Configured

Whoa. I've been working on getting projects crossed off my list this month, hoping I'd still have time to participate in the current QIS challenge, Modular Rhythms. Windows of time opened up over the weekend that allowed me to do just that, and it was probably the most satisfying creative time since the holidays. Meet Configured.

There are always several requirements in participating in a QIS challenge, and this was no exception:

• The palette was quite specific - Kona White, Black, Ash, Rich Red, Nacho Cheese, though a few very similar shades were acceptable. Luckily I had all the Konas on hand, so used those.
• Within the set palette, there were also minimum fabric amounts: white and red - 8" x 21" - the dominant presence; and gray, black, and yellow - 8" x 11" - accents, preferably in line-based compositions.
• Square finish, with a minimum composition size of 16" x 16". Configured finished at 18.5" x 18.5".
• Finally, with our quilted submission, there were a few questions to respond to. What does this piece represent for you? What do you want to express with this work? What was interesting about the creative process? Following is my written response:

Inspired by a multi-windowed building, my main focus was on the modular shapes and supporting strips between them. The repetition of the layered horizontal lines were one way to express the rhythm theme, while the dancing of color and size of the 'windows' was another. I found the palette very interesting to work with, especially while trying to work with the suggested visual balance. This piece was built one component at a time, deciding on the next section's needs as I went. The small size of the overall piece made that a very manageable and enjoyable way to create.

For the back of Configured (above), you can probably tell I started with my project scraps. Other than the scrappy pieced sections, I intentionally chose not to include black and white in the back, but went went a narrowed down palette. Straight-line quilting was done with Aurifil 50wt 2620 [Stainless Steel], which coordinated with the Kona Ash very nicely. I originally had a more complicated quilting plan in mind, but once I was this far, it felt like enough. I definitely did not want the quilting to overpower the design.

Finished off with a simple, yet grounding, Rich Red binding, the time spent bringing Configured to life was so fulfilling, and it felt good to stretch my improv muscles again.

Be sure and visit Quilt Improv Studio @quiltimprovstudio on Instagram to see the other entries. I think you'll enjoy the gallery!

Linking up with Quilting Jetgirl's Favorite Finish {January 2026}.

Bee Sewcial Swap

A time or two before, the members of Bee Sewcial @beesewcial have had a celebratory secret swap, as a fun way to gather together online, and we enjoyed our latest last week. I had gotten Felicity's @felicityquilts name to make a gift for, and I made her a Pop Open Pouch, pattern by Aneela Hoey.

This is one of my favorite pouches to make, and I was so happy with the fabrics (and that zip!) I was able to find in my stash for it.

 

And yes, I put it in a hand-made lined drawstring bag, using the tutorial by @sotakhandmade.

Leanne @shecanquilt made me a gift - a lovely patchwork bullet journal sleeve, complete with journal and a pretty pen slipped into the back zipper pocket. The patchwork was done with beautiful Essex linens, and the lining our own Bee Sewcial fabric designed by our former beemate, Kari Yates.

I love it, and it will definitely be put to good use! 

Upended

It was nip and tuck with this one. Just a few days ago, I was thhhiiisss close to throwing it in the recycle bag.  Though I liked what I had made by the end of the Improv for Everyone :: Fat Curves and Skinny Lines workshop with Maria Shell @mariashellquilts, I just couldn't seem to create a finished piece I was happy with.

I had added an improv 'ribbon' between the two main pieces, and a spiky border to the bottom curve. I had also pieced in more background to top and bottom, though the piece as a whole I could barely tolerate. I had even made a backing out of leftovers from this workshop and a previous one, and and had basted a quilt sandwich together.

After posting the top photo, mentioning my disdain, of course I got good advice - put it away for a bit or un-baste it and cut it up. But you know what comment got me going again? "Try turning it upside down." ahh! Something about doing that made me dislike it a little less - at least enough to go ahead and quilt it up.

Like I mentioned, I had already made a pieced backing with scraps from the workshop. Nothing fancy, but at least I found a home for those triangle blocks which were from a workshop in January 2025.

I used Aurifil 40wt 5015 [Gold Yellow] to quilt a simple, uneven grid. Then I made a binding from a variety of the scraps, including some small bits in several of the colors. Problem was, I didn't like the scale of them, so before I stitched the binding on, rather than unstitch anything, I made pleats in those smaller color areas. And yes, doing that did add to their thickness a bit, but also added some interesting texture. After a good press, I though it would be ok to at least try it on this quilt.

Finished, this piece, which I named Upended, measures 26" x 34". It definitely grew on me, and though it still isn't my favorite finish ever, I can honestly say I'm glad I finished it.

Floral Stitches Year II - Dish of Daisies

Well, I managed to get caught up with my Dropcloth @dropcloth Floral Stitches subscription just in time for another sampler to arrive. 

This one was unique, in that with my first choice of a stitch for those three large flowers, I covered up the stitching design around those black rings. SO that's why there are star-shaped stitched around those. I had to come up with something the made them look more finished. 

Otherwise, the stitches were fairly routine, and I enjoyed the unusual mix of colors, inspired but not dictated by the background colors of the sampler itself.

So I think there are just four more months of floral samplers in year II, though in between, you've probably noticed that I'm fitting in the small samplers from my Advent calendar. Whatever, there's plenty to stitch around here.

Weave Got This!

At our last Seattle MQG guild meeting, a new BOM was announced, led by guild-members Nora Bauser @norstar_german and Rachel Singh @liketosew. It's a mystery quilt BOM, and we have the choice of doing a two-color or a six-color quilt. 

I'm going to go with six colors, and after perusing my stash with a list of fabric requirements in hand, I've chosen to use all KONA cottons with Espresso for my foreground color, Putty for the background, Tangerine and Orangeade as one set of accents, and Peridot and Olive as another. I need to order a bit more Espresso and Olive, but otherwise I'm good to go.

So my task for this month is done, and I'm anxious for our first piecing instructions come February.

Full Circle

At our guild holiday party, I happened to be perusing the items on the free table when my guild-mate Cordelia @notmadebyrobots walked up with a stack of good stuff to donate. Thinking back, all I can remember her saying for sure was, "there's even a quilt in there that just needs a binding." Memories may be fuzzy, but I do know that said quilt came home with me.

It did indeed just need a binding, so recently I went to see if I could find fabric for one in my stash. I discovered a piece of RJR Cotton Supreme in Raven that was just the right size, and that matched the background pretty well. 

It dawned on me to look through Cordelia's insta feed to see what I could discover about the quilt, and boy was I surprised. The quilt I came home with was made with bonus blocks from a quilt she made during the Improv Stripes QAL I hosted in 2017! If that's not kismet, I don't know what is.

Well I thought that was all pretty amusing, and it kind of made my day. At any rate, this quilt that measures 54" x 54" is now finished, and both Cordelia and I agree it would be a great one to donate to our guild's giving committee. We can rest assured they'll find a perfect home for it.

Patterns to Try | Treasure Pouch || Bee

If you saw my posts with all the items in my Dropcloth Samplers @dropcloth Advent calendar, you may remember that I received five exclusive embroidery samplers. I already shared about my word of the year sampler, and next up was the little bee.

Of course it was a fun little (3") one to stitch, but I'm also super pleased with how it turned out. Sharing that I was debating what to do with it, my friend Yvonne @quiltingjetgirl suggested something honey-related, like a little bag to hold thread conditioner for my embroidery. I'm not a super consistent user of thread conditioner, but I liked the idea of a little bag very much, use TBD.

Though I'd made my share of drawstring bags in the past, I was drawn to the shape and size of the Treasure Pouch by Larisa Shurupov @stitchingnotes, so purchased the pattern. I ended up scaling the template to 110% to allow for seam allowances around the embroidery.

Using a pretty little floral fabric from Folk Song by Anna Maria Horner (now Parry) for the exterior back, lining, and casing, the tiny pouch measured just 3" wide by 4" tall, including casing. I'm thinking it will hold my thread conditioner and thimble (and needles?) in my embroidery pouch, and that's about it. 

Maybe I should have used the full size of the sampler for my pouch, but then again, it's pretty darn cute the way it is.

So that was a super satisfying little make, finished off with a bit of hand-stitched top-stitching. And it's given me the idea that I may be able to use other of my smaller samplers to make treasure bags. Time will tell.

Calendar Cascade :: Next Steps

Back last January when the Calendar Cascade BOM began and I heard the final dimension of the quilt - 70" x 92" - I knew I'd probably ask someone to quilt it for me. At this stage, anything close to 90" is more than I want to deal with. So once my quilt top was done, I contacted my friend Dionne Hersh @dinglebobbins, and happily, she was willing to do the quilting for me, so we made an appointment to meet up.

Meanwhile, I needed to make a quilt back! For long-arming purposes, it needed to be 78" x 102", and after getting Dionne's OK, I dove into making a pieced quilt back. I began by piecing leftover quilt blocks and scraps and putting them up on the design wall.

And that process just continued, making it up as I went.

When the smaller scraps started running low, I began adding in larger solid pieces and swaths of fabric from my original fabric pull.

At some point I did need to grab a couple of larger coordinating pieces from stash, though I did cut and set aside binding strips from the original pull before using what I did on the back. It was close, but I made it! The back was too big to get a decent picture, but you get the gist from the photo below.

So I was able to drop the quilt top and back off with Dionne last week, and we spent a time deciding on a quilting design, batting, and thread. After auditioning quite a few, the design we both agreed would be a good choice was Modern Twist X3, stretched horizontally a bit. It was great that with Dionne's quilting software, we could lay the design over the quilt top and adjust the scale. With that capability, we were able to choose a density we both liked.

I decided to go with Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly blend batting, and for thread, Fil-Tec Glide polyester in Clover 60577.

So yes, I'm pretty excited that the big step of quilting Calendar Cascade is now in Dionne's capable hands. One day soon I'll be back with a finished quilt to share!

Collection/Mosaic

Our first Bee Sewcial @beesewcial prompt of the year came from Leanne @shecanquilt, with Collection/Mosaic, and she provided a pin board for inspiration. She requested saturated colors, and a very dark background if one was used at all. I used my cookbook collection as inspiration for my first block, which turned out approximately (slightly larger) 12" x 16".

Next, my Aurifil thread collection was used as inspiration, and I created this block, which if trimmed square, would be 11".

What a fun prompt! And I enjoyed playing with the colorful scraps already on my cutting board. Can't beat that!

2025 Quilting Goals Review

You may have heard that Yvonne/Quilting JETgirl is hosting her final goal-oriented check-in, and suggested that we reflect one last time on the entirety of 2025. To start, I looked back at my 2025 Quilting Planning Party post, and was pretty pleased with what I found.

• I completed most of the quilt-related goals, though did not choose to complete a small quilt with the triangle blocks begun in January's Perfectly Pointless workshop. I actually took them to use in a class at QuiltCon, but I didn't love the result, so I let it end there. Randomly, I came across said blocks this week, and they seem to be finding their way into a current project. Go figure. | I also have yet to completely finish the Seattle MQG BOM quilt. The top and backing are ready; it just needs to be quilted and bound. Give me a few more weeks.... | And then, of course, I made several quilts that weren't even in my mind's eye at the beginning of the year, one of my favorites being Vertices.

• The sewing goals consisted of participating in Block Studies Collective, which I did - finishing off Season 2 and beginning Season 3. I'll share a wrap-up of the current season when it ends in a couple of months. | I also participated regularly with Bee Sewcial. Here's a round-up of all the blocks made in 2025. I did finish two Bee Sewcial quilts this year, which felt very good! The first, Ode to Joy, will be at QuiltCon; Spare was a hold-over from last year, so yay for completing it also.

• As for handwork, I still embroider nearly every evening. I finished the Year of Doodles from Stitchdoodles @stitchdoodlesdesign...

and stitched so. many. Dropcloth samplers. The ABC Bloom Needle Roll was a favorite, and extra special as I made it into a usable item right away.

The final category on my original list was community, and that expressed itself in a myriad of ways.

+ I was pretty consistent with blogging and publishing monthly issues of The Scrap Basket.

+ Ongoing participation with my local Seattle MQG was good. I attended meetings in person as much as I could, and joined on Zoom when I couldn't.

+ I thoroughly enjoyed participating with Open Jar @open____jar, hosted by Jen Broemel and Bob Bosscher. Here's one of my favorites from those prompts, UN(settled). Unfortunately, Open Jar ended abruptly, but I certainly enjoyed it while it lasted.

+ I participated in the Pantone COTY quilt challenge, with my Brew.

+ And I did contribute to my local Free Little Art Gallery at least twice.

+ My final goal was to go to QuiltCon 2025 in Phoenix, and it was a joy to attend after an absence of a few years.

So there's a recap of my 2025 quilting goals, and though specifics might be a little different heading into 2026, I expect a lot of the same. Basically finding joy in making and community whenever I can. Thanks much to Yvonne, who has been hosting these check-ins. They've helped me be more thoughtful and appreciative as a maker.