To List for the Week of 9/8/2026

Labor Day has come and gone, it's supposed to be autumn.  Looks like we've got a few more triple digit days and then temps drop to the low to mid 90's.  Not my idea of autumn, but I'll take just anything lower at this point.  

Staying in the sewing room is easy when it's too miserable to leave the house.  That means I did pretty well on my list for last week.  

To Do List for 9/1/2026

1. Glowing Hearts: Continue quilting ✔

2. Squared Away: press, cut and prep backing ✔

3. Celtic Solstice: Continue working on blocks ✔

4. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish instructions, cut pieces - progress

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue making teal blocks ✔

Four check marks with progress on the 5th is a really good week.  Let's see if I can do as well this week. 

To Do List for 9/8/2026

1. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Continue quilting

Last week I finished up the top middle row, re-pinned the ends and started in on the bottom middle row.  The middle block in that row is completely quilted.  I've figured out how to manage a few things so the quilting is going faster.  Hopefully I can finish this row and get started on the third one before the end of this week.  

2.  2026 Guild BOM: Finish cutting fabrics for assembly

The instructions were written last week, but I didn't get started on cutting out the sashing strips needed for final assembly.  I'm planning to take this project with me when I visit My Girl later this month.   

3. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making blocks

All the pieces for the remaining blocks are cut, now I just need to sew them all together. I've made good progress on the chevron blocks, but still have more to make.  Any progress on this project is good. It's going to take a bit to finish off the main blocks.   

4. Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Cut fabrics for September blocks 

The scrappy parts are cut for the chain blocks. The plan is to get the rest of the cutting done for September this afternoon.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Finish teal/start purple

Just a three more teal blocks to finish and then those will be ready for sashing and I can make some progress on moving the purple ones along.  

My list doesn't seem to change much week to week.  Maybe because the Guild BOM and Wild and Goosey are on it more weeks than not.  but three projects are finished, 2 more are being quilted and 5 have moved to finished quilt tops. My to do list hasn't shrunk, but the number of projects in boxes has. Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.   

August PHD Report

The big thing that sticks in my mind for August is just how hot it was all month.  Normally we get those triple digit temps for a couple of weeks. It was pretty much the whole month, with just a few days of temps dipping into the 90's. It was a good month for sewing, it was too hot to do much else.  No finishes last month, but there was still enough progress to do an August PHD report to link up with Ms. P Designs.  

No finishes, but there was a new project started last month. It was a project I planned to start this year.  It's a quilt along that won't finish till next year, so it doesn't have to get done this year.  I've done pretty well at limiting the squirrels this year. This is my first new start since January.  

Celtic Solstice, the 2013 Bonnie Hunter Mystery, has been on and off to my to do list since June of this year.  There was finally some progress on this UFO in late August.  It's my last unassembled BH mystery. All the 4-patch chain blocks are finished. Now to work on the piece heavy main block.  That's going to go pretty slowly.   

The next quilt to go out for long arm quilting is Squared Away (2018 Rainbow Scrap Challenge Sampler).  This is another quilt for one of My Girl's college buddies. The plan was to pull a backing from the stash, but nothing I pulled worked.  So we decided to take advantage of a sale and buy an extra wide backing.  The plan is to get this to the long arm quilter before I leave to visit My Girl later this month. 

Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter) has moved from a set of blocks to a finished quilt top this month. I'm really happy with how it turned out.  The pieced border was definitely worth doing.  Now it goes into the to be quilted closet. 

Work on the teal blocks for my version of Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) continued in August. Just 4 blocks to go and I'll be ready to sash the 3" finished blocks into 7" finished blocks for quilt assembly.  

The quilting has been slow going on Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker).  I picked a denser quilting motif, so of course it's going to take more time. It's going to be worth it, I really like how it's turning out.  Based on where I'm at, this going to be a September/October finish. 

All the blocks for the 2026 Guild BOM have been made. Only the blocks through September are shown in the photo since that's all the guild has seen.  I'm working on the quilt assembly instructions, with plans to start that in late September after the October block is shown to the guild.  I need to get this quilt to finished quilt top so I can move on to next year's BOM and have that ready to go for the December meeting.   

  

Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs) is the new project started this month.  The August blocks are all finished.  This is my 11th Meadow Mist Designs' mystery sew along. I've enjoyed all of them.  The sew along doesn't end until next April, so I'm looking forward to several months of clues.   

August was a good month. No finishes, but one project reached finished quilt top stage and another one is ready to prep for quilting.  A new project was added, but it was a planned one.  

All the work this month means there's a good chance for at least 2 more finishes before the end of the year.  I'll take that!    

To Do List for the Week of 9/1/2026

August seemed to go both fast and slow. The high temperatures did make the month drag a bit.  I'm ready for autumn temps, but I'm not ready for it to be September.  If this year is like past years, I'll blink and it will be December!  

The last week of August was a productive one. My to do list was pretty short, which is probably why I got so much done on each item.  

To Do List for 8/25/26

1. Glowing Hearts: Continue quilting ✔

2. Squared Away: Decide on backing ✔

3. Celtic Solstice: Work on incomplete blocks ✔

4. Wild and Goosey: Continue making teal blocks ✔

I'm hoping to do as well with this week's list, though it is a bit longer.  

To Do List for 9/1/2026

1. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Continue quilting

Last week I finished the second block and got halfway with the block 3.  I've found a few tips that have made the progress go faster. Fingers crossed I can get most of the next row done this week. 

2. Squared Away (Soscrappy): Press, cut and prep backing 

My Girl picked out the backing fabric. I chose an extra wide backing fabric.  It's nice not to have any seams, but I will admit, it's not fun to man handle from a pressing and cutting perspective.  But I'll be glad to have it ready to go.  

3. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Continue working on blocks

All the 4-patch chain blocks are finished and I got started on the main block.  I've cut all the pieces needed for the chevron components and started piecing those.  I have enough of the other block components to make 5 of the main blocks.  After a bit of review and some calculations, a cutting list has been created. I'm hoping to get the rest of the pieces cut this week so all I'll have to do is sew the blocks.    

4.  2026 Guild BOM: Finish assembly instructions, start cutting finishing pieces

I need to wait till after the September guild meeting before I start the quilt assembly, but it's not too early to finish up the instructions and cut my pieces. I have a trip planned to see My Girl later in the month, this would be a good "kit" to take with me and work on during my visit.  

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

I know the RSC color is purple, but I only need a four more teal blocks and I'll be finished with those. Once those are done, I'll switch over to finishing up the purple ones.  

It's a pretty doable list.  We'll see how far I can get in a week.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

To Do List for the Week of 8/11/2026

Summer continues in full force here, so my air conditioned sewing room is my preferred place to hang out most days. Though I did concentrate more on getting chores done this last week. I'm behind there after my back and knee issues last spring. I still got lots done in the sewing room, just not as much as planned.  

To Do List for 8/4/2026

1. Glowing Hearts: Finish sandwiching, start quilting - progress

2. 2026 Guild BOM: Make September's block ✔

3. Good Fortune: Continue assembling quilt ✔

4. Celtic Solstice: Work on chain blocks - no progress

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue working on teal blocks ✔

Good progress on everything but Celtic Solstice, which is still a good week.  I'll get to that project eventually, probably once Good Fortune is a finished quilt top. But that probably won't be for a few weeks, so it will drop off this week's list.  

To Do List for 8/11/2026

1. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Start Quilting

The quilt is sandwiched. I'm still mulling over quilting designs.  Diann, who blogs at Little Penguin Quilts, has been quilting her scrappy hearts with a cross hatch and I really like how that looks on those blocks.  So that may be my inspiration for how to quilt these hearts.  

2. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish October's block

I've already made good progress on this to do. All that's left is to sew the component parts together.  I should be able to finish that tonight at late night sew. 

3. Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter): Work on borders 

I've made good progress on the split HST blocks, and should finish those off this week. I decided to use square in a square blocks for the corners of that pieced border.  Those are under construction too.  It won't make finished quilt top this week, but maybe next week?  

4. Marigold Mystery (Meadow Mist Designs): Work on August blocks

Normally the August instructions for the Meadow Mist Designs mystery are just cutting instructions. Cheryl changed it up this year so that we'll cut as we go.  That meant I needed to finalize my fabric choices.  The black paint spatter is the background, the white dots is fabric A, which is the block background, the bright blue is the accent color and the dotted fabrics are the "scraps" for the blocks.  I plan to mainly use the fat quarters, but have the scraps if I need a good accent for a block.  The pin dot fabrics are left overs from another project.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue to work on teal blocks

I need to check how many more teal blocks are needed to finish out that color.  It will probably take most of the month to finish out the teal blocks. 

That's my list for this week. It's pretty doable.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

July PHD Report

July felt like a month of medical appointments.  Physical therapy twice a week and then several appointments to address the tooth pain that was keeping me up.  Even with all the disruptions, July was a pretty good month on the PHD front.  There is another finish to link up with Ms. P Designs for the July PHD report.  

This is my third finish for the year.  I had hoped to have more finishes by this point in the year.  Learning to quilt has been a slow process, but I'm getting better and a bit faster there.  Finding a long arm quilter took a bit of time, but now that I have that option, hopefully I'll make more time to get quilts ready to go out for quilting.  I would really like to make a dent in the projects hanging in the to be quilted closet.  

 

My July finish was the 2025 Guild BOM quilt, which as been renamed to "Ansley's Palette".  This quilt is a gift for one of My Girl's college buddies. This is my second quilt using the Inverted Star block and it was my first effort at being responsible for the guild's BOM program.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  

 

All the blocks are finished for Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter) and quilt assembly has been started. This should be a finished quilt top by the end of August. 

Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter) has been progressing steadily all year.  All the blue blocks are now sashed and a few more teal blocks are finished.  The hope is all the blocks are done by the end of the year.  Hard to tell at this point if that's going to happen or not.  

Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker) is the next project to be quilted with the walking foot on my sewing machine.  The backing, the batting and the top are now all prepped.  I've selected the threads to use, though I've not decided on the bobbin thread as yet.  I need to baste the layers together and decide how I'm going to quilt those hearts.  It would be nice to keep my a finish a month going into August. We'll see if that works out.  

There wasn't as much progress as I had hoped for the 2026 Guild BOM.  The block for August was finished and shown at the July meeting.  I did finish the November blocks, which are just 4 patches for one of the pieced borders. It was fast and easy to cut the strips for those. The plan was to finish the September and October blocks too.  But I didn't get that far. I did finally work out what pieces I need to cut from each fabric for those blocks. Hopefully I can get that done soon. The September block has to be ready before the next guild meeting, so it has to get done sooner rather than later.  

The final two borders were added to Lupine and Laughter (Bonnie Hunter) early in July. It's now a finished quilt top hanging in the to be quilted closet.  It's always nice to finish piecing last year's mystery before the next one comes out. 

July was a productive month. In addition to the finish, another project is prepped for quilting, another became a finished quilt top and a fourth project had all the blocks finished.  

My project progress sheet is starting to show more color, especially in the quilt blocks to finish category. I'm hoping to see more color in the quilts to finish block, probably not by the end of next month, but certainly in September.    

To Do List for the Week of 8/4/2026

We got a nice cool off for the weekend, but we are back to summer heat the rest of the week.  So the sewing room will continue to be my preferred afternoon hang out.  Last week was a good one on the sewing front,  finishing a quilt is always a nice accomplishment.  Even better, I didn't have to neglect the rest of my to do list to make that happen.  

To Do List for 7/28/2026

1.  2025 Guild BOM: Bind quilt ✔

2.  Glowing Hearts: Prep quilt and assemble quilt sandwich - progress

3.  2026 Guild BOM: Cut fabrics for remaining blocks ✔

4.  Good Fortune: Continue to assemble quilt ✔

5.  Wild and Goosey: Continue making teal blocks ✔

I didn't quit get the quilt sandwich made for Glowing Hearts, but I did well with all my other to do items. To be honest I spent a lot of my "quilting time" finishing up the binding for the 2025 Guild BOM. It was a very good use of that time.  This week will look pretty much the same but with the addition of an old UFO project to the list. 

To Do List for 08/04/2026

1.  Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Finish sandwiching quilt, start quilting. 

I've picked all but the bobbin thread for the quilting part.  I need to review the sandwiching videos again before I start that process. It's been a couple of months and I haven't done it enough to have any muscle memory on that task.  

2.  2026 Guild BOM: Make September's block 

All the pieces are cut for the last two blocks.  I've already started assembly of the September block. Hopefully it will go quickly and I can get started on October's block before the end of the week.  

3. Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter): Continue assembling quilt

Five of the seven rows are assembled, so more than half way to having that finished.  Next will come the borders, which always take longer than I think they should. 

4. Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter): Work on chain blocks 

With Good Fortune moving closer to a finished quilt top, it's time to pull out the next UFO that needs the blocks finished.  Celtic Solstice is my last BH mystery that needs the blocks assembled. I pulled out the contents of the project box.  I still need to take a hard look at what pieces I need to cut.  We'll see how far I get on that this week. 

5.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Continue to work on teal blocks

Only 15 more of the 3.5" teal blocks are needed to finish out this color.  I doubt those all get made this month. It really depends on how much other sewing I get done.  

It's a pretty doable list as most of what is required is just progress.  I have no external appointments this week, so hopefully that means it will be a good week for progress. 

Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.  

To Do List for the Week of 7/28/2026

We were home most of this week and with the triple digits outside staying in my sewing room seemed to be the best option.  I did get a lot done, it just doesn't feel that way.  

To Do List for 7/21/2026

1. 2025 Guild BOM: Make binding and label - progress

2. Glowing Hearts: Piece batting, prep backing ✔

3. 2026 Guild BOM: Cut fabrics for remaining blocks - progress

4. Good Fortune: Continue to assemble quilt ✔

5. Wild and Goosey: Continue making teal blocks ✔

Only three check marks, but there was progress on all 5 to dos from last week.  I'll take that.  The goal is progress, and that happened. It's pretty much the same list for this week.  

To Do List for 7/28/2026

1. 2025 Guild BOM: Bind quilt

The binding strips are all cut, they just need to be joined together.  The plan is to use my time at late night sew to get the binding sewn to the quilt.  I have a lot of hand stitching to do for this to get done this month.  

2. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Prep quilt top and assemble quilt sandwich. 

The quilt backing and the batting are laying on the My Girl's bed waiting for the top to be prepped.  I haven't completely figured out how I'm quilting this one.  Once the quilt sandwiching is done, I'll need to commit to something.  

3. 2026 Guild BOM: Cut fabrics for remaining blocks

I did get the fabrics cut for one of the blocks and actually got that one assembled.  That leaves the last two blocks.  I finally sat down and looked at what I needed for both, so I can optimize my strip cutting. I'm getting low on fabric and I don't want to run out.  

4. Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter): Continue to assemble quilt. 

The third row is under construction, just 4 left to go. This project will take a back seat until I can finish up the 2025 Guild BOM.  There will be progress I'm sure, but it probably won't be a finished quilt top by the end of the week.  

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

I need to cut some additional teal triangles because I'm running a bit low on that color.  I'm just a bit over halfway done with these blocks so I still need lots of scrappy triangles.  

If I can move each to do along a bit, it will have been a good week.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.

To Do List for the Week of 7/21/2026

We were in Dallas for the weekend, so I didn't get much sewing done. I worked a lot on the instructions for this year's Guild BOM, so that was my "stitching" activity for the weekend. That wasn't on last week's list, but it needs to get done.  There was some good progress on last week's to do list before we left.  

To Do List for 7/14/2026

1.  Glowing Hearts: Piece batting, start quilting - progress

2.  Guild BOM: Assemble August block ✔

3.  Good Fortune: Continue to work on blocks ✔

4.  Wild and Goosey: Continue working on teal blocks ✔

Three check marks and a progress is a good for a week with no weekend sewing room time.  I'm not sure how well this week is going to go.  The upstairs air conditioner quit cooling last night.  My sewing room is upstairs.  Temps are supposed to in the low 90s the next few days, but that's still a bit warm to be sewing in. I can sew at the local quilt shop or set up an alternate location downstairs. It depends on when we can get it repaired. With 100 plus temps the last week, it's not the easiest time to get someone out to look at an air conditioner.  Here's my list for this week, it probably won't all get done, but why not dream big. 

To Do List for 7/21/2026

1.  2025 Guild BOM: Make binding & label

  

I picked the quilt up from the shop yesterday. It needs to be trimmed, plus the label and the binding need to be made.  This quilt is a gift for one of My Girl's college buddies, so I sought her input for the binding.  Since this is a rainbow quilt, we decided on a rainbow binding. I tried to stick with dark to medium fabrics, hence the absence of yellow. I'm pretty sure the binding will get made, but since I won't have access to my big cutting table for an unknown amount of time, I'm not sure when this quilt will get squared up so I can sew on the binding.  

2. Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Piece batting, prep backing

I have two large pieces of batting left over from the piece I used for Chilhowie.  If I sew those together, I'll have enough for Glowing Hearts.  I'll probably get the batting assembled. If I'm out of the sewing room till next week, prepping the quilt back won't happen.  

3. Guild BOM: Cut fabrics for the remaining blocks

August's block was shown at the guild meeting last night, so I can share that.  The plan is to start working on the remaining blocks.  If I can get all the block parts cut while I have each fabric out, it's much more efficient.  It would be nice to finish August with all the blocks finished so I could start quilt assembly.  November will be here before we know it!  

4. Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter): Continue to assemble quilt top

The first row of blocks have been sashed, but they aren't back up on the design wall yet.  Fingers crossed this will be a finished quilt top by the end of the month.  

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

I haven't counted how many more teal blocks I need. A little over half the blocks were made as of last week and only a couple more were finished during the week. So still need quite a few more before all the teal blocks are finished.  

It's an ambitious list. It would be even if I was sure of access to my sewing room. I'll be happy if even a little progress happens for each project. Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday when it's posted. 

To Do List for the Week of 7/14/2026

It's been a laid back week.  Summer tends to produce a lot of those, it's too hot to do much outside, so why leave the house.  I didn't complete everything on my to do list, but there was progress on every item.  

To Do List for 7/7/2026

1.  Glowing Heart: Make backing, piece batting - progress

2.  Lupine and Laughter: Add last border ✔ 

3.  2026 Guild BOM: Cut pieces for last 4 blocks - progress

4.  Good Fortune: Continue making main blocks ✔

5.  Wild and Goosey: Finishing sashing blues, work on teals ✔

Three check marks and two with progress is a good week in my book.  Hopefully I can keep up the momentum this week.  

To Do List for 7/14/2026

1.  Glowing Hearts (Sandra Walker): Piece batting, start quilting 

The backing is pieced.  Glowing Hearts was made from a half yard bundle that I won as part of a blog quilt along or give away. There wasn't much left of the bundle, but there was enough with the addition of some of the background fabric to make the backing.  The green strips at the top and bottom were part of the bundle, but I didn't use that fabric in the hearts. Now to piece the batting and prep the top and back for quilting.  That always takes longer then I think it should.   

2. Guild BOM: Assemble August Block

The block needs to be ready for the July meeting, which is a week from today.  So I really need to get busy with the assembly.  If I can get parts of the remaining 3 blocks cut, that would be helpful.  But if I don't get that far, it won't be the end of the world.  

3. Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter): Continue to work on blocks 

There are a lot of pieces to the main block in this project. Nothing new for a BH mystery quilt, but it does make for some slow going.  There has been progress, but I may be rethinking my approach.  

4.  Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): 

All the blue blocks are sashed and I've started working on the teal blocks again.  I have just a little over half of the teal and purple blocks needed for this project.  So I'll probably stick with teal until get all that color done and then go back to finish up purple.

A shorter list for this week.  What's left on my UFO list at this point all requires either quilting or block assembly.  Both of those stages tend to be the slowest of the process, so keeping the list short is probably wise.  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.

2026 Quilt Making Strategies: Third Quarter Plan

Hard to believe over half of 2026 is already past. The end of the year will come up quickly. So far I've stuck to the main strategy that was posted in January, but the priorities of some of the projects has changed.  That's not so bad.  The plan for second and third quarters was to focus on moving UFOs to finished, or at least closer to finished.  I'm going to stick with that strategy.

1. Guild BOM 2026

The 2026 Guild BOM has to be finished by the November guild meeting.  The first draft of the block instructions for the last 4 blocks are written.  The plan is to get all the blocks made this quarter and start quilt assembly.  I won't be able to complete assembly until October after the last block is shown, but doing all I can this quarter will help keep what needs to get assembled at the end to a minimum. 

2. Wild and Goosey. Continue to use two blocks as my leaders and enders. The goal is to have all the blocks done by the end of the year.  

3. UFOs to be moved to finished quilt tops.    

Lupine and Laughter just needs borders, so that should be a quick finish.  Good fortune still needs 7 of the star blocks constructed before assembly can start.  I do expect that project to make it to finished quilt top before the end of the quarter.  There may be some progress on Celtic Solstice by the end of the quarter.  I'm not sure the blue and yellow scrap quilt will see any progress at all.  It would be great if I get that far.  

4. Walking foot quilting.  

I've learned that it takes me a quarter to quilt one project.  So the goal for third quarter is to finish quilting Glowing Hearts. If I can make a start on Betty, that would be a really successful quarter. 

5. External Quilting

I've changed up the priority of my external quilts.  Squared Away is a gift for one of My Girl's college buddies, so it gets moved up to next in line.  My Girl has asked for 3 more quilts as graduation gifts for her grad school buddies. I suspect one of the girls will like Magnificent Mystery, so I'm going to bump that one up too.  

If I can end the quarter with 2 more finished quilts and 2 more projects moved to finished quilt tops, it will have been a really good quarter.  

Second Quarter Review 2026: Strategic Progress?

Back in January, I drafted a strategic plan (?) for 2026.  Strategic Plan is probably a gross overstatement of what I actually put together, but it was at least a potential road map for my quilting decisions.  Now that we are in 3rd quarter, I should probably take a look at where I'm at and decide on any adjustments.  

2nd Quarter Strategy

1. Guild BOM: Finish May through October blocks.  Finish Flying geese. 

The May, June and July blocks are all finished.  The flying geese for the alternate border are also all finished.  The instructions are written for the August and September blocks.  I needed to verify the cutting dimensions for some of the pieces for the October block and that got done last week.  So I didn't get everything done, but I'm also not too far off track.  If I put focus on this project in July, I should be back on track before we got too far into third quarter. 

2. Wild and Goosey: Continue as leaders and enders project

All the blue 3.5" blocks were finished last quarter and most of the blocks were sashed.  The hope is this project will be ready for assembly before the end of the year. 

3. Move UFOs to finished quilt tops. 

Three of the 5 UFOs became finished quilt tops: 2026 SAHRR, Magnificent Mystery and Old Town.  Lupine and Laughter only needs two more borders added to be a completed quilt top.  The remaining pieces needed to assemble the blocks for Good Fortune have been cut.  The chain blocks are all finished, but still working on the star blocks.  I didn't get it all done, but at least every project on the plan is farther along. 

4. Walking foot quilting

The plan was to finish off two quilts, but only Chilhowie was finished up. Glowing Hearts has been pulled out of the closet, the batting laid out to relax and I've been contemplating quilting motifs.  So even though it didn't get done, at least there was a bit of progress on it.  Based on how the walking foot quilting has been going, one quilt a quarter seems to be my speed, at least for now.  

5. External quilting

A backing was pieced for the 2025 Inverted Star BOM. Both the backing and the quilt top were prepped for quilting.  I delivered the project to the long armer the first week in July.  So at least that one will be a finished quilt in third quarter. I didn't even touch Chocolate Marshmallow.  It's probably going to go to the bottom of the list as My Girl has picked a few quilts that will be going to college and graduate school friends.  So those will higher priority the last half of the year.  

Second quarter wasn't a total success, but I have learned a lot. I'm doing well at moving projects to finished quilt tops. That will help a lot in clearing out my UFO list. But I'm not doing so hot on either the walking foot quilting or getting quilts ready for external quilting.  It seems one quilt top for each a quarter is about my speed on that part of the UFO process. I'll have to consider if that modifies my strategy for third quarter or not.  At any rate, there's been reasonable progress on all of my "strategies".  Not a bad first half of the year.   

To Do List for the Week of 7/7/2026

My last to do list was almost a month ago.  With all the travel to and from Texas along with plans with My Girl, it was hard to assess what I was going to be able to work on. I didn't do so hot on addressing my last to do list, so I just used that one for a couple of weeks.  Even with three weeks, I didn't get to every item. 

To Do List for 6/16/2026

1. 2025 Guild BOM: Finish prepping quilt for quilting ✔

2. Lupine and Laughter: Continue assembling quilt ✔

3. Good Fortune: Continue making main blocks - no progress

4. Celtic Solstice: Cut fabrics to finish blocks - no progress

5. 2026 Guild BOM: Finish block instructions, cut pieces - progress

6. Wild and Goosey: Continue sashing blue blocks ✔

Three check marks and one item with some progress isn't bad considering I was on vacation for 10 days.  My list didn't include working on my butterfly travel embroidery project.  There was lots of progress on that.  That last list was probably a bit ambitious, so I'm going to scale it down just a bit this week.  

To Do List for 7/7/2026

1. Glowing Heart (Sandra Walker): Make backing, piece batting

Glowing Hearts was the quilt along offered by Sandra of MMM Quilts in 2025. This is the next project to be quilted on my home machine.  I have some thoughts about what to do for the back, but I need to see what if what's left over is enough.  I have a piece of batting that is definitely long enough, but is just a bit shy of being wide enough. I can certainly reconfigure the piece to be the right size.  If that gets done this week, I'll count that as good progress. 

2.   Lupine and Laughter (Bonnie Hunter): Add last border

The strips are all cut and pinned for stitching.  This should go pretty quickly and be an easy to do to check off this week.  

3. 2026 Guild BOM: Cut pieces for last 4 blocks

The instructions are written for the last 4 blocks in the block of the month series.  I need to get August's block done pretty quickly, but I'm hoping to finish up the remaining blocks by the end of the month.  Then I can start on quilt assembly. It won't be long before I need to make some progress on the project for 2027.  

4. Good Fortune (Bonnie Hunter): Continue making main blocks

I've not touched this project in the last three weeks, so I'm hoping to get back to it this week and make some progress on finishing up the blocks.  

5. Wild and Goosey (Bonnie Hunter): Finish sashing blues, work on teals

Only 3 blue blocks left to sash and one purple 3.5" block from June left to finish before I can concentrate on making some progress on the teal blocks.  

That's a doable list for this week (famous last words right?).  Linking up with the Quilt Schmilt for To Do Tuesday.