A quilty update - February 2026

It’s been a little while since I shared an update on my quilty progress, not since September in fact and so here it is today. In truth I’d been holding off this update as I wanted to have some actual progress to document, and finally I have. Well in some places anyway!

My sewing is still dominated by the random and now considered slightly silly ‘stretch’ project I set myself way back in last February, but I’m on the home stretch (pun not intended) and I know not to be quite so rash with my quilty plans for 2026!

So how am I doing?

1 The teal flying geese

Still not started, but still on the list. I’m having a rethink about how to get this one off the ground because when it does I think it’ll be flying (again pun not intended).

2 The mystery block a month

Like the ‘stretch’ project the end is almost in sight. Well almost, once I’ve made the final block for December (which I’ve not started yet), then the real work begins! That’s to join the blocks and make them into an actual quilt, and it’ll be the biggest one I’ve made in a quite a while.

I think knowing this is partly why my momentum has stopped, or slowed if we’re being kind. In my mind I know the next step is a big one and I’m already playing through the borders I could add, the backing, the wadding and the small matter of quilting it. I don’t have many answers yet, but I’m hoping once I get closer there’ll be some clarity.

Since the last update I’ve shared the following monthly blocks:

• August: Patchwork star block

• September: Basket block

• October: Ohio star block

• November: Dresden quarter block

There is definitely more to come on this one!

3 The jeans and pyjamas

I was wrong to think it would happen in 2025. The only update I have here is that I’ve added to the pyjama pile of fabric, and probably the old jeans pile too!

4 The Essex linen kisses

Yay - progress. So much progress that it’s completed, and I love it. I’ve even shared more about it in its own blog post: Essex Linen, a colour wash picnic rug.

I think I also love it because I completely made it up from a box of random scraps, finding the fabric to match online and then spending probably more time than I should have getting the colour wash just as I wanted it. But it’s those fun bits in life that we all need, right?

I do want to make a drawstring bag to make it more easily portable, but that’s for another day. All I can say is ‘bring on the picnics (and sunny weather)!’

5 My floral fancy

This continues to take up two cutting mats and sit on my craft room floor in the hope that it might make it closer to the sewing machine, but it hasn’t yet. I checked it the other day and thankfully hardly any of the cut pieces have moved, but I do need to free up those cutting mats!

In my last update I was hoping that I would gleam knowledge from my Bernina training day, and I certainly did and so it also stays on the list.

Throughout the year I’ve been collecting various greys to use as backgrounds for further panels, yes I’m still planning to do more, yes I know I haven’t picked this one up again yet… Though I think my grey collecting is over, as I checked to see what I had and it seems I definitely have a preference - for lighter greys and sparkles.

MY COLLECTION OF GREYS

Though I’ve now realised I probably need a few greens for the leaves, the collecting continues…

6 My English Paper Piecing (EPP) blue diamonds

I haven’t touched this one since my last update, my go to hand sewing projects for the past few months have been embroidery, mainly sheep on Christmas cards, but I do have another project on the go too which I think will be finished soon.

And the ‘stretch’ project

This is still the main driver for my sewing time, and I am one quilt away from saying it’s done. And it will be. It’s definitely been a challenge worth doing, but for 2026 I already know there won’t be such a defined timescale for my charity quilts.

Since my last update I’ve completed the following quilts which will be donated to charity:

• Blues and greens

• Marmalade hearts

• Ohio flower garden

• My Dresden buttercup

And I’m pretty proud of myself for all of these if I’m honest - but there’s so much more I want to sew in the year ahead, so look out for my plans for what’s on my list for 2026 soon.

New to my craft room in January

The Newark Quilt Show takes place each January, and as I’ve said before it’s my local show so it’d be rude not to go! So I knew there would be the opportunity to top up my supplies, but I also knew that at the end of the month I was going along to a new-to-me quilting shop in Worksop, also new-to-me, and I didn’t really want to splurge at either.

But more of what I picked up in those two outings later, there’s been plenty new to my craft room in the first month of the year including our Christmas cards which I’ve already recycled into gift tags for use much later in the year.

Last month I shared the contents of my quilting advent calendar, one of the items was a replacement blade for a 45mm Olfa rotary cutter. The only thing was I didn’t have that size cutter, but I do now - and while I was at it I bought myself a replacement blade for my larger 60mm cutter, as I don’t think I’ve changed the blade in it ever, oops. While I was looking around the Morris Works site I also snagged a couple of fat quarters in the sale for my growing collection of greys, though the darker one is probably just about on the edge of what I’m after for my long-awaited and unlikely to be finished just yet Floral Fancy project.

At the Newark Quilt Show I felt almost restrained, I hadn’t taken my own advice and gone with a list of things to look out for and I managed to walk around the show without buying anything, but taking note of things I wanted to look at further. It is a relatively small show, but even so I was impressed with myself - but of course I did leave with a few things including this bundle of five V&A Indian Summer prints, and a pink and orange batik both because I just liked them. I’ve no plan for these yet, but I’m sure something will make itself known.

I also picked up several pieces of this hedgehog fabric in two colourways for a fiver - the pieces are fairly large, and I’m hoping that with some creative joining there’ll be enough for the backing for at least two more charity quilts. Cute aren’t they?

I keep finding myself attracted to Moda fabrics at the moment, and when I saw this Ruby Star Society fabric I knew I’d be taking some home - it’s the Daisy Stripe in the Catnap collection and it just makes me happy. For this one I do have a loose plan, and that’s to make it into the same style dress which I’ve already made, along with some denim - but that’s about as far as my plan has gone so far. And yes, I’ve a growing list of fabric that I want to remake this dress in, so I need to make time to get on with those (all of them!)

The labels were an impulse buy, and potentially a strange one for me as I mostly cut labels out of my clothes - but I’ve been a Sarah Hearts follower for a long time, even regularly changing my wallpapers when she released a new one. I stopped with the June 2020 wallpaper, which remains on my laptop to this day - it was the one I loved the most, and haven’t felt the need to change it yet!

But anyway, back to my purchases. As I’m no longer afraid of or scared by zips, and because some of the new style pouches I want to make have zips galore, and so I thought I’d have some funky zips for those. I opted for this metallic set by Sallie Tomato, and also added a metre of the gold and silver fold over elastic (the bundle on the right) - I’ve no idea what this will be like, or how it’ll work yet but I’m prepared and already have supplies.

I also signed up for one of the workshops at the show, and these are from the Shabby Chic Rosettes workshop which was led by the tutor from the bag making course I went on last year. I finished the green rosette on the day, and brought the materials for a larger version home with me - look out for a blog post to see how I got on soon.

The final things I left the show with were part of my Christmas present from MOH. A couple of the smaller items from the order were still out of stock, and so the supplier brought the items that were in stock to the show and I picked them up from there. There’s two patterns for the new style pouches I want to make, and a selection of accessories for those in apple green, including another funky zipper, some mesh (for pockets) and more of that fold over elastic.

I’m hoping the out of stock items will be back in stock soon, they’re more bag type accessories from a collaboration by Sallie Tomato and Tula Pink. They’re out of stock in the US, so it’s just a case of waiting - but at least I have most of the order, and my present, now.

I’m also finding that material has a way of finding me, case in point this green floral design fabric. I went along to my Saturday morning sewing group, and as we’re moving venues more of the group’s fabric was out to tempt those attending. I don’t normally look, but this almost Sanderson-like fabric caught my eye - and that was fatal.

There’s two large-ish pieces, and I now have them both for a donation to the sewing group’s funds. I’m planning to use these on one of the quilts I’m making for myself as backing, I’m not sure which yet - but I have a similar green, and another in pink that I have also earmarked so I’ll need to work out when I’m closer to finishing my Mystery Block of the Month quilt, which works best.

I’ve also been collecting various stuff which I can reuse: a nice box and elastic tie which is bound to come in useful, a binding tool which one of the patchwork group was giving away as she had more than one, some mesh from oranges and easy peelers and a much loved camisole top which needs to be retired. I’ve not tried the binding tool yet, but I expect I’ll give it a go when I finish my next quilt - assuming I remember, if not it’ll be the next one!

Which brings me to the last fabric shop outing of the month. The Patchwork Garden is based on Worksop railway station and opens on request, and it was stuffed full of the most amazing fabrics. I did well to leave with two more additions to my grey collection, a pink that I hoped would (and does) match the Spread the Word collection which I acquired last October!

And that ‘testcard’ multi-coloured fabric, well isn’t it great - again, no plans for it yet, but I love it. Until I find the perfect project, that’s the one I’ll be taking out and looking at and admiring for a little while!

I’m expecting February to be a quieter month craft supplies wise as I’m not planning to go to any shows, but who knows - hopefully I’ll find plenty of time to crack on and get sewing as I’ve not spent as much time in my craft room in the early part of the year so far, the days when our heating wasn’t working weren’t the ones to be sewing in there. Instead I dug out an old crochet project that is now almost sewn up and ready for the borders - it was just the thing to have on my knee in those chillier days!

So that’s another month in my craft room, check out my previous updates for earlier additions, and remember to let me know below what you’ve added to your craft supplies this month.

Essex Linen kisses, a colour wash picnic rug

When I shared my quilt plans for 2025 I said a quilt that wasn’t supposed to be there had crept onto my list, and it was these scraps in a random scrap box from Helen Steele that made their case very well!

When I ordered the scrap box I wasn’t sure what would arrive, or how much - I knew the weight of the pack but in real terms I was unsure of how much fabric that actually was. When it arrived I fell in love with the bright colours and quickly made a plan for using them, working out that if I cut them into 3 inch squares I’d make the most of what I had.

It wasn’t until June though that an idea started to form, and along with the gold specked charcoal Essex Linen that I’d ummed and ahhed about I started to lay out the crosses, or kisses as I prefer to call them.

Liking what I saw I started to sew my blocks, which are inspired by Quilty Love’s Plus Squared quilt, and I needed to do this while the design was fresh, or else who knows what I’d have sewn to what!

It wasn’t long before I had a series of blocks made from nine smaller squares, and that’s when I got a real idea of the size of the quilt - and it was smaller than I’d imagined.

But I knew with some sashing and borders I could extend that, a bit - but I didn’t want to lose too much colour, so I decided to break up the sashing between the blocks with a pop of colour, and it’s amazing how much difference this made even though I was still only visualising this part in my head.

By September, and with a narrow colour wash border which echoes the colours of the kisses closest to the edge now also added, the quilt top was completed.

And that’s how it stayed for a good few months. Having got it this far, and already falling in love with it the truth is, I didn’t want to mess it up. I knew that I wanted to straight line quilt this, but I wanted to practice my straight lines - in fact it wasn’t until January this year when I practiced using the adjustable guide on my Dresden Buttercup charity quilt, that I felt it was time to finish my picnic rug.

In the interim I’d deliberated about the colour of the backing, I’d bought some plain ochre cotton but that didn’t work even though I loved the colour. Feeling that it needed a brighter colour on the back I ordered some orange and apple green cotton, again I loved them both but chose to use the green, and for nothing more that it perfectly matched the greens on the top of the quilt, and also because I was hoping that any grass stains would show less! Well, you’ve got to be practical haven’t you?

Now when’s the picnic?

Using the guide, and having practiced using it, meant my quilting lines were straighter than they’ve ever been. I used a variegated Aurifil thread called Spring Prairie which matched perfectly, although at some points so much so that I couldn’t quite see where I’d sewn, but now that it’s done it was definitely the right way to go.

The metallic gold binding is from Frumble Fabrics and as soon as I saw it I knew it would be the perfect match and the perfect way to finish this quilt which will be our picnic rug.

I can’t wait for the weather to improve and give this its picnic debut!