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Monday, January 19, 2026

This, That, and More


In the game of bobbin chicken, this has to be my "best finish" to date. 
I had literally just finished the seam. Whew!


A long time ago, I pulled this mix of grays to use as backing for Fandango (Macnas series no. 7) since the "light" rectangles featured a lot of grayed neutrals.

Once up on the design wall it was a quick NO WAY - this is too dull and heavy.

(Note:  later in the day I decided to make a second set of January placemats for 2027 using the large scale KF print; I've tried numerous times to work it into a quilt but it has never played well and it really needs to stop hanging around in the stash)


I wasn't sure this Rubin design from eQuilter would work but it was the largest piece of stash yardage that even came close to Fandango's palette.

Again, it was a NOPE.  

Hmmmmmmm


A quick review of the waiting-to-be-quilted closet yielded this wide back that had been set aside for a future project.

That is not going to happen since it "is just right" to back Fandango.


For the sake of accountability on my weekly challenges, here is my scrappy paper nine-patch.


And my scrappy paper circles featuring 2" punch outs from food packaging.  I may go back in later and add smaller circles in the open areas.


This is my shipping tag for Full Deck Challenge 4 (prompts used include cat, red, yellow, clock, flower, ticket, postage stamp)


And lastly, I put the sticker Lynne sent in a magnetic photo holder and added it to the inspiration board in front of my sewing machine. 

Oh, and I've started quilting Trouvaille!

Quiltdivajulie
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"Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder."
E.B. White
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Friday, January 16, 2026

Another L-O-N-G Runner


In the spirit of moving things along that are nearly finished, I decided to quilt the second long runner made with scraps from Esperance and Haru (first one is HERE).

(I was tired of moving the not-yet-pinbasted-quilt-sandwich bundle)

It seems that Fluffy, the newest member of the studio squirrel clan, is a curious fellow.  He had to get up close when he heard Max working.


And then he insisted on quality testing the freshly quilted runner.


The runner on my studio floor.


12.5" wide by 75" long.


Quilted using Glide thread in Amethyst (top) and an assortment of partially-used bobbins (which emptied three of them).  

I will bind the runner using the backing fabric.


Meanwhile, Fluffy decided to rest in/on the newly pin-basted Trouvaille quilt sandwich.  That's Mischief looking on from the bookshelf and the plate-sorted blocks for Hanabi (Macnas series No. 10) in the green basket.

* * *

Ah yes, the studio squirrels apparently took me seriously about getting things done.



Quiltdivajulie
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"open your day like a squirrel opens the misplaced acorn with purpose curiously ready to devour."
Joey Doherty
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Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Enchanted - the Flimsy


Enchanted, Macnas No. 9, is now a flimsy. 

The partially-constructed top was set aside at the end of November and after taking most of December away from the sewing machine, it was time.  Even though I wasn't planning to finish it immediately after Githerment's top, when I moved the stack and realized there were only a few more rows to add I decided to just go on and get it done.


Detail photo of Enchanted's top after pressing.


Here is another perspective - so many interesting fabrics, both the yellow-oranges and the black-whites.

The top measures 52" x 72" 

Before Enchanted goes into the waiting-to-be-quilted closet, I will stitch the single seam in the backing so E will be ready to pin baste when its turn comes up later this year.

(and yes, I've created a planning/tracking spreadsheet with all the back-logged quilt projects so I spread them out throughout the year and still get the four gift quilts finished for timely gifting -- I know a spreadsheet seems excessive to many of you, but it helps keep my head from exploding.  Between the studio squirrels staying on my case and the printed out spreadsheet, I'm hopeful.)


In the background, as I finished the tops for Githerments and Enchanted, I started leader-ender stitching the strip sets for Rastro, another of the Macnas bonus quilts.  

This is one group . . . 


And this is another.  When all is said and done, there will be strip sets featuring colors from all of the Macnas quilts.  


In the process of cleaning up the studio, I sorted the blocks for Macnas No. 10, Hanabi.  

(again, I moved the project box and realized it was time to prep this for piecing the top)

I will finish L-E Rastro's segments as I stitch Hanabi's rows.


I can tell that progress is happening with all these newly-emptied sorting plates!

* * *

Even though I'd rather keep piecing, I need to get Trouvaille quilted along with the second long runner pieced with fabrics from Esperance and Haru.

It feels good to see things moving forward again after the recent lull.


Quiltdivajulie
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"Later is the best friend of clutter."
Peter Walsh
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Monday, January 12, 2026

Githerments - First Flimsy of 2026


Githerments, one of the Macnas bonus quilts, is a flimsy - the first one of 2026.

(Githerments is an old Yorkshire word that refers to a random assortment or mix of items)

Approximately 52" x 72" and made from the excess cut pieces and leftovers after piecing the top for Fandango, Macnas No. 7.


On the right side of the flimsy in this photo you can see a strip pieced using blocks left after piecing Githerments.  

Waste not. Want not. 

Onward to the backing for Githerments . . . 


After I pieced Trouvaille (which is currently on the pool noodles ready to be pin basted/quilted before month end), I cobbled together this scrappy backing.  

Originally I had a panel in the center but removed it and replaced it with more of the one pink fabric already in the back.

I like pink, a lot, but this back was overwhelming so I never sewed it together aside from the left and right columns.


I tucked the pieces into a project box, hoping that another quilt would come along where I might be able to salvage all or part of that fabric.

In that same box I also added a long insert strip pieced with half-rectangles from Pretty in Pink and another long insert strip pieced with more leftovers from Blossom and Fandango.

When I started work on Githerments, I knew I had found the elusive project for all that pink.


But this time, I added more scrappy goodness, creating vertical columns to take advantage of all three leftovers insert strips and two different leftover binding strips.  

I like this and will get it sewn together in the next few days so Githerments will be ready to quilt right after I finish Trouvaille and Fandango (similar color palettes and likely the same quilting thread).

* * *

One of my primary goals in the studio this year is to move the remaining Macnas quilts along so that all 12, and maybe even the four bonus quilts (Holus Bolus, Rastro, Motley, and Githerments), are finished by year-end.  I've set the studio squirrels a challenge to keep me on task as the year progresses - we'll see if they can keep their end of the agreement.



Quiltdivajulie
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Friday, January 9, 2026

Friday Check-in


The take-a-chance-on-it planter has bloomed beyond anything I'd ever anticipated.  

There are even more blossoms that can be seen here nestled in between and behind with at least two bud stalks still growing.  

Amazing.


I've started and named the journal for my year-long weekly paper nine patches.  


This is the block for week one. 


I've also started and named the journal for my year-long weekly scrappy circles project.


Week one's collage.


This week's Full Deck Challenge 4 shipping tag - from the list of prompts, I chose to work with orange, gold, and butterfly.  

(FDC4 is the label I'm using for this project)


Two more rows have been added to Githerment's quilt top, bringing the total sewn to six.

Only six more rows to go . . . 


And after letting the empty book cover sit for over a year, I've finally decided what I want to do with it and these long-ago prepared signatures.  

I'm naming this journal Raindrops on Roses (Raindrops for short) and I think I have a pretty good idea on how to finish the cover before sewing the signatures inside.

* * *

Every year I put together a Shutterfly book with my finished quilts (and now photos of finished journals, etc.).  I'm happy to say I finished creating and ordering the 2025 book earlier this week.  A labor of love to be sure, I'm glad I started this ritual way back when.  Seeing the annual books lined up on the shelf and being able to flip through them at will reminds me of how far I've come since my first foray into a quilt shop in late 2003.

DH, YS, and I have successfully navigated the transition from our old phone carrier to the new one and from our older phones to our newer ones.  That journey included now-resolved issues with YS's SIM card and DH's paired hearing aids microphone dispute, both of which involved repeated trips back to Costco for sorting.  Here at home we also dealt with a host of no-longer-avoidable charging-related upgrades.

Funny how transferring data from the old phone to the new one is now the easiest part of the process.


Quiltdivajulie
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"I don't have a train of thought.  I have seven trains on four tracks that narrowly avoid each other when their paths cross while all seven conductors are screaming."

(seen recently on an art print by an unknown maker)
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Monday, January 5, 2026

Githerments, Fluffy, and Flowers


I spent a couple of hours in the studio (!) and was able to finish pressing the blocks for Githerments, sort them onto 12 plates (one for each of the rows), and sew the first rows together.

(Githerments is an old Yorkshire word that refers to a random assortment or mix of items)

Notice the squirrel keeping tabs on me as I sewed . . . 


Introducing Fluffy, studio squirrel number eight.  A Christmas gift from younger son, Fluffy (an American gray squirrel) definitely lives up to his name.  


Before the evening was over, I had four rows sewn.  


And look what has happened to my amaryllis gifted by Cherie.

These blossoms are huge and absolutely beautiful.


There are four flowers now with two more buds not quite ready to explode.

AND there's another bud stem that is roughly half the height of this one that's growing steadily, so there will be another blossom(s) in the not-too-distant future.

* * *

No school for Young Man today - he's spending his final day of winter break with us since both parents have to go back to work.  He's already told us he's bringing his latest Lego race car to work on (here's a link to a representative model - not the one he's working on right now but very similar is scale and complexity).


Quiltdivajulie
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"Motivation often comes after starting, not before.  Action produces momentum."
James Clear

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Thursday, January 1, 2026

2026 Begins


One of the things I want to do this year is to take a photo like this one on the first of each month.  No particular reason, I just want to document the seasonal changes.

We had a light frost overnight but the afternoon temperature was 62 with a very light breeze, which meant I could sit on the back porch to regroup after spending most of the day packing Christmas away.

I'll get January's seasonal decor put out in the next day or so.


I had so much fun with last year's Full Deck Challenge 3 and, since there is going to be a Full Deck Challenge 4 (with a major twist), I'm going to participate once again using manila shipping tags instead of playing cards.

This is my first tag's front side.


And this is the reverse side.  This year, the back of each week's card will feature a strip of washi tape along with the prompts that I use (the video linked above explains more about the prompt approach for this year's challenge).

* * *

Our new phones were delivered late Tuesday.  Our representative was not scheduled to work on New Year's Eve day and Costco closes for New Year's Day.  So Friday will be our day to take the phones to the kiosk at Costco and get the transfer from our old carrier to the new one finalized and the phones activated.  

Eventually I WILL get back into the sewing/quilting studio - I promise!!


Quiltdivajulie
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"There are no wrong turns.  Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk."
Guy Gavriel Kay
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Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Last Post of 2025


The white amaryllis bulbs have started blooming and they're DOUBLE blooms (a happy surprise).


I also finished up my Christmas accordion journal named Tis the Season.


Many of the included bits came from an online swap I participated in.  

The rest have been accumulated over the past year or so, waiting for the right time to gather them into a journal.


The large Santa head was fussy cut from wrapping paper.  Wrapping paper pieces were also used as the foundation layers on the 34 pages.


Random, disparate elements eventually combined to make an interesting-to-look-at journal.  

Now it can be packed away with the rest of our holiday decor (that goal has shifted into the first couple days of January as our new phones are scheduled for delivery late today and their set up plus activation with our new carrier will consume most of our brain cells for the next day or two).


All of the amaryllis stems have at least four and some as many as six buds AND there are two more bud stems growing which means there will be another wave of flowers in January.

* * *

Wishing each and every one of you a safe and enjoyable New Year's Eve/Day along with thoughts of wellness and creativity for the coming new year.

Quiltdivajulie
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p.s.  I've spent quite a bit of time cleaning up the labels in my sidebar - there were just too many.  A few linked to only one post (!) 

I've also shifted the labeling for my paper-related projects to 'journal + year' instead of by project name, which none of us can remember anyway.  

If for some reason a label doesn't take you to the post(s) you're thinking of, you can always type your search into the Blogger search box in the upper left hand corner.

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Sunday, December 28, 2025

He Loves It


This was one of the gifts I gave DH for Christmas - he is SO happy with it.  

He has at least three other King Arthur bread / baking books and we were concerned there might be too much repetition but there isn't, which makes him even happier.


The first recipe he decided to try was Norwegian Lefse (potato flatbread 'pancakes').


Thin almost like a crepe, they're delicious with a bit of butter and jam along one edge before being rolled up.

We've eaten several and have frozen the rest to see how they fare. 


I spent some time putting together another accordion journal using Christmas items, some of which came from an online swap.  

I'll try to do a video flip through once it is finished and before it is packed away with the rest of our December decor.


I've also been harvesting back issues of magazines for two longer term projects.

One will involve a journal filled with scrappy paper nine patches.  Modeled after the Scrap a Day (origin unknown but found in many places online), I'll create one nine patch each week - or more if the squirrels insist.


The other will be created with scrappy circles (1.5", 2" and 3").  Some will be in a grid, others will be scattered, and time will tell which other arrangements are created (squirrel input guaranteed)

* * *

Be back in a few days when there is more to share.


Quiltdivajulie
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"Just because the space exists doesn't mean it has to be full."
Allie Casazza

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