RSC26 - Week #1 in BLUE

Blue is the biggest scrap bin that I have, and it's always overflowing for some reason.  The Quilt of Valor scrap bin is probably the second biggest - and obviously also has a lot of blue in it.  I've been working on a scrappy Quilt of Valor again the past couple of months.  It's a pattern called Gleam. One more block was added to the stack. 

In an effort to do some sorting, I've been separating the light blue scraps from the dark and medium blue scraps in the bin.  From the lighter blues, a couple of string blocks were born.  These are only 6" finished. 

And in an effort to get that Quilt of Valor scrap bin under control - 2 more placemat flimsies are ready to quilt and bind.  In that scrap bin were 2 layer cake pieces with the red trucks.  They hadn't been used yet because I didn't want to cut them into small pieces for blocks and lose that cute print.  So they will now become the first placemats of the new year. 

Speaking of QOV scraps, there was the project box still containing the leftover units I had after finishing the RWB Indigo Way (past Bonnie Hunter mystery).  Lots and lots of 3.5" leftover units.  I need that project box for one of my 2026 projects, so it's time to empty it.  There is a lot of blue in this box to play with. 

There were enough of these to make another placemat.  This unit was originally for the border, but I used a plain border instead.  Now they will have a purpose.  

 These blue and neutral Square-in-a-Square units are also 3.5".  About half were sewn, and the other half were just clipped together in the box.  Time to turn all of these into a placemat too.  That will leave a few more random units, probably destined to become more mug rugs this year.  

Let's go see what everyone else is playing with already for 2026 . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

A paper pieced snowman

                                           One of the New Year's projects has begun . . . 

The blocks for this little vertical banner are paper pieced, and I started with the easiest one - the snowman.  The sections are ready to sew together.  The other 2 blocks are paper pieced snowflakes with a ton of pieces in each.  I'll work on this again today. 

Yesterday morning while enjoying my first cup of coffee I worked on my annual UFO challenge list/spreadsheet.  It's not complete quite yet, but I do have the highest priority items on it.  For every month, I list 3 things - a high priority project, another UFO from the closet, and a PIG that is usually still a kit.  This year I'm actually starting the year with #1 on the list - which is the Jackrabbit Stars quilt.  I don't expect to finish it in January, but I hope to have it cut out and maybe started.  The secondary project on the January list will be a flimsy to be selected yet.  And the PIG for January is the snowman mini banner (started).

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

We had a few busy days with family Sunday through Tuesday, and now it's already the New Year with 365 days of possibilities ahead of us.  Like everyone in the world I hope 2026 brings good things our way.

All 5 grandkids got to spend some extra time at our house.  Jonah (far left) is out of his walking boot from breaking a leg in football this fall.  Olivia broke a wrist sledding about 3 weeks ago, but is able to return to swim team with her innovative brace rather than a cast.  Sophia (center) had a varsity wrestling meet on Monday so she only got to spend 1 night instead of 2 with us.  Jack is the youngest of the crew but quickly catching up in height.  And the oldest grandchild is Mason (far right) who will start his MS basketball schedule as school resumes. 

Today I'll begin putting away the Christmas decorations, beginning with the stockings.  Seems like it always takes me 2-3 days to get it all put away even though I haven't gotten too carried away with decorating this year. 

No sewing has happened at all this week - yet.  But we did put together a puzzle while everyone was here.  Daughter #1 and I started this one with the youngest grandkids as he wanted to work on a puzzle.  10 minutes later he wandered off, leaving just the 2 of us working on it.  Most of the time I buy 1,000 piece puzzles but this one is just 500.  A couple of the grandkids helped finish it on Tuesday before they went home.  The next one is going to be the one they kids gave me for Christmas - 1,000 pieces.  

One forgotten UFO project found on that chair I cleaned off last week is a zippered bag made from a panel.  It had been sandwiched with batting and backing.  As of yesterday, I have it quilted, and a zipper found for it.  Maybe I'll get it assembled over the weekend.   

I think my first NEW project for 2026 will be this kit.  It is mostly paper piecing, and should look great hanging in my office this winter.  I have all of the pieces cut and labeled.  Assembly may begin this morning as I have a little sewing time before we leave for a Jackrabbit basketball doubleheader in Brookings.  

There are some blue scrappy blocks in the works for Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2026, and I'm excited to get a start working on those blue scraps.  The light blue scraps are all on top and ready for some play. 

One important quilt on my 2026 To Do list is the Jackrabbit Stars quilt.  The goal is to finish this one by my husband's birthday in April so I can surprise him with it.  The fabric is gathered and the pattern is tucked in with it.  So - another blue project for January, at least to begin it. 

Blue also means I'll probably do quite a bit of Quilts of Valor sewing this month again.  Shadow Star was a partial set of QOV blocks that I intended to finish last fall.  But it didn't happen, so now they are on my radar again.  All the pieces were already cut, so it shouldn't be a problem to finish them, if I would quit putting them away.  LOL

I hope to finish the name banners I made for both girls families in the next week.  The banners themselves were done but I ended up ordering different hangers and those haven't arrived yet.  Seems like every time I check my order status it's pushed back another day - as is a book I had ordered as part of Dave's Christmas gifts.    

Design Wall Monday - Dec 29

The final Monday of 2025!  Wow this year flew by!  And it's the long anticipated day for our family Christmas.  Actually 4 of the 5 grandkids arrived yesterday, and everyone else will come today.  Let the fun begin, right?  I'll probably not do a blog post again until Wednesday or Thursday. 

The color BLUE has been announced for January in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and that fits right into my plans perfectly.  I have this kit already planned for the next NEW project.  It's a small runner or banner.  I plan to do it vertically, and it can hang in my office.  It has paper pieced snowflakes.  And there is a lot of blue.  

The January mini quilt in the Year of Spools series is finished.  Each of these has been quick finishes as they are only 12-14" square.  I added some little silver metal star embellishments to add just a little somethin' somethin'.  This snowman will look so cute on my fireplace hearth for winter.  

I'm linking up today with:

https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/ 

RSC25 - Week #52 Reflection

I keep a spreadsheet of quilting projects every year, with status tracked from beginning to the finish with the type of project  identified too.  That makes it really easy to get a clear idea of how much I've accomplished at the end of the year - and during the year.

There were 9 Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilts totally finished this year, out of 19 quilts ranging in size from baby quilts to queen size.  Even the Quilts of Valor were scrappy this year.

• Kitty
• Night Vision
• Pyramid
• Buckeye Beauty
• Baby Churn Dash
• Scrappy QOV Indigo Way
• Scrappy QOV Buckeye Beauty
• Scrappy QOV Rails & Stars
• Scrappy QOV Spools

Dozens of small projects were also finished.  Bags, pillows, pillowcases, wall hangings, table runners, mug rugs, mini quilts, etc. - all add up quickly.  Some were not scrappy but a lot of them were.  For example, 38 placemats used orphan blocks or scraps. Scrappy makes me happy, but so does using up fat quarters and other fabrics from the stash.  Either way I'm reducing the quantity, right?    

Obviously I've been sewing lots of other scrappy projects that are NOT completely finished.  There are 21 flimsies hanging in the closet that were made from RSC blocks.  Some of those scrappy flimsies are actually carry overs from 2024 unfortunately.  One more was donated as a flimsy, and has already been finished and donated.  But that means there are still a BIG bunch that need to be quilted and bound.

As always, I'm excited about what 2026 will bring for quilting projects.  I have several block sets that are continuing into the new year, like Hollow 9, Entwined Star, and Give It a Whirl.  And I have some new ones I'm excited to make - Snail's Trail, Vintage Spools, and Friendship Stars - and others to be determined yet.  The photo above is just a glimpse of what I'll be working on for 2026.  

Let's go see what everyone else is reflecting on for 2025 . . .

https://superscrappy.blogspot.com/ 

Cleaning up a few things

I was up early on Christmas Eve, and spent the whole morning in my sewing room - sewing, cutting, and some cleaning.

There is a small ugly chair in my sewing room, and it has been a very convenient place to just drop things I don't want to deal with right away.  I'm happy to say that chair is now cleared off and all the "stuff" has been either used or put away where it belonged.  Bonus - the ugly chair has been moved into the storage room so I can't reload it. 

There were several orphan blocks in that stack, and they are now in the bin with other orphan blocks.  Leftovers from several past projects have now become doll quilt tops.  They are folded neatly with a sticky note pinned on with the size - averaging about 24" square. 

The purple one used nearly all of the lavender squares in the box that Nann sent me last week.  I added a purple solid from my stash for borders.  The red/white/yellow top used a nautical print - also in Nann's box of treasures.  I just added some solids - again from my stash. The NASA prints leftover from Jack's pillowcase are now in a doll quilt top, and I only needed a little of that red solid from the stash.  The light blue and striped one on the bottom was from a previous box that Nann had sent me last summer.  Last year I made 12 doll quilts and paired them up with stuffed animals or dolls.  They were donated to the local safe house.  I have a similar donation goal for 2026.  These 4 tops are a good beginning - once they are quilted and bound of course. 

One additional project got some attention too.  All of the pieces for the January spools mini quilt are all cut and identified with alphabet clips.  My plan for today is to at least get the top sewn.  It's also "clue day" for #6 of the Bonnie Hunter mystery.  

Merry Christmas

Christmas is here, but it will be very quiet. It will be just the 2 of us today and tomorrow, so I suspect we'll do what we do other days.  I'll sew and Dave will probably golf (in his golf simulator).  A Christmas movie or two may be watched of course.  I do have steak planned for a nice supper tonight, and a ham for Christmas Day.  At some point tomorrow we'll Facetime with the grandkids.  They'll all be here for our delayed family Christmas on Monday, so we just have to be patient.

The final Christmas gift sewing is nearly done.  Hand stitching the binding, and adding some embellishments will be the last steps.  

The snowman 3-yard quilt is a completed flimsy finally.  It's the perfect size to be a cuddly couch quilt.  Yesterday I posted about needing to clean, but the only thing cleaned off is my ironing board.  The borders and leftovers of this project were cluttering one end of the ironing board.  And now it's all cleaned off - scraps sorted to the appropriate bins. 

And the binding on this little UFO (28" square) was finished in the car while traveling to and from sporting events this weekend.  The background was a kit called Feel the Churn that I bought on a shop hop a few years ago.  After sewing that little wall hanging together right away, I felt it was kind of boring so it has hung in the closet ever since.  It really needed something appliqued onto it for color.  And this fall that is exactly what happened.  The orange and green batiks all were scraps leftover from a big quilt (Cactus in the Cabin). 

Merry Christmas to everyone!