Tag: quilt

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!

How often do you buy quilt patterns?

October 8, 2025

I don’t buy quilt patterns very often and this week I bought two!

One is Silver Lake by Wendy Sheppard, which is part of a fundraiser QAL with Pat Sloan to support the Virginia Quilt Museum. It starts in January, 2026. When I saw the pattern, I knew it would be perfect for the layer cake bundles I’d been saving. I’ve already pulled all the 10″ squares I plan to use. In fact, I even purchased and cut out the background fabric this afternoon. Hint: the background yardage requirements are on the generous side. You could get away with 3.5 yards, if you cut carefully.

As usual, I made a sample block before cutting everything out. Notes: (1) If you are using 10″ squares, you have enough wiggle room to starch your fabric before cutting. (2) Use a scant 1/4″ when piecing. (3) The pattern doesn’t indicate which way to press seams. Consider pressing HSTS and major seams open to reduce bulk.

The other pattern is Clippings by Thimbles & Needles. The pattern’s controlled scrappiness is definitely my vibe. To me, the consistency of the same QST fabrics throughout the quilt is key to tying everything together. The quilt’s a single a block design, making it great for retreats, sew days or when I just want to sew without thinking too hard about it. I discovered the pattern while perusing class listings for the upcoming Myrtle Beach Quilt Party – and bought the pattern & printed out the registration form just in case!

The block – Combination Block, Split HST, Three Color HST or whatever you call it – isn’t hard to make. It’s one side of an HST married with one side of an Hourglass block. If you are a member of Team Oversize & Cut Down, then you’ll want to upsize cutting measurements given in the pattern. I added 1/8″ the HST cut square measurement and 1/4″ to the QST cut square measurement. Proceed to cut and sew the units together as directed in the pattern. Give the block a good press and trim to the required size. Tip: A square-up ruler in the exact size needed or the Tucker Trimmer will make the trim down part go much faster.

This time of year, I deliberately plan projects and activities to get me through to mid-February because the holiday season can be hard at times. Having an involved project like the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt I did last year helps keep me engaged. I have a cross-stitch and two potential quilt show entries to finish this year. The January QAL with Pat Sloan and potential beach retreat at the end of January give me something fun to look forward to.

Quilt Patterns for Charity Projects

October 6, 2025
Oh My Stars! free quilt pattern from Pat Sloan

We all have our favorite patterns to use when making charity quilts – I certainly do. A fellow quilter, who is a prolific maker of things for different charity groups, highly recommended the pattern pictured above as one I should try. She mentioned that it’s fast to make, stash-friendly and the pattern’s free. So, I did.

All fabrics came from my stash. The charm squares are a mix of packs from Fig Tree and Sheri & Chelsi, plus some random 10″ squares I cut to size. The colors just went together.

Now that the top is completed, I’m not as crazy about the white border, but I think it will be fine with the scrappy binding I made. The goal for this quilt is to use what I have on hand. This means the backing will be made by creatively refashioning a 2-1/2 yard piece of green polka dot fabric into the size I need.

My friend was spot-on about the suitability of this pattern for making charity quilts. It’s easy to make and lends itself to any number of color ways and themes. Bonus? The components fit into a quart size zipper bag, making it a great candidate to take for a retreat or sew with friends project.

Now that I’ve made one, I thought I’d share some tips:

  1. Select a light to medium tone-on-tone or small print for the border that contrasts well with the star fabric.
  2. Utilize the “float the star points” option by cutting the border fabric 1″ wider that called for in the original pattern. Pat Sloan offers a separate free download with instructions for this modification. The 1″ of extra fabric helps avoid cutting off the star points when applying back-to-front binding.
  3. If using pre-cut 5″ squares, confirm they are indeed the correct size and trim as necessary.
  4. Arrange all 80 charm squares in the order you’d like them in the quilt. Take a photo with your phone. Stack the squares in order and label each row.
  5. Pay close attention to how borders are pieced and the order in which they are sewn to the top.

And yes, I added this pattern to my core collection of charity quilt and gift quilt patterns!