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Melanie
A garden update – Pakistani Mulberry cuttings
Quilting, Scrapbooking, Gardening and whatever else catches my fancy
BOM 2025 – William Morris – Update #11
Important info: BOM with my fave LQS, Quilt Emporium, in Woodland Hills, CA. The shop owner, Lisa Hanson designed this mystery quilt with William Morris fabrics and I think it’s super inexpensive for a BOM at $15/month. Even though I decided no more BOMs, I couldn’t help but cave on this one.
Started: 02/2025
Previous posts here, here, here, here, update #4, update #5, update #6, update #7, update#8, update #9 and most recent update #10.
This is technically the last block except the shop created two versions and we got to pick which we wanted.
I chose option 2 and this version has a 13th block. So this BOM is not yet complete but I’m getting close.
Blocks Made
Keep on quilting!
Melanie
Quilting WIP List – Q1 2026
I had said I wouldn’t do these quarterly check ins but after thinking it over decided that these are very helpful to keep me accountable on some of my projects.
1. William Morris QE BOM – started 02/2025
2. Riley Blake Door Banner of the Month – started 01/2024
- only 1 banner left. I plan to sew all the tops first and then go back and quilt them.
3. Quilty Pleasures 2023 Saturday Sampler (Jan. 2023)
4. Tula Pink’s Butterfly 2.0 – started 2023
5. Spooky Halloween (2016)
6. 250 Jane Austen – 08/2025
WIPs I haven’t worked on in a long while:
1. Tuella and Friends – 2021
2. Judy Neimeyer’s Double Wedding Ring – started Jan. 2020
2022 New Starts
3. Ornaments – I started this in December 2021 but I stitched diligently on this throughout 2022. All of the ornaments are finished and yet I wasn’t excited about the finished products. I really had one last step to do and that was to attach a piece of thread to make a hook so I could hang these ornaments on a tree or other place. However I rarely have a tree at Christmas as I usually go home to my mom’s house. As such, I was inspired to make a little table mat. I attached each ornament to the black wool. The next step is to do some ornamental stitches but I can’t decide what stitch to use.
4. Prairie something…. I haven’t started this really. I bought it and attended the class at Quilt Emporium and other projects jumped in line. This is not my product but a picture of the instructors and a reminder of the cuteness of it.
5. Mountain Mist: Apple Blossom (November 2022)
I am much further along on this but I have to take a more recent picture. I completed the first block and started the second one when I languished on this project.
2023 New Starts
6. Kimberbell: Candy Corn Quilt Shoppe – see my post about starting it here.
2025 New Starts
7. Orange Sherbert (January 2025 Road to California classes with Irene Blank)
8. Birds of Paradise (January 2025 Road to California classes with Irene Blank)
9. Tender Whispers of the heart – 01/2025
10. Allietare started in 2015 – Added this on my list to bring back from UFO to WIP.
Happy quilting friends,
Melanie
Cross Stitch WIPs 2026 – a quarterly update
At the beginning of the year I started a new WIP rotation. Here’s what it was (and still is)…
Gamer – one diagonal, then switch to
MFE – quarter of a page (I have about 2 pages left so hopefully this will be done in 2026), then switch to
Disagree – one column, then switch to
2025 Nutcracker – one row, then switch back to Gamer and continue on…
Here’s where I’m at with those things:
1. My main squeeze: Gamer
2. My side chick: MFE 2023
3. Titania – Mirabilia
4. Blossoms by Jeannette Douglas
5. Dumbledore’s Army
6. Avlea – this is the designer and I need to get the actual name of the pattern
7. ‘Disagree’ by Rebel Stitchers Designs (09/2025)
8. 2025 Nutcracker by Shannon Christines designs (12/2025)
Keep stitching,
Melanie
2026 Knitting WIP list – Q1 Update
WIP List:
- Fingerless Mitts #2- started 11/11/2025- Finished 2/6/2026
- Soldotna – started 11/2025
- Coziest Memory Blanket (Minis) used up all my yarn set aside for this project so it’s waiting for more stash yarn
- Pom Pom Hat Kit (not yet started) but I’ve wound the yarn. I have to find a pattern I like and get this going because I do not have a small travel knit and I want this to be that.
- Cozies Memory Blanket (Regular) **New, I pulled this out to do a square each week
In queue:
- sock projects in whatever order I feel like knitting them in
- #1-Ricky’s ugly socks – I’m going to rip these up and start all over.
- #2-Astrantia socks
- #3- Sock it to me
- Sweaters-
- #1 – Soldotna (WIP)
- #2 – Purple Yarn
- Hats / Mittens
- #1 – Pom Pom Hat Kit (WIP)
- #2 – Jamieson’s color work (hat pattern picked but I still have to buy the pattern)
- #3 – Mitts in a bag – Yggdrasil Miits by Skeindeer Knits (pattern is already in the bag with the yarn)
- #4 – blue and white colorwork mitts? (no pattern and yarn is already wound up)
- #5 – Yarn Cafe Creations (DK) – no pattern selected. just set aside with a note that says ‘hat’
- #6 – Blue Manos and mohair. no pattern. intended to be knit together to create a halo (probably purchased around 12/2019 when our LYS was closing.)
- #7 – Red Malabrigo – no pattern already wound up
- #8 – woolly yarn (can’t remeber what it’s called and there’s no label except “lost city knits” purchased at 2019 Socal Stitches. note says it’s for mitts and I intended to use a Skeindeer pattern but I’m inclined to make a hat as I don’t use mitts a lot.
- Shawls / Cowls
- #1 – tranquility (red)
- #2 – Outlander shawl
- #3 – Advent yarn calendar from mindy (needs pattern)
- #4 – blue (original tranquility but then frogged it because I didn’t like how it was coming together so I need a better for this)
- Dailies- these are larger projects that I was doing one a day until J got tired…
- #1 – advent calendar throw
- #2 – coziest memory blanket (WIP)
- #3 – corner to corner throw (crochet)
- #4 – coziest memory (minis) (WIP)
LONG TERM: go through my stash. give away what I no longer want to knit and re-stash what I want to keep.
Knit on friends,
Melanie
Knitting Update: Soldotna
It’s coming together. But life has been very busy and my crafting has diminished while I struggle to catch up with things.
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Wool purchased when my LYS closed in Dec. 2019. The brown is color 33115.
Cheers! Knit on my friends.
Melanie
2026 Quilt Retreat #2 – Local Mini of the year
The next local mini is scheduled soon. At this point I think I have one scheduled monthly for the next few months. This is wonderful because my at home sewing has paused a bit while I recuperate from my short illness and get back into the groove of things.
Rising to the top of the list is my quilt “45 & Life to go”. I sent it out to the long armer so I can have it ready for our upcoming quilt show on 5/2. Now I have to quilt it and put a label on it so it’s ready for when I need to turn it in.
#1 – Jane Austen’s quilt – Hampshire Blocks
I’m not sure I’ll have anything to do at this retreat as I’ve got to sew these pieces together and that’s an at home project.
#2 – Monthly Door banner from 2024 – cut the final door banner kit – November.
—- This is on my homework to do list.
#3 – 2023 Saturday Sampler from QP.
I’m at the “putting-the-inner-top-together” stage and next is step 5.
Here is step 4
#4 – William Morris BOM – The next blocks to make are October, and January and the final 13th block. October is on my homework to do list but January and the 13th block are on the list for this retreat.
#5 – Tula Pink Butterfly 2.0 – Find out where I am next
#6 – Spooky Halloween – Row 2, block 3 – take a picture
I’ve started it and I’m needle turning the traditional method. I want to prep the next block as I work some in Block 3.
#7 – Tuella and Friends.
#8 – “Allietare” Bonnie Hunter’s mystery quilt from 2015 – My goal with putting this here is to start getting it into my queue. I don’t have time for it now but it’s on this list to start making its way from my head, to actually working on it.
quilt on my friends
Melanie
A garden update – Pakistani Mulberry cuttings
I asked my gardener to dig holes for some of my baby fruit trees that need to go in the ground asap. as well as extending my drip lines out. It’s been in the 80’s the last week or so so I’m considering adding a day of water. I’m currently watering twice a week but with the warmer weather I may need to up it to 3.
Happy gardening. I’m enjoying watching our short spring come about but the heat is fast approaching. Every year it comes sooner and longer while our chill months shorten.
Melanie
I’m sick!
After my mini quilt retreat I caught a bug and that laid me out a few weeks. Not much to post about as very little of anything is happening here except work, sleep, drugs, water and food. The bare necessities to keep me going while I recover from this illness.
Quilt in Progress: QP Saturday Sampler
Started: January 2023
I’m getting to the finish line and the excitement is growing. I kept going with step 4 …
Cheers!
Melanie
Previous blocks completed:
