Back Yard Birds and Starry Sampler

I have been working feverishly to get my blocks made for the 2026 BOM I am in charge of at my Guild.  The Backyard Birds is a Foundation Paper Piecing project while the Starry Sampler is an English Paper Piecing pattern.  We will begin in January and I am just trying to get ahead of the game  to detect any potential areas of concern. I started sign-up at our November meeting and received more sign-ups than I anticipated, so its going to be a fun year in 2026 trying to stay on top of both BOM's. Some guild members signed up for both BOM's, so they are going to be right busy as well :)

 Below is a picture of the blocks I have completed to date.  I have 4 more birds to make and 5 more EPP blocks.

I have decided to hand quilt each of the Starry Sampler blocks as I make them, and so far have only gotten one quilted.  I am using #8 perle cotton thread and big stitch quilting.  I chose a plain unbleached muslin backing so that the black stitching could easily be seen on the back.

I continue to make progress on the Insanity quilt, but it has truly slowed down as most of my effort has gone to the BOM blocks.  I keep my workstation ready to go whenever I sit and watch TV in the evenings.  Must admit though, I neglect it some as I also use that time to respond to Facebook posts and clear out my messages on the phone, as well as my email.    But with that said, I do try to work a little on this every week.

Bloom and Sew - Gail Pan 2025 BOM

 Finished this project on Wednesday. (APIP#2)

Progress as of today

 Well it has been a little over a month since my last update, and it just amazes me how fast these days go by.  I have bought a few Christmas presents now, but just can't seem to get my mind wrapped around the holiday quickly approaching.

APIP#2 - Bloom and Sew; this one is in the final stages.  I am about half way through the hand quilting  and already made the label and have it attached,  My goal is to have ti done by the end of the month, mainly as I have another one ready to start hand quilting.

APIP #17 - Insanity Quilt - Making good progress on this quilt.  I am almost at 50% for the center section.  

APIP #18 - Wrapped in Ribbon table runners.  Two of the three are completed and I am hemming the third one tonight.  I plan to give the two Christmas runners to my daughters at Thanksgiving Dinner and am so glad I was able to get them done in time.  My good friend, Martee, quilted the two for the girls on her long arm machine.  I will show pictures when I give them to the girls.

APIP #20 - Jasine Bag - no progress this past month

APIP #22 - Backyard Birds  - This is a new project I have just started and will be using it as  2026 Block of the Month for my guild (York County Quilters Guild).  I will be in charge of the BOM for next year and am actually planning to have two different BOM's running consecutively.  I have made three of the bird blocks so far and they are made with Foundation Paper Piecing (machine work)  The designer has given me a good price for the guild and will allow me to make 20 copies of the pattern for the guild members who sign up.  Shown below is the pattern picture and the first two blocks I have completed.   I have also finished a cardinal block but for some reason my computer is refusing to let me open my email so that I can get the picture. 

APIP#23 - Starry Sampler - This one is English Paper Pieced and will be the second 2026 BOM that I will be running next year.  It is all hand work and has 16 EPP blocks that are beautiful.  We will only be doing the first 9 in 2026.  Each member participating must go to the webpage for the TJ Designs and down load the pattern in .pdf format.The designer is giving us a guild discount for all participants.  I have made a couple of these blocks trying to stay at least 4 months ahead of group.  Below are pictures of the two blocks I have completed so far and a picture of the pattern.

My computer is simple being aggravating today and I had planned to go into a little more detail on each project, but guess that will have to await a better day.