Author: Teresa

Quilts, good books and dogs. Plus a cup of tea. Life is good.

Quilt Project Possibilities for 2026

October 19, 2025

Seem a little early to start thinking about quilty travel and projects for 2026?

Destination Retreats, Major Quilt Shows and Guided Tours
It’s not too early to plan for retreats – especially if you want to attend a retreat in spring/summer 2026. Retreat organizers have begun advertising and some events have already filled. I’ve booked a retreat for January and am considering adding another one for late July – after our big quilt show in June. Both retreats are reasonably priced (to me anyway), within a 6 hour drive of ATL and offer private room accommodation options.

Keep in mind that travel expenses can increase the cost of a retreat exponentially – especially if you have to fly, rent a car and cover additional nights of hotel to accommodate your flight schedule. In my experience, regional events tend to be much more budget friendly, particularly when traveling by car. My only advice is to make sure the event/destination is worth any extra travel costs and time required to attend the retreat.

QuiltCon returns to Raleigh, NC in February (not attending this time). AQS – Daytona Beach, FL is about the same time in February. Major shows such as Road2VA and A Mountain QuiltFest (TN) should post instructor, class and quilt show information in March. All are great events to attend. In 2026, other commitments will keep me from attending these shows.

Projects
Many fabric manufacturers release their new lines from November – January. A companion sew along event is usually scheduled along with the fabric launch. Check the Moda Fabrics and Riley Blake Designs websites for collection storyboards and accompanying sew along announcements. Fat Quarter Shop, Pat Sloan Quilts and Missouri Star Quilt Company also have information about upcoming QAL events. Perhaps your local guild, sewing group or quilt shop is hosting an event in conjunction with the scheduled QAL. For a modest fee ($5-/$10), you can hang out, sew that week’s block and drink wine with your stitchy friends on Thursday nights. Bad weather or not able to get out? Join stitchy friends virtually. Check out Jelly Roll Club and Patchwork Posse for virtual sew-with-friends events.

Here’s what’s on my project calendar for Winter/Spring 2026:

New Years Day with Stitchin’ Heaven 11:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. EST. on YouTube. I usually make one of each block during the simulcast and turn them into placemats to donate to Meals on Wheels.

2026 RBD Block Challenge with Riley Blake Designs. Blog post, video and block pattern released most Tuesdays, beginning January 6th. A new one for me in 2026 – challenging blocks from some designers I know and several I’m not familiar with.

Lori Holt Farm Fresh QAL (featuring newly released Farmer’s Daughter fabric collection) starts January 26th. Weekly blog post, introductory video and lots of social media. This will be a QAL project in real time with 3-4 members of my Friday sewing group. I’m sew excited!

The event with Stitchin’ Heaven continues what has become an annual tradition for me. The RBD Block Challenge will provide a weekly challenge through late May and what I anticipate to be a gorgeous finished quilt. The Farm Fresh QAL will will provide a weekly outing, plus opportunities to deepen friendships with fellow quilters outside of my guild. All three projects will enable my de-stashing endeavors. Since I already have the required Lori Holt books and am sourcing materials from existing stash for all 3 projects, this makes the cost to participate minimal. Money saved here means more money for quilty travel!

My 3/4 size Elna STAR edition – perfect for classes and retreats!

Recalibrating

October 15, 2025

If October had a word of the month for me, it would be recalibrate. My SUV needed to have safety software recalibrated as part of a recall. We met with our financial planner to recalibrate our overall financial plan and update goals now that we’re three years into retirement. Hubs is currently at MD Anderson for his scheduled check-up. This time tomorrow, we’ll be recalibrating future plans as needed based his scans, bloodwork and biopsy results.

Personally, volunteer activities have also had to be recalibrated to accommodate program/facility changes, personal preferences and major upcoming home projects. Soon, Sadie & I will be starting a R.E.A.D. program at a school in a Fulton County. This makes me happy because I was truly bummed when Park Street indicated they couldn’t continue the R.E.A.D. program this year. Yes, Sadie & I will still make occasional visits there, but in a different capacity.

As far as sewing and quilting go, I’ve stepped back from any new charity sewing initiatives and a few guild events to focus on my own projects and those of my private students. Recalibrating our financial goal wish list led to some breathing room in the monthly budget. This helps us deal with the rising costs of everyday living, plus be able to tackle some minor sewing studio updates I’ve had on my list.

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Fall vibes

October 12, 2025

Cool, crisp fall days are upon us. It’s my absolute favorite time of year! This afternoon, I spent time piecing blocks on Fiona, my white Singer Featherweight. I had the windows open and smooth jazz on the playlist. It was glorious!

Fiona is a special machine. Like many FW enthusiasts, I wanted a machine that was manufactured the year I was born. I was fortunate to find a celery/white FW in extremely good cosmetic condition. Mechanically, she had more than a few quirks. Learning to address those issues taught me a lot! Now, she sews as beautifully as she looks.

On Friday, I was tasked with servicing a 1938 Featherweight that one of my Friday Sew Squad had purchased from a casual visitor to the library’s quilting group. It was untested, but the seller assured my friend that it had worked prior to being packed away for at least 10 years. Yep, she was right about it being packed away for at least a decade. The machine had been sitting in the case so long that the lug belt disintegrated. The tiny, rubbery bits literally superglued themselves to the motor pulley. I had to soak the hardened mass in sewing machine oil and remove it bit by bit. The rest of the machine was in decent shape – oil, lube and a good wipe down were the main things she needed.

I suspect tension issues are what caused the machine to be packed away. This old girl may have a 1938 chassis, but she also sported a number of parts from newer machines – chiefly, the motor, bobbin winder and tension assembly. Someone had installed the parts to the upper tension assembly in the wrong order. I fixed that. Still had issues with the tension. Tried a different bobbin case. Problem solved.

My next task will be to disassemble and clean the original bobbin case. I’ve never done this before, but something seemed off on the bobbin case latch. I ordered a new tension screw and bobbin case spring just in case. Fun bit of trivia: a business card in the FW accessory box was from a quilt shop in south Georgia that has long since closed. Put it this way – the web address listed on the business card was a page hosted on Compuserve. It’s been a while.

Tinkering on Featherweights and teaching machine maintenance classes make me happy. My “shade tree” sewing machine mechanic activities now account for about 20% of my business revenue. I think that’s kind of cool.