I'd like to see what else I can make progress on before starting on next year's goals.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday. 

Wishing everyone a very happy holiday season. Hope you are able to spend it with those you love.  

Deadline Sewing Done for December

The week before Christmas always seems to pass in a rush. I felt off for a couple of days early last week.  Thankfully it appears to be just my sinuses reacting to all the crap the strong winds blew in.  That slowed me down a bit on the stuff that had to get done, but didn't stop progress completely. All the gifts were wrapped yesterday. Even My Guy has all his wrapping done. There were two sewing projects that had deadlines this month.  The first was the guild BOM. 

This year's BOM includes a large Carpenter Star block as the focus point of the quilt. It's 32" x 32" finished. This is the January block for the guild.  This sampler quilt includes 9 8" finished blocks and two border blocks for a total of 12 blocks for this year's BOM. I have the instructions written for the next 3 blocks, now I just have to make them. But that's a task for after the holiday.  

The other deadline was to quilt and bind the kitty trivets that My Girl made for her cousin.  

The quilting definitely isn't perfect, but I think they still came out pretty cute.  This is the third set of placements I've quilted this year.  It's been an easy way to practice using the walking foot. I've definitely improved since the first set.  The plan is to apply those skills to finish off a few quilts next year.  

Now that the deadline stuff is all done, I can enjoy the holiday with nothing imminent hanging over my head.  Linking up with Patchwork & Quilts, Sew and Tell Monday, and Free Motion Mavericks.  Hope your holiday prep is winding down and you can enjoy the rest of the holiday.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 51 of 2025

 

It's the Sunday before Christmas. Just one more full week left in 2025. That's really hard to believe.  This week wasn't so busy as last week, but for some reason I was really tired early in the week. Maybe fighting something off as it's that time of year all kinds of yucky sicknesses are floating around.  At any rate, that's what ate into my sewing time this week, There was one day where I just felt yucky and ended up going to bed really early.

• 15 minute days/week = 6/7 days
• 15 minute days/Dec = 19/20 days
• 15 minute days/2025 = 309/354 days
• Success rate = 87.29%

Most of my stitching time this week has been focused on finishing off a Christmas gift.  Are you done with your holiday sewing or has it taken over your life?  

  

1. maggie f 2. Gretchen 3. Frédérique

4. Karen 5. DonnaleeQ 6. Melissa G

7. Bonnie Stapleton 8. Andrée at Quilting & Learning 9. Quilting Gail

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To Do List for the Week of 12/16/2025

With the holiday just around the corner, it's not been as easy to find time to stitch. Then to top it off, my foot pedal for my machine is acting up. It mostly works, then suddenly it will stop. I fiddle with it and it starts back up.  I have found a replacement, but as we have Christmas plans, I didn't want to order it right now.  Hopefully I can limp along till January.  

My sewing time this week was cut a bit short by holiday prep and a trip to see my mother.  Consequently, my to do list might as well be my didn't do list.  

To Do List for 12/9/2025

1. My Girl Trivets: Quilt the kitty trivets - no progress

2. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish January block ✔

3. Magnificent Mystery: Keep working on Oct/Nov/Dec clues ✔

4. Lupine and Laughter: Start on all released clues - no progress

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue making green blocks ✔

Honestly not as bad as expected, check marks on three out of five isn't horrible.  Keeping up with the Guild BOM was my priority for last week. As long as that happened, it would be a good week.  This week's list will be a bit shorter. I've decided to just collect the clues for the Bonnie Hunter mystery this year. Maybe after Christmas, or more likely after New Year's, I'll decide to make it or not.  There is much more sewing time in January than December, so we'll see.  That means this week's list is a bit shorter than it has been. 

To Do List for 12/16/2025

1. My Girl Trivet: Quilt the kitty trivets

This will be the first thing I work on when I make it to the sewing room. I'm hoping the two trivets won't take that long.  Famous last words, hopefully I'm not sabotaging myself.  

2. 2026 Guild BOM: Start February block

The January block is finished and I got started on the border blocks, which are actually block 12. But as the final quilt needs so many of them, I'm giving the guild members the option to make a few each month and be ready for assembly when we get to next December.  I've got the instructions drafted for the February block. I just need to get started on it.  

3.  Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Work on Oct/Nov/Dec clues

There's been at least some progress on all the clues. September is completely finished with good progress on October and November. Still a long way to go with December's clue.  

4. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making green blocks

There's been progress on this front, but still a number of green ones left to make. The plan was to be done in December. That might not happen, but I'm happy with the progress. 

A much shorter list this week, but that fits my available time better.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday, just on Wednesday.  

Stitching Stuff: Week 50 of 2025

 

This time of year when I type the title of this weekly post, my mind says no that can't be right.  Just two weeks left in 2025?  Really?  I've been slowly taking care of Christmas stuff. I've also been taking some sanity time in the sewing room this week. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Dec = 13/13 days
• 15 minute days/2025 = 303/347 days
• Success rate = 87.32%

I had a good week on the stitching front, though my only effort on the BH mystery has been to collect the clues.  At this point, collecting the clues then deciding what parts get made once the reveal comes out may be my approach this year  I very rarely make a BH quilt completely to her pattern.  

Have you been able to work in some sanity time in your sewing room this week or has Christmas prep taken over completely? 

1. maggie f 2. Gretchen 3. Julie in GA 4. Melissa G

5. Jocelyn @CNN 6. Karen 7. Andrée at Quilting & Learning 8. DonnaleeQ

9. Frédérique 10. Bonnie Stapleton 11. Deb in Canada 12. Quilting Gail

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To Do List for the Week of 12/09/2025

It's been a busy week.  I've made some progress on Christmas preparations, but still have a bit to do on that front.  It's definitely meant less time in the sewing room. Consequently, there hasn't been much progress on my to do list from last week.  

To Do List for 12/02/2025

1.  My Girl Trivets: Quilt kitty trivets - no progress

2.  2026 Guild BOM: Finish January block - progress

3.  Lupine and Laughter: Start clues 1, 2 and 3 - no progress

4.  Magnificent Mystery: Finish Oct, Start Nov/Dec - progress

5.  Old Town: Continue Quilt assembly ✔

6.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making green blocks ✔

Two check marks, two with progress and two with no progress.  Not a horrible week, but not the best either.  There was progress, just not as much as I would like.  It's just that time of year. It amazes me that I seem even busier then when I was working.  How does that happen?  Here's this week's list. Fingers crossed I do better with it this week.  

To Do List for 12/09/2025

1. My Girl Trivets: Quilt kitty trivets

This will probably take the better part of a day to do. I just need to put the walking foot back on the machine and get it done sometime this week. 

2.  2026 Guild BOM: Finish January block

All the component pieces have been made for the January block and the block is being assembled.  I've also made a start on block 12 by making a few flying geese.  Why am I starting on block 12?  The final quilt has an optional flying geese border. Since it's a border, you need a lot of flying geese. So I'm going to give the guild members the option to make a few flying geese each month or wait till December to make all of them.  

3. Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Continue working on Oct/Nov/Dec clues

It took a bit to make all the component parts for these blocks.  I've only gotten two completely assembled.  Hopefully these will go fast.  I've started cutting the fabrics for the November and December clues.  The background is cut for both clues. I'm hoping to make better progress on all the clues this week.  

4. Lupine and Laughter (Bonnie Hunter): Start on all the released clues

I've done nothing on this project, I'm going to be way behind at reveal time, but that's nothing new for me.  I've put Old Town in time out now that the blocks are all assembled, hopefully taking that off the list will give me time to start on this project. 

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

Slowly, but surely the green blocks are getting made.  They probably won't be finished by the end of the year, but any progress is good progress.  

That's my list for the week. In addition to stitching, I still need to put the tree up, redo the table decorations, finish shopping and wrap everything.  Not sure how much stitching I'll get done, but any progress on any front is a good thing.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday. 

Mostly Checking Off Another Priority

This week has gone fast.  Hard to believe that it was just last Monday we got back from our Thanksgiving holiday trip. Both My Guy and I kept asking each other what day it was all week.  Sunday didn't feel like Sunday, mainly because we finally did our big Christmas shopping trip to Tulsa. I'm not done, done, with the shopping, but pretty close. There are still a couple of things we decided we'd be better off ordering. Hopefully, I get that done today.  Getting the tree up and wrapping presents is likely to take a good chunk of time away from the sewing room this week. What gets done, gets done. 

Saturday was my get in the sewing room and stitch day this week.  One of my goals was to get last year's Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt, Old Town to finished quilt top.  

It's most of the way there.  The blocks and sashing are sewn together, now it just needs the borders added. The plan was to add the inner pieced border, but not the outer pieced border. But I'm rethinking that now.  So I'm going to let the border plans marinate a bit, so for now this project will go back into the project box to be tackled sometime next year.  I'm happy with how this came together, the secondary pattern of the crosses formed by the sashing is one of my favorite things about this quilt.

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

I'm still having problems with my computer memory. If I disappear for a few days, it means I finally put the computer in for a spa day.  Fingers crossed it doesn't come to that.    

Stitching Stuff: Week 49 of 2025

As I was typing the blog title, I had to ask is it really week 49?  Yep, there are just 3 more Sundays in 2025.  I'm definitely not going to meet all my goals for the year. Well, some years are just that way. I should probably run a debrief for myself and see what got me off course for the year.  I'll do that closer to the new year. My stitching time this year has been hit or miss too, but I pretty much hit it this week. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 26/30 days
• 15 minute days/Dec = 6/6 days
• 15 minute days/2025 = 296/340 days
• Success rate = 87.06%

It was a good week.  Maybe it hasn't been the best year on the stitching front, but it's far from my worst (a 52.3% success rate).  So as long as it's not the worst year, I'm good.  

Have you been able to work in some stitching time along with your holiday prep?  

1. Gretchen 2. Julie in GA 3. Melissa G 4. Stitching Nana

5. Andrée at Quilting & Learning 6. DonnaleeQ 7. Karen 8. Bonnie Stapleton

9. Deb in Canada 10. Quilting Gail 11. Marsha's Spot

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November 2025 PHD Report

How can it be December already? We've reached that point where you've either done a great job on your PHD plan or not.  There's not much opportunity to fix it at this point.  So I'm going to confess my lack of progress and link up with Ms. P Designs for the November PHD report.  

 

No new finishes, but one new start.  The 2026 Guild BOM won't end until next year and doesn't officially start until January. But as I'm the one leading it this year, I have to be ready to go one month early.  It's possible I could finish one other quilt before the end of the year, but it's not likely at this point.  Even though the finishes haven't happened, there has still be good progress on several projects over the last month.  

The butterfly embroidery project saw some stitching time over the Thanksgiving week.  You can see a bit of stitching on that bottom middle butterfly. Since we have family time coming up at Christmas, I'm sure this project will see a bit more progress before the end of the year.  

 

Almost finished with the dark green corners for Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter), just one small dark green block left to finish.  Then on to the bright green blocks. Just 12 of those left to make. I'm hoping to finish those before the end of the year.  I'll have to stay diligent to meet that goal.

I really like the secondary pattern that shows up with the addition of the sashing to the Old Town blocks (Bonnie Hunter).  Two rows done and sewn together, with a good start on row 3.  I'm still hoping to get this project to finished quilt top by the end of the year.  

The 2025 Guild BOM quilt top is finished. It needs to be pressed pretty badly, but you can still get a good look at how it came out.  I was so happy to have this completed for November's guild meeting.  I've heard from several of the guild members that they really enjoyed this project. It will be fun to see what variations come from the participants.  

Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs) is progressing slowly. The September clue is completed and I've got a start on the October clue.  I still need to cut the pieces for the November clue and December's clue will come out tomorrow.  I'm hoping to get in some good stitching time this week so I can catch up a bit. I have holiday stuff that needs attention too, so we'll have to see how that all goes.  

 

The mushroom trivets that My Girl is making for a friend aren't on my list.  She pieced them and I quilted then bound them. So a joint quilting project. These trivets have been a nice way to practice quilting with the walking foot.  Both of us were pretty happy with how these turned out. 

 All the pieces are cut for the first block of the 2026 Guild BOM and assembly of the subunits has started. Still a bit to go before this is a finished block. I have two weeks.  Fingers crossed that it all goes together smoothly and quickly. 

My project tracker hasn't changed much since the start of the year.

 

All the blocks were finished for Old Town. The 2025 Guild BOM is a finished quilt top.  Those are the only two changes to the quilt plan for November.  We'll see what happens with December. I'm hoping to move Old Town to finished quilt top and will probably start this year's Bonnie Hunter mystery at some point before the new year.  Now that I've got a better handle on the walking foot quilting, I'm hoping there will be more finishes in 2026.  So I'll definitely be playing along next year.  

To Do List for the Week of 12/02/2025

We pulled into the driveway at 7 PM last night after leaving My Girl's apartment at 7:30 AM yesterday morning.  That's one long day of driving.  Thankfully My Guy was able to take yesterday off so we didn't have to drive home on Sunday.  Driving through Dallas, TX the Sunday after Thanksgiving isn't for the faint of heart. We've done that a couple of times and avoid it if at all possible.  There was still a lot of traffic most of the way, but nothing like we've seen on those after the holiday Sundays.  

I didn't post a to do list last week since we were away from home, All I did in Houston was hand work.  I did get a bit done on my last published to do list from November before we left.  

To Do List for 11/18/2025

1. My Girl Trivets: Quilt ✔  

2. 2026 Guild BOM: Start first block ✔

3. Lupine and Laughter: Start the first clue - no progress

4. Old Town: Continue quilt assembly ✔

5. Magnificent Mystery: Finish Sept, Start Oct/Nov clues - progress

6. Wild and Goosey: Continue making green blocks ✔

Not a bad showing for the two weeks ending with a 4 day holiday.  I'm going to need to get busy on Lupine and Laughter or I'll never catch up. (Not that I'm likely to stay that way, but we try).  

What's the plan for this week?  More of the same, but hopefully with more progress this week.  

To Do List for 12/02/2025

1. My Girl Trivets: Quilt kitty trivets

While we were visiting, My Girl wanted some assistance with making a new set of kitty trivets.  She's made these before so the assembly was pretty easy, but My Girl is still trying to wrap her head around the cutting instructions and wanted some additional tutoring on that aspect.  We discussed pressing instructions too.  She sewed them up and I'll quilt then bind them.  These will be a joint gift from My Girl and I.  I'm getting better with the walking foot quilting, I have some fun ideas to try on these two.  

2. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish January Block

All the pieces are cut for next month's guild block. I've actually started assembly of some of the sub pieces. Hopefully I can get this done and move on to February's block. One nice thing about the week away, I was able to finish writing the instructions for several other blocks. So I'm a bit ahead on that part.  

3. Lupine and Laughter (Bonnie Hunter): Start clues 1, 2 and 3.  

There is still fabric pressing to do before I can start even clue 1.  Hopefully I can make some good progress on all the clues this week. 

4. Magnificent Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Finish Oct, Start Nov/Dec clues

September clue is finished and I made a good start on the October clue. Hopefully I can catch up a bit this month.  

5. Old Town (Bonnie Hunter): Continue quilt assembly

Two rows sewn together and the third is partially constructed.  So almost halfway there with the rows. I'll see how far I can get this week. This project may have to go into time out so I can work on the newer mysteries.  We'll see. I'd really, really like to get this to finished quilt top.  

6. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue assembling green blocks

I'd like to finish up all the green blocks before the end of the year. We'll see how that goes. It's doable if I stay focused. 

That's my to do list for the week.  I need to get laundry going and do a good bit on the Christmas stuff too. We'll see how much stitching I actually get done this month.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.

Stitching Stuff: Week 48 of 2025

 

Did you have a good Thanksgiving? We certainly did. So much food, both My Girl and I ended up in food comas after dinner.  I did eventually go walk some of it off with My Guy.  

With all the family stuff this week, I didn't find the time and energy to stitch a couple of days. 

• 15 minute days/week = 5/7 days
• 15 minute days/Nov = 25/29 days
• 15 minute days/2025 = 289/333 days
• Success rate = 86.79%

So not my best November ever, but I've still stitched more days than I've not. An 86% (87% if you round it), is still a good solid B. I'll take that this late in the year. I'm probably not going to break 90% this year. I'm OK with that.  

Our Thanksgiving was small this year just three of us and the cat. 

You can see Queenie was being an excellent meal prep supervisor.  Now it's on to Christmas prep and I'm so not ready for that.  

Were you able to work in some good stitching time with all the family and holiday time this week? 

1. Gretchen 2. Melissa G 3. maggie f 4. Julie in GA

5. DonnaleeQ 6. Karen 7. Frédérique 8. Deb in Canada

9. Andrée at Quilting & Learning 10. Quilting Gail 11. Melisa- Pinker n' Punkin Quilting 12. Marsha's Spot

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