2026 SAHRR Flimsy

For my Stay At Home Round Robin this year, I made sampler blocks based on the prompts provided. This worked well for the goal I had in mind - a quilt for my husband with blocks surrounding a panel he had admired. For the blocks, I picked out colors from the panel and tried to stay with a rustic, masculine feel. 

The blocks look different on point!

I made two 10-1/2 inch blocks for each prompt and made two extra corner blocks for a total of 14 blocks to fit around 34" x 43" panel. For the layout, I gave the blocks a new look by turning them on point. I added setting triangles for the blocks to end up at 14-1/2". There was extra space between the middle blocks of the top and bottom rows, so I added a couple of creative fill-in pieces. I would love to add a border, but there is already wrinkling from the on-point process, and my husband will be happy with a lap quilt.

The unfinished quilt measures about 64" x 74". I will post again once I decide on a backing and finish it up!

I am obsessed with the light fabric I used in the setting triangles - Grunge Roasted Marshmallow

A big thank-you to these ladies who chose the most creative prompts for us. I could hardly wait to see what they picked each week!

Brenda @ Songbird Designs

Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing

Emily @ The Darling Dogwood

Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts

Gail @ Quilting Gail

Anja @ Anja Quilts

Be sure to check out all the Parade of Quilts at Kathleen's linkup: Kathleen McMusing

I am adding my post to:

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch

Brenda's Monday Musings

Melva's Sew and Tell

The Disappearance of Texas Quilt Gal

Looking from the hall into the "new" sewing space

I'm still here! Here is what has been happening. In 2023, I switched my sewing room with the guest bedroom, detailed in this post. That move was made for all the right reasons, but during the past few months I have been longing for that former space.

Broad view of my new space; window looks over the garden (which only has onions right now!)

Then at the end of February, the grands spent a few nights with us, and grandson Everett (age 6) asked if we could switch the guest bedroom back to where it used to be. I asked him why. He said he likes being close to the kitchen and being able to wake up and walk right into it and see us in the mornings! Awww! I told him I would seriously consider it, and I did. Over the course of a couple weeks, my husband and I made the switch, and then I had the task of organizing, swapping closet contents, electric cord setup,  picture hanging, etc. Now it is done, and I am very happy with the arrangement. Come and take a peek:

Looking left from the door

Ironing station - sits in front of the door to the guest bathroom

Cutting table - an IKEA table on risers

"Longmire" - my Handi-Quilter Simply Sixteen named by my husband

Closet with a little bit of everything including yarn and vacuums

View from Longmire

Fabric and projects

My sanctuary -  “Jemma” Janome, my Horizon Memory Craft 8900QCP,

a convenient printer, and all my important things that give me joy

The "new" guest bedroom, currently occupied by kitties on top and under the bed

This is the current state of the design board. My plan is to redo the board and take up the entire wall. In the meantime I am hustling to catch up on the SAHRR quilt, Little House SAL, and A Quilting Life BOM, as well as making "red" blocks for the RSC. Stay tuned!

This table next to my sewing machine holds my laptop but more importantly, a napping space.

I am belatedly linking to Alycia's Finished Or Not Friday

2026 SAHRR - Round 6

Dutchman's Puzzle Blocks

It is week 6 of  the 2026 Stay At Home Round Robin, and Anja of Anja Quilts provided the theme for the final prompt. It is "Quilter's Choice"! She has a beautiful group of blocks, and you can view them right here.

I will make two more star blocks for the corners, and the final layout will be a surprise!

See the geese flying over the barn in this panel? They are the inspiration for my quilter's choice of the Dutchman's Puzzle block, an arrangement of flying geese blocks. As with the other prompts, I made two blocks. One group of geese are on the grass (green on the bottom) and the others are still in the air (blue on top). The next time you see this group of panel and blocks, it will be modeled by the person for whom it is intended - my Quilt Holder!

Be sure to check Gail's' blog on March 25 for the final parade of quilts!

I am adding my post to Anja's linkup.

My Inner Alysa Liu and Another Mercantile Block

Alysa Liu may be the most joyful human I have ever seen. This young woman makes me smile every time I watch her. I love her No Rules and I Don't Care If I Fall and I'm Doing It My Way attitude, and yes even her frenulum piercing and halo hair have grown on me. She is mindful of others as she follows her own heart, and I just think she is a much-needed breath of fresh air in the skating world as well as in life.

Halo hair!

I am channeling my inner Alysa Liu this year. You might say this is my Halo Hair moment as I look at sewalongs and old and new projects and even organizing my space with a new sense of freedom. For the first time since I started quilting, my approach is based on emotional response rather than rules, and this is the right path for me. This is probably not a new concept for you, but it is for me. Something changed for me this year, and my angst, depression, feeling overwhelmed, and lack of motivation has faded away. Thank goodness!

Mercantile Block - Grandma's Quilt

Grandma's Quilt block, fourth block in the 2024 Mercantile Sewalong

I am no longer thinking of the amount of fabric in Lori Holt's Mercantile block patterns as "waste" but rather as extra for future projects (thank you Nancy!) And after reading a few great suggestions, I gave thought to the sensible option of trimming fabric after appliqueing but ultimately decided against it (although if I was hand quilting this quilt, I would trim away that thickness). Here are the persuading quotes I selected from Lori's tutorial regarding why she does not cut away the extra fabric from the back of the appliqued pieces:

"I do not trim away any of my fabric after applique. This goes for ALL of my

applique quilts. I enjoy the texture and stability of the layers of fabric ... 

... and may I also add that the appliques also look amazing when quilted

because they really pop because they are ON TOP of the fabric!!

They look like round quilty sugar cookies on top of a 4-Patch"

That last sentence did it for me! You can read her whole entertaining conversation about it right here (scroll down past midway).

This fabric arrived today, and it is for a new project that has me quite excited! My to-do list keeps growing, and I hope I can do it all. But if I don't, it's OK, it is just fun trying!

I am adding this post to Melva's Sew and Tell

Sunday Not-So-Slow Stitching and Little House SAL

Sunday Stitching

This quilt was a flimsy finish in April 2019 (when I was blogging as "My Sew Called Quilts).  It was interesting for me to see that some things have improved in almost 7 years. I spent 30 minutes last night restitching the edges where I did not backstitch the seams - every single one. And after sandwiching it, I see a few waves and ruffles. And that is all OK with me, it shows me I have improved, and it will all even out with quilting and laundering. Once it is quilted and bound, it will be my "Baker's Dozen" finish for February.

I will take a break this morning to go mattress hunting for my husband. We have an adjustable bed with two twin XL mattresses so we can each have personal sleeping positions, and the two mattresses on the adjustable frame make a king-sized bed. We laugh about this, because we slept on a standard/regular mattress for several years early in our marriage, and now that would feel like a twin mattress!

Little House SAL

This is the second week of Little House Sampler Sew Along, hosted by Melva of Melva Loves Scraps and inspired by the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House series. Melva is a master story-teller and has the ability to relate simple stories to beautifully designed blocks. This makes for a rich and rewarding experience when you join one of her sewalongs!

It isn't too late to join in, and you will find details for the block for this week by clicking on the logo above. The patterns are free for the duration of the sewalong - AND - there are prizes to be had! Melva emailed me this morning to inform me that I had won a fat quarter for the first week - so yay! 

The block for this second week is Native Star and is based the visit from The Natives in my favorite book of the series - Little House on the Prairie. The blocks are 16-1/2 inches unfinished.

 I used a lighter print on the points, so you need this closeup to see the star in the center block

My experience with "natives" does not compare to that of the Ingalls family. I have no "Indigenous people" ancestry, but I grew up in northeastern Oklahoma, which was and still is dominated by the Cherokee Nation. From 1966-1970 we attended Northeastern State College (now University) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the historic and present capital of the Cherokee Nation. Our yearbook was called Tsa-La-Gi, the Cherokee word for "Cherokee". Tahlequah is located in the beautiful foothills of the Ozarks and is worth a visit. We have it on our bucket list this year to go see what has changed!

I am joining  Melva at the Little House linkup and Kate at 15 Minutes to Stitch

2026 SAHRR - Round 5 and Mercantile Sewalong

SAHRR Round 5

Quilting Gail provided the prompt this week for Round 5 of the 2026 Stay At Home Round Robin. You will find Gail's pretty version of "two colors" right here.

Since my husband and I were both born and raised in Oklahoma, I chose The Road to Oklahoma as my 2-color block for his future quilt. This block easily lends itself to the two colors I picked - red and blue.. I needed a pattern for a 10-1/2 inch unfinished block and found a free PDF for 7 sizes on Scissortail Quilting, a blog by a quilter from northeastern Oklahoma who lives near our childhood hometown.

Here are all the SAHRR blocks so far around the panel

Mercantile Maple Leaf Block

This is the third block I have made from Lori Holt's 2024 Mercantile Sewalong.

Here are the three blocks I have made so far. I really enjoy making these blocks, but as Karen and many others have mentioned, there is a LOT of fabric waste written into these patterns. I made HSTs from some of the leftovers, but with the extravagant use of fabric, I am reconsidering making the full 25 blocks.

I am adding this post to Quilting Gail's linkup

Sunday Stitching

These blocks are from the Mercantile SAL hosted by Fat Quarter Shop a few years ago. Karen got me interested in it. If you click on this link, scroll down to see her pretty blocks. I really enjoyed the two blocks I made before I put it all aside.. Karen recently put her blocks on her design wall, and I am Inspired to start up again.

I made the Birthday Cake block and Angel Star block in 2024, and next on my list is the Maple Leaf block.

I found a literal "mystery" quilt this morning with completely different sized pieces than the pattern I had included with it! The 150+ cut squares and rectangles are fall colors, and I think I might have done it in 2022. I have tried a star placement for those 2-inch HSTs, but the don't match up with any of the other pieces. Hopefully I can figure it out.

Hubs is anxious to start grilling our steaks (it's only 12:30!), so I'll quickly add this to Kate's 15 Minutes To Stitch and to Melva's Sew and Tell on Monday. Have a lovely Sunday!

SAHRR - Round 4 and RSC - February Green Blocks

SAHRR - Round 4

This week Wendy provided the prompt for the fourth round of the 2026 SAHRR by choosing curves. For my interpretation of the prompt, I made "curved log cabin" blocks. I love this offset version where the logs are different widths and give the illusion of a curve. I tried in vain to find "log" measurements for a 10-1/2 inch block, but finally just winged it. While looking, I found a very interesting post at Canuck Quilter showing various layouts of these pretty blocks.

Here is how all the blocks look with the panel so far. My blocks are 10-1/2 inches unfinished.

2026 RSC - February Green 

RSC February green blocks

My RSC blocks this year will ultimately become a Nine Patch and Snowball quilt, inspired by Nancy, Saija, and Blue Elephant Stitches. If you click on those links, you will find my favorite versions of this pattern. I like the light text print snowball and dark corners with the colorful nine-patches. Google search results in many variations, including a lovely one by Susies-Scraps.com that looks completely different because of the placement of white in her nine-patches.

Here are the blues from January with the greens from February, along with the snowball blocks. I'm looking forward to some warm colors!

I am adding my post to:

Wendy's linkup

Chris's TGIFF

SAHRR - Round 3 and Other Sewalong Blocks

Little House SAL

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps has been teasing us with this Sew-Along by making the prettiest blocks inspired by the Little House series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Last week she released the first block, a Maple Leaf framed by log cabin blocks. The inspiration for Block 1, in Melva's words, "The family lived off the land.  Pa hunted the wildlife, they grew a garden, and they tapped the maple trees to make maple syrup." To find more information about the SAL click the logo in my sidebar. It is not too late to join in!

Although I knew this SAL was coming up, I had chosen neither a colorway nor any fabrics So yesterday I stood in front of my fabric shelves and just picked fabrics I liked and ended up with a flower garden theme/palette. I will add to my fabric pull as we go along, but so far I like the mix - and I love the block.

2026 SAHRR Week 3

"Puss In The Corner" blocks

Emily from The Darling Dogwood chose "Animal Kingdom" as the prompt for round 3 of the SAHRR. This could be an applique, a block that looks like an animal, fabric with animals, or a block named after an animal. A big thank-you to Kathleen for posting photos of a variety of animal themed blocks. My best connection to the animal kingdom is through my cats, so I chose the "Puss In The Corner" block. 

I am making two blocks for each prompt in harmonizing colors for the starting panel.

2026 A Quilting Life BOM

Sherri at A Quilting Life released the second block (top block in photo) for the month of February. My blocks are being made with a Peppermint Bark layer cake by Moda.

I am adding my post to the following:

Melva's Little House SAL

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch

SAHRR block is added to the linkup at Emily's blog

2026 SAHRR - Round 2

Double Irish Chain blocks

Last week I fell in love with an online pattern for scrappy Ohio Stars and Double Irish Chains. I decided to make up my own version, and you can read about it here. For the "hourglass" prompt last week, I added Ohio Stars to my SAHRR panel and was hoping I could include a double Irish chain at some point. Guess what - Kathleen of Kathleen McMusing blog provided the prompt for week 2 and chose "Make it a double", so a double Irish chain it is!

Double Irish chain blocks and Ohio Stars blocks with starting center panel

I am making two sampler blocks for each round to add to this panel that my husband loves. For the double Irish chain blocks, I made a 25-patch designed with light squares that ultimately result in a chain. The chain will not really be noticeable on a single block, but I like the scrappiness of the block with the panel.

This is a photo of the pattern that began my Double Irish Chain and Ohio Stars obsession. Isn't it pretty! I decided to go ahead and buy it, because I feel that the person who authored the pattern deserves to be paid for the design I love so much. If you are interested, click on the photo to go the Etsy page (it was sold out as of this week), or you can do a search for "Layer Cake Ladder" quilt pattern by the Tipsy Needle.

I am adding this post to Kathleen's linkup - go see what "doubles" the other participants have made!

Crossroads Star Wall Quilt

This quilt started out as a center for my 2023 SAHRR. But I loved this block and was afraid I would mess it up, so I changed my mind and put it aside. The pattern is called Delectable Starburst, and you can read all the details of how I found the pattern from a Pinterest photo right here.

The colors in this afghan bed runner in the guest bedroom served as inspiration for the quilt colors. Jack was a big help in pointing out loose threads.

I added a fussy cut center to the block and a dark blue metallic gold-flecked fabric for borders. The wall quilt finished at 36" x 36" and will reside in the guest bedroom. I'll try to update the photo after we rearrange a bit in that room.

For the backing, I found a block I made last August using the Plaidberry pattern and added batik borders to make it fit the front. I like the back enough to use it in the fall, so this little quilt is reversible.

I used a stiffer fusible batting so it will hang nicely, and quilting was mostly stitch in the ditch.

My husband, who is my biggest fan and master quilt holder (and usually not fond of orange or purple shades in a quilt) said "wow this is really nice" and told me he loves the colors in this quilt!