Patch Maggie

I prepared this post ready for the 15th of December - and then forgot to post it!  So here it is for January.  And running late for that as well.  

The double bed top sheet on my father's king single bed was too wide, so I cut a 30cm or so strip from one side to stop it dragging on the floor when not tucked in.  That strip came in handy for lengthening the top sheet on our king size bed.  I like a generous fold with the top sheet over the blankets so adding the beige strip to the bottom of the green top sheet was an easy fix.  Now the turnover is a decent size, and we won't see the mis-match in the sheet.  This solution also saved me having to store the cut-off strip.  

Now to do something similar on the other top sheets for our king size bed.  

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie

2026 has started well, sewing wise.  And I'll report on what I've been working on at the end of January.  

Last year, I participated in the Chookshed Challenge and was happy with my work towards the goals I set myself.  However, I won't be doing the formal challenge this year.  I still have some goals, or creative aspirations, for the year but will work on those as I want.  I was away so much in 2025, I didn't have heaps of time for sewing.  I plan to do a lot more sewing this year.  

Realising that I've not made a quilt for my husband, a quilt for him will be my main goal this year.  He has quite a few Tshirts so I would like to make a Tshirt quilt for him.  I haven't ever made a Tshirt quilt so that will be a new challenge.  

We have a US friend visiting us this year, from St Louis, and I would like to make her a cardinal block, probably as a cushion, to celebrate her baseball team.  Once I started searching for patterns, there were so many!

Early in 2025, a friend gifted me the Quilt Recipes book by Jen Kingwell, and sets of templates for two quilts from the book.  I've become enamoured of the Wensleydale Quilt so bought foundation papers for the blocks recently and have started a project box for it.  I'm not sure what colour/s to make it with - I'm leaning towards shades of blue and beige/brown - but have not made a firm decision yet.  There are so many possibilities!  

Sue Daley's Quatro quilt is still my evening EPP work but is taking so long.  I am hopeful that I will finish the hand piecing this year - only two rounds to go! - and I will definitely NOT be hand quilting it.  This has been claimed by a friend.  

Two quilts - for a great-niece and a great-nephew - were finished in December.  Hopefully there is a bit of a lull in the procreation stakes and I can work on other than baby quilts in 2026.  I've never made a quilt for hubby so that is a goal for 2026.  

Lainey's quilt - I'm finally gifting a quilt before the baby turns one!  Miracles can happen.  I saw the quilt design on Pinterest and thought that would make a nice change for a baby quilt.  I've worked out that there is about 110m of quilting on this quilt, in addition to the piecing and adding the binding.  That's a lot of thread - Bottom Line Rainbows and .  All fabrics came from my stash, which is good.  Finished top:  79" x 55".  Finished quilt (after quilting): 77" x 53" 

Finlee's quilt - another Happy Block finish.  All fabrics from my stash.  The backing is a doona cover from the op shop.  So nice not having to piece the back.  The quilting is walking foot diagonal lines over the blocks, swirls around the letters in the name block, loop the loop in the grey border, and several wavy lines along the length of the striped border.  Finished top:  61" x  77".  Finished quilt (after quilting):  60.5" x 76".

December 2025 fabric tally

As I've been away a lot this year, I'm out of whack with my blog posts, so this is a catch-up post for the Chookshed Challenge. 

So here is how my list looked at the end of June  

1. complete strip sets for blue strip twist quilt
2. quilt and bind A's quilt (March)
3. second backstitch embroidery kit (for while I'm travelling)
4. quilt and bind S's quilt
5. quilt and bind R's quilt
6. continue flower blocks for J's quatro quilt (January)
7. complete bunny Fat Quarter Mixer quilt top
8. Start on Amelie’s quilt
9. backstitch embroidery kit (for while I'm travelling)
10. quilt and bind Mason’s quilt

July's challenge was no. 9 - which I've done.  A simple backstitch while travelling in the USA.  It is yet to be made into anything.  That will come.  This pattern was from a stitchery of the month I participated in many years ago from Grandmother's Garden in NZ.  I had good intentions back then but soon realised that I couldn't keep up the momentum.  That was in the days when I was working full-time.  

August's random number draw brought up no. 7 - sadly I've done nothing with this planned quilt other than gather the fabrics together.  Another one for next year's Chookshed Challenge.  

September's random number was no. 3 - which I've completed while travelling.  Just a quick cross stitch kit that I had in the sewing room.  It was from a cross stitch magazine from 30 years ago!  Better done than sitting there.  I've yet to put into the included card; that will happen and I can give it away as a gift.  (I personally don't need any more bookmarks - I have a shoebox full of gorgeous ones.)

So the challenge number left for October is no. 1 - which I've done!  Yay me.  I did actually finish this top back in March - see more info here.  But I added it to my challenge list because I could!  And making it into a finished quilt can be on my list of goals for 2026.  

So here's my challenge list at the end of November.  

1. complete strip sets for blue strip twist quilt
2. quilt and bind A's quilt (March)
3. second backstitch embroidery kit (for while I'm travelling)
4. quilt and bind S's quilt
5. quilt and bind R's quilt
6. continue flower blocks for J's quatro quilt (January)
7. complete bunny Fat Quarter Mixer quilt top
8. Start on Amelie’s quilt
9. backstitch embroidery kit (for while I'm travelling)
10. quilt and bind Mason’s quilt

So the Chookshed Challenge year has gone fairly well, considering I was away for over 19 weeks of the year.  I did make it easy for myself though with small projects, and even including several quilts that I had almost completed.  I found that challenging myself like this worked well, and I'm looking forward to next year.  Just to figure out what to include in the list.  

This year has been a very bitty one for me, so this post covers the last four months of occasional forays into the sewing room.  I have completed some projects so I'm very happy about that.

Back in July, during a short time at home, I finished off Amelie's quilt.  Amelie is the granddaughter of a good friend.  Mainly fabrics from a fat quarter pack I've had for a few years, as well as some from my stash. The back was made from stash fabrics also.  Simple walking foot quilting - I was on a (self-imposed) deadline for this one.  Finished size:  52" x 77" (132cm x 195cm)

Apologies for the poor photos.  The quilt was pegged (sideways) to the clothesline; my tall helper wasn't home. Also a photo of the quilt top before quilting.

Some time ago, a friend asked me to make her a table topper, from a pattern in American Patchwork & Quilting (Oct 2009 issue.) I think she saw the picture on Pinterest or similar.  Called the Stepping Stone Quilt, it is sewn from some of my many batiks.  I had fun with the pattern.  No binding strips, just a knife-edge binding which I hadn't done for years.  And I didn't stuff it up!   

Finished size:  33.5" (85 cm) x 25" (63.5 cm)

 

I've been working on a few other projects, although none are finished yet.  Here's a few snippets.

     

 

In October, we were in Canada where I visited two patchwork shops on Price Edward Island and supported their economy.  I bought a few Canada-themed fabrics, as well as some Anne of Green Gables fabric.  It added up to 6.5 m.  I haven't acquired any other fabrics since July.

November 2025 fabric tally

Finishes since June:   Amelie's quilt = 5 m; Gail's table topper = 1.25m

Purchases since June:  Canada fabrics = 6.5 m

Fabric used:  - 6.25 m         Fabric acquired:  + 6.5 m

Running tally for 2025:  + 9 m   

ScrapHappy Day

better late than never!

This year has been a busy one of travel for me, which is great but it means I haven't had much time in my sewing room.  But I have got something to show for Scrap Happy Day this month - even if I am posting late.  I actually did this back in August when I was home for a couple of weeks.  

My daughter has had a fabulously bright knitted coat for many years.  It is warm and cosy and she loves it.  So did their new puppy!  who chewed through the zip, a section of the knitted outer and the felt lining, and made a mess of it.  I volunteered to fix it and found it wasn't as difficult as I thought, just took time.  I removed the half-eaten orange webbing binding from the front of the jacket and replaced it with scrap binding from my stash - two different colours but I didn't think that mattered with a rainbow coat.  I added a piece of scrap felt over the chewed pieces of lining.  Using scrap embroidery wools from the stash (leftovers from long stitch kits made 30 years ago - remember those?!), I knitted a patch that filled in the missing knitting nicely.  Although it doesn't match exactly, it is pretty close.  And in my box of zips, I found one that was just the right length.  How lucky was that?!  The drawstring from the waistband had been chewed - a long black shoelace replaced that.  The shoelace had been used in the waistband of an old pair of tracksuit pants which finally went in the bin, so was scrap.  I also made a replacement knitted toggle for the end of the drawstring from scrap wool. 

I felt very virtuous indeed!  All from the stash and scraps.  

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie

Late post for Scrap Happy Day - sorry!  

Lots of travel this year has meant that I've spent little time in the sewing room for a few months.  I did spend the equivalent of one day doing some scrap sewing during July.  It was just to get some mindless sewing time in without having to think about what I was doing.  

So a few blocks made using either 1 1/2" squares in a 16 patch block or 1 1/2" x 2 1/2" rectangles for a potato chip block.  I already have lots of these blocks in a box and have now added heaps more to the collection.  Although I've had a few ideas for quilts using them, I will have to do some more planning so I can work out what size quilt/s I want and how many blocks I will need.

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible (including food). If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Contact Kate on katechiconi@gmail.com and she'll add you to the list.  We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Tracy, Jan, 
Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Dawn, Gwen,
Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera, 
Ann, Dawn 2, Carol, Preeti,
Viv, Karrin,  Alissa,
Hannah and Maggie