First, the really fun (but challenging) quilt: I’m making Cassandra Beaver’s 2026 Block of the Month (BOM). I don’t usually do BOMs because I prefer not to put things away every month, then get them all out again, etc. However, when she offered mid-year sign-ups I decided the design was just too good to pass up. You can see it here. Be sure to scroll down and see the picture of her whole quilt. It’s gorgeous. I emailed for permission to copy her picture here but haven’t heard back, so you’ll have to use the link to see it.

The advantage of signing up mid-year is that I got all of the first six months at once, so I didn’t have to fiddle with it so much. Her instructions are excellent. Here are my blocks for the first six months.

One pundit commented that “the little white squares” are a nice design element, but of course they’re the block numbers!

This is not the final arrangement. The quilt will be queen size, so I’ll have to put it on the design wall in sections when it comes to final assembly.

I absolutely loved doing those blocks, but they were challenging. So as a little easy project afterward, I made this quilt.

The feature fabric was one of those “must have” things discovered on a visit to distant shops and it’s been waiting for about 18 months for inspiration to strike. This picture shows only the quilt top. It will be passed on (with batting, backing, and binding all ready) to the friend who quilts our donations for Ronald McDonald House.

What’s your favorite quick-and-easy quilt design? I’m always looking for ideas.

This was one of the UFOs earlier this year, and here it is finally with the binding on it. These were triangles I cut just for fun and then set aside because there weren’t enough of them for a quilt. Finishing just involved finding some coordinating fabrics and making an arrangement for the blocks.

Quilt Stats

Name: Cat Triangles

Finished size: 50″ x 55″

Pattern: Improvised and pieced by me

Quilted by: Linda Nichols

Now it’s off to Ronald McDonald House, hopefully for some kid who loves cats.

I have an exciting project coming up, so I wanted to get this month’s UFO out of the way. Here’s the “before” picture of a partially done quilt for Ronald McDonald House. It started with the central embroidery done by a friend.

And here it is with a couple more borders added, which finished the top.

This will now go to the friend who quilts our Ronald McDonald House donations. She’s the one who did the embroidery, so it will come full circle! And since this finished my part of the project, I’m counting the July UFO as done!

After finishing this year’s UFOs, I decided I need another 6 for the last 6 months of the year. This time, however, I’m showing the “before” pictures!

UFO #1: This is the remnants of one of Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr’s mystery quilts. I do like their quilts, but I wasn’t enjoying this one, so I stopped. Here are the blocks I made before quitting:

I did make a top using some of them earlier this year, but don’t have a picture of it. Here are the remaining blocks, which are now designated UFO #1.

UFO #2: I started this Laura Heine design with the help of a friend, and just need to get it done. The best part is: those larger flowers are scraps from a dress I made for myself in the 1990s!   

UFO #3: This was a perfectly good block until it became the center of my attempt at the Stay At Home Round Robin. I think I ruined it, so it became a UFO and I need to figure out what to do with it. Stay tuned.

UFO #4: Yikes! I think this was part of a Moda “skill builder” started YEARS ago! I’ve made a couple of quilts with parts of it; here is the top of one of them. And now here’s what’s left! As you can see, I made some modifications in the original pattern… It’s now UFO #4.

UFO #5: A friend gave me this embroidered center block, and I have waaaay too much 30s fabric, so this will be a donation quilt using both. The plan is to add more borders until I think it’s done.

UFO #6: This started out as leaders-and-enders to use scraps, and I have about 100 of these 4″ blocks. The trouble is that there aren’t enough to make a quilt but I am not making leaders and enders as part of current projects. Here are a few blocks of what is now UFO #6.

Of course the best laid plans, etc, but I intend to do one a month for the rest of the year. To be continued!