Monthly Archives: January 2026

Cleaning Up

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I’m taking part in Karen’s annual Declutter Challenge and have found a number of things to straighten up or get rid of. I’m a book lover, but I long ago joined my blogging friend Melanie in limiting the number of books to the shelf space available. Despite this I found about 30 books that will be passed on because I don’t use them any more.

See that almost-empty space? I got rid of about 1/3 of my books!

However! One of the other “declutter” categories was mementos and I had no idea I had so many. They’re little, so they’ve been stored in a dresser drawer too shallow for anything else and I hadn’t thought about them.

There were all these pins, mostly from QuiltCon in various years, though some from AQS shows as well:

And all these nice enamel pans from many other quilt conferences and one art museum:

I threw away the cheap button pins and put the enamel pins back in their box. I always think I should make a hanger to display them, so maybe this is the year for that project.

In the same drawer (different section) were my show ribbons, another thing I don’t know what to do with. I just left them for now. I know some people leave them on the winning quilts, but since I give my quilts away that’s not an option.

No, I’m not sure why they’re all “upside down” when viewed from the front of the drawer!

I’m enjoying the decluttering challenge. And now I need a decluttering plan for the rest of my clutter, not just the quilt room. Maybe start with my desk? (No, I’m not showing a photo!)

 

So Here’s What Came of Those Ovals

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Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions for my oval orphan blocks! I decided to use 4 of the 5 to make a quilt to for Flying Horse Farms, and here it is:

Finished top is about 61″ x 71″

There were some anxious moments before it came together, but I’m happy with it. Those prints, designed by Chong-A Hwang, definitely give it a punch. The top will now go on to my friend who quilts and delivers to Flying Horse Farms.

I saved out my favorite block to do something with later:

AND when I was cleaning up/putting away after finishing, I found an additional block!

Oops! I think it will just go in the orphan bin!

BUT all this means that I’ve finished my UFO for January! Woo-hoo!

Now What?

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These blocks are my first UFO (unfinished object) for 2026, and the big question is WHAT to do with them?

They are actually a DOUBLE UFO because I made them from orphan blocks as a way to experiment with my new (at the time) oval ruler.

These are big blocks, about 18″ square. My default use for orphan blocks is to combine them into a donation quilt top BUT these all have different backgrounds (using up scraps) so I’m not sure about that. Plus I’m thinking of taking that middle one on the bottom apart because I don’t like the orientation of the upper left quadrant…huh.

Here are the options I’ve come up with so far, but I would appreciate any ideas:

  1. Finish one or more individually as art quilts.
  2. Mount one or more individually on canvas as art quilts–some of my blogging friends have started doing this, but then what?
  3. Cut them up some more! Always an option…
  4. Make them into a donation quilt anyway, possibly with black sashing.
  5. Put them back in the closet and choose another UFO–maybe another day will bring better ideas!
  6. Make a lot more of them and then decide.

One more option I considered but will NOT do: take them apart and re-cut so backgrounds are all the same. Too much work for orphan blocks!

Help! Any ideas???

Plans for 2026

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I accomplished many of my goals for 2025, but that’s over now. Here are a few ideas for 2026.

In January, I will again join Karen’s Sewing Room Declutter Challenge over at Just Get It Done Quilts. I seem to always need to declutter, and since I now have a 5 year downsizing plan (before we move to a retirement community) it’s even more relevant.

The studio looks pretty good because there are lots of corners where I can hide things,

Yes, this is what I consider “neat”–oops?

but some of those corners are kind of scary.

The only actual sewing things on this table are the pins, circled so you can find them–ha!

I’m going to continue making quilts for Flying Horse Farms (a camp for seriously ill children) with a goal of making about 5 more tops by the time my donation group meets again in April. I plan to make 3 quilts for the Quilts of Valor organization (which honors military veterans), as I did last year. And I’ll continue to make quilts for Ronald McDonald House (where children can stay with their families while needing hospital treatment). Quilts for Ronald McDonald are more variable in size, so I’ll probably make a lot of them. Number to be determined. I belong to multiple groups that make donation quilts, and plan to continue my participation.

This is a load of donation quilts in my friend’s car, ready to be delivered.

And then there are the UFOs (unfinished objects)! Since one of my goals this past year was to make more experimental and art quilts, there are kind of a lot of UFOs. So I’ve decided I need to do that thing where I get rid of one UFO each month. I’ll put letters A through L in a basket and tape corresponding letters to 12 UFOs, then draw a letter from the basket each month to decide which project to “finish”.

I made 12 lettered labels. One of each pair goes on a project and the other goes into the basket.

And by “finish” I mean “be done with”, which can be making the existing pieces into a quilt, using them to stuff a cat bed, or whatever. Just get that project out of my hair..er..studio!

As you know from a previous post, there are lots of new ideas for 2026 too, so here we go!