Jasmine Bag - Finished!

 Today I completed the Jasmine Bag by Katrina Hadjimichael.  Its a nice big bag for toting a quilt or other project to guild or a friends house.

Jasmine Bag - Katrina Hadjimichael pattern

 Last night I completed the applique panels on my Jasmine Bag by Katrina Hadjimichael.  On to the quilting step next.  This was a project I took to my Stitchin Friends quilt retreat and so excited to be working on it again after over a year, I think,

Backyard Birds

 My quilt has a UFO Challenge going on for 2026 - but it is a manageable one.  You just list 9 projects that you will work on during the year, setting a specific goal for each project. Each month the project manager (Martee) selects a number and you work on that project during the month.  If you meet the goal you set, you get 2 tickets in the prize bowl, if you worked on it but did not complete it, you get one ticket.  At the end of the year there will be a ticket drawn and that person gets a special prize :)

 For February, the number chosen was #3, and my #3 goal was to complete the quilt top for the Backyard Birds quilt.  I already had all the bird block completed, just needed to do the quilt layout, which involved making 10 checkerboard blocks.  So this morning I met my goal :)

I have decided to make another set of birds but a little fancy ones - using floral and other types of prints.

So far, I have completed two of these birds:

These are really fun to make - Foundation Paper Pieced.   The background is actually a pretty green but just does not show up well in the picturess

Insanity, Backyard Birds and Starry Sampler

 Good gracious, my time is just flying by.  My last post was in November and here it is Feb 3, 2026!  I have been stitching and making progress, just not posting to this blog.   I usually print my blog each year, but the site I have been using is no longer in existence.  I am inquiring with PixxiBooks and hope they will work for me.   

Here is what I have been working on:

Insanity Quilt - I have 11 rows of the center completed which is 61.11% of the quilt center,k but only 22.01% for the total quilt.  I still enjoy working on this quilt and will slowly get it done. Of the 10, 561 half inch hexies in the quilt, I have sewn on the top 2,325 leaving 8,236 to go :)

Backyard Birds - this is one of the 2026 Block of the Month I am chairing for my guild.  I had to get all the birds done in advance in order to prepare fabric cutting charts for each bird.  So far, I have done one workshop of Foundation Paper Piecing and have a make-up session schedule for this Saturday for 5 ladies new to FPP.   I have started putting my rows together and doing something a little differently from the pattern.  The pattern has leaf, twig and worms on alternating blocks between the birds.  I decided to go with a checkerboard block.  I am FPP with freezer paper the vertical columns of these blocks and then sewing the strips being so careful to get a true 1/4" seam:

I also made one Tufted Titmouse block using some floral fabrics primarily to show the BOM participants that they can have a little fun with making fancy birds.  I plan to make one like this each month for the Bird of the Month

We are also doing the Starry Sampler quilt as a 2026 BOM - this is English Paper Pieced.  The are 16 beautiful blocks in the pattern, and we are doing the first 9 blocks.  I have made 8 of the nine blocks and have 5 of them hand quilted.  Plan on putting the quilt together as a quilt as you go.  

Block 6 is in my quilt hoop to be quilted soon, I hope!

I held one workshop of EPP Block 1 of the quilt.  I made a fussy cut block to use to demo how to do the fussy cutting,