13

Jan. ’26

Quilt In Progress: 250 Years of Jane Austen – Chawton Block, an update

When Chawton Block (the first block or Month 1) came up on my homework / handwork to do list, the first thing I needed to do was sew all the lines on the interfacing. It took a few days but I got those done. My 790 did a great job with sewing on the lines. the knee lift made quick work of it and I was glad that I had set this aside at the last 2025 retreat to work on later.

Then I flipped everything inside out.

I smoothed out lines as much as I could. Here is where I realized that the sewing was very important. I had to sew slow and adjust constantly so that the lines would be as smooth as possible and not have weird points anywhere. I don’t know why this BOM started with the very center block to make your initial mistakes and learn from.

Once that was done, I pressed to set everything nice and thin.

I placed all the pieces where they went. The YouTube tutorial from Riley Blake were very precise at this point making use of a ruler to make sure things were exact all the way around. I’m particular and persnickety with my craft but that’s beyond me. Some may take that as not being very particular or persnickety but whatever … to each their own.

I took the parts that I could applique to each other and did those first

here are a bunch of the pieces
everything all laid out but not appliquéd down
the center flower stitched together

I’m ready to start gluing the pieces down so I can applique everything to the background. I’m hand appliquéing everything and because I did this method my stitches are not as tiny as I’ve done when I needleturn regularly. It’s making the applique quick work so far. I am enjoying the process and I hope it continues. For those who finished this quilt fast, either they are monogamously working on this or are really fast hand appliquérs or they are machine appliquéing. They all look good so how ever it gets done works.

Keep on quilting!

Melanie

Started: October 2025

Kit purchased from Quilty Pleasures in Simi Valley, CA.

Previous posts:

  1. new start post
  2. update #1

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11

Jan. ’26

2026 Quilt Retreat #1 – First Local Mini of the year

I finished the last local mini with a bang and got a lot of progress on several projects. Nothing was finished but progress was made.

This year I will not be attending a lot of the bigger, out of town retreats as I’m trying to be still right now. I’ve got travel dreams but nothing solidly planned yet.

Here’s my plans for the next retreat coming up.

#1 – Jane Austen’s quilt – I originally planned on bringing my larger machine to sew the interfacing to the fabric but I’ve finished that part of the first block so I don’t need to. I plan to start the second step at this retreat.

#2 – Monthly Door banner- cut 1 door banner kit – November.

#3 – 2023 Saturday Sampler from QP.

step 1 of finishing part

I’m at the “putting-the-inner-top-together” stage and next is step 3.

#4 – William Morris BOM – The next blocks to make are September, October, November, and December.

August Block – finished at home
September block – prepped and made ready for more handwork at home.

At the last retreat I prepped August and September and I finished the August block as part of my quilty time at home. As of writing this post, the September block is still in queue.

#5 – Tula Pink Butterfly 2.0 – Find out where I am next

Part 1: Stripes

#6 – Spooky Halloween – Row 2, block 3 – take a picture

Row 2- Block 1

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

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09

Jan. ’26

A garden update – Pineapple Guava

Pineapple Guava – 1/2/2026

One of my mom’s friends loves Pineapple Guava. I tried it because she raved so much about it and I have to say she’s right. They are so very good. She has a very small yard with no room for a Pineapple Guava tree in it so she bought me and my mom one to try and grow. I’m in the Los Angeles area while my mom is in the San Francisco Bay Area. So, two different localities. She’d love it if it grew well at my mom’s house because it’s closer to her and we know of one of my mom’s friends who grows and sells the fruit when they are in season. Hopefully mine does well too.

11/11/2025 – potted upon arrival

I received the plant around 11/11/2025 in the mail and immediately planted it in this shallow pot not meant for a tree. I was heading out of town and needed to get it planted in something so that it wouldn’t die. It’s been about 6 weeks and it’s interesting. The first picture from 11/11 looks to be taller and fuller than the second picture a couple of weeks later – 11/29. It might have been the angle because I was standing up whereas the previous one I was kneeling down. But even so, I had to look several times to make sure they were the same plant.

11/29/25

The pic from 12/14/2025 shows a taller more fuller tree again so I really think it was the angle. But it still looked the same or very similar to the first picture. The final picture from 1/2/2026 looks really good. I finally figured out to put a background behind the tree so the leaves wouldn’t get lost with the grass. It had been raining a lot in LA at this time so I turned the water system off and the leaves look more green and stronger. I plan to buy another tree or two in the next couple of months. But I do have quite a few to plant in the ground.

12/14/25

The tree guy is coming sometime next week to trim my non-fruiting trees. He was supposed to come out a few weeks ago but it’s that time of year and he’s swamped. He was going to come this week but along with the rain came the Santa Ana winds. They brought down some trees that he had to take care of first as my non-urgent need got pushed out another week. I’m not complaining, it’s going to cost me $2500 so another week to not have to spend that kind of money is fine with me. I have one big tree in the front of the house that I will eventually have him take out. I want to plant more fruit trees in the front but that one big tree puts most of my yard in the shade. But for now, I can plant the trees as bare roots and they will have enough sun for now. In the next 2-3 years I’ll need that big one to come down and will do so then. For now, he’s trimming that tree, along with the trees right by the garage, and then he’ll move to the back where I’ve got another huge tree and then my neighbors trees that hang over and interfere with some of my landscaping. Once the trees get trimmed, I’ll be planting the baby trees that have been in pots the last year or two. I want to replace some of my non-fruiting trees that are being used as a privacy fence” between my neighbors. I will plant the baby fruit trees between the non fruiting trees I will be replacing and as the baby fruit trees grow I’ll be trimming the taller non-fruiting trees. I hope this works. I’m not very good at making sure everything looks good so the yard generally looks a mess. I am okay with that but eventually I hope to make it look nicer as I figure out where I put my plants.

Happy gardening!

Melanie

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07

Jan. ’26

BOM 2025 – William Morris – Update #7

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, and update #6

August Block finished

The August block is done. And boy was it hard to do those appliqué stitches securing the circle down. Because I had cut the circle from the dark blue print there was very little room from the edge of the blue fabric to the background fabric. and I blame the waviness of the fabric on that. My friend says pressing will get all those waviness out. And apparently I missed there is one final step to embroider outside of the circle. I am drowning in handwork right now so I’m not sure I’ll do it.

Hopefully I’m able to get the September block finished much easier. That one is on hold while I play with some other projects that I set aside for when I’m at home.

September – prepped

Blocks Made

July – all stitched down
block #5 – June
All the blocks so far.
Block #4
Block 3
Block #2
Block #1

Keep on quilting!

Melanie

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05

Jan. ’26

2026 Knitting WIP list

St Mungo’s socks finished 11/24/2025

WIP List:

  1. Fingerless Mitts #2- started 11/11/2025
  2. Soldotna – started 11/2025
  3. Coziest Memory Blanket (Minis)
  4. Pom Pom Hat Kit (not yet started)

In queue:

  1. 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
  2. Sweaters-
    • #1 – Soldotna (WIP)
    • #2 – Purple Yarn
  3. 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.
  4. 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)
  5. Dailies- these are larger projects that I was doing one a day until J got tired…
    • #1 – advent calendar throw
    • #2 – coziest memory blanket
    • #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

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03

Jan. ’26

Cross Stitch WIPs 2026

I need a current xstitch WIP list and while this isn’t complete it’s what I stitch on regularly. I started this post months ago after the Yucaipa retreat and at the last Temecula retreat I added a few more I worked on then. The first four items are still my main retreat projects with the rest being just some projects I enjoy working on periodically. I have a bunch hidden in my craft room started and not worked on for a few years. I have several HAEDs (Heaven And Earth Designs) that are full coverage and I will probably never finish while I’m working full time. Anyway, I found towards the end of 2025 that I need more solid guidelines. Prior to this, I was simply spending 15 minutes a day on the days I could get to it on Gamer and once in awhile some other projects. My goal was to work on 4 different projects at least once a week. Well, that meant I didn’t get much done on any. So, I’m adjusting things this year and will rotate.

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…

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

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02

Jan. ’26

Quilting WIP List 2026

I’ve gone through and done a recap from my last WIP list of 2024 as well as a 2025 summary of finished projects to see how much I got done and celebrate my progress in finishing. Here now is my new WIP List of 2026. In the first part are the projects I work on regularly at retreats and at home. Then I listed the WIPs I don’t work on regularly and the years I started them with the oldest ones first and the newest ones last. My very old WIPS (really UFOs at this point) have not made it on to this list and they’re somewhere in my craft room to be documented when I get around to doing that. I try to add them on as I remember them and have a desire to start working on them again (ex. Allietare).

Last year (2025), I updated this list and posted it quarterly. I’m not sure I’ll do that this year unless there’s something I need to update – like a new start or a finish. And I plan to do an update post at the end of the year to compare this post with the end of the year recap similar to what I did recently. It’s a joy for me since I love to start so many things, get overwhelmed easily when I don’t have lists to document the WIPs, and forget about the many finishes that I accomplish through the year.

And with that, my friends, here’s my WIP Parade:

1. William Morris QE BOM – started 02/2025

2. Riley Blake Door Banner of the Month – started 01/2024

  • only 2 banners 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

Double Wedding Ring (picture is not my quilt) – started in 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)

Orange Sherbert

8. Birds of Paradise (January 2025 Road to California classes with Irene Blank)

Birds of Paradise

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

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31

Dec. ’25

2025 Finished Projects

Here are my finishes for 2025.

Edyta Sitar’s (Laundry Basket) Alaska – actually finished flimsy in December 2024 but finally posted in August 2025
Christmas in Paris (finished flimsy) – June 2025
Fingerless Mitts – 9/15/20025
repaired socks – 9/20/2025
February door banner
Knitting WIP #4 – afterthought heel #1
Knitting WIP #4 – afterthought heel #2
Knitting WIP #2- Gardengate
Riley Blake’s August Door Banner of the month from 2024
St Mungos socks – 11/23/25
September Door Banner

Riley Blake’s September Door Banner of the month from 2024

Riley Blake’s January Door Banner of the month from 2024
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30

Dec. ’25

A review of my last 2024 WIP list.

This was the last WIP list from 2024 and I wanted to see how much from this list is done. I removed all the commentary from that post as it’s unnecessary for this post.

1. Christmas in Paris – top done!

2. Tuella and Friends – not done and not worked on in 2025

3. Judy Neimeyer’s Double Wedding Ring – started Jan. 2020 – not done and not worked on in 2025

Double Wedding Ring (picture is not my quilt) – started in Jan 2020

2022 New Starts

4. Ornaments – not done and not worked on in 2025

5. Prairie something…. not done and not worked on in 2025. In fact it’s tucked away somewhere safe. Meaning I have no idea where it’s hidden in my craft room!

6. Mountain Mist: Apple Blossom (November 2022) – Not done but worked on sparingly in 2025

2023 New Starts

1. Quilty Pleasures 2023 Saturday Sampler – not done but worked on regularly during retreats and I’m hoping for a finish in 2026

2. Kit from Texas trip – 2013

…Donated to my guild for someone else to finish

3. Tula Pink’s Butterfly 2.0 – not done but worked on regularly during the year.

4. Kimberbell: Candy Corn Quilt Shoppe – not done and not worked on at all in 2025

5. Alaska Quilt by Edyta Sitar – top done actually at the end of 2024 but never posted until 2025

2024 New Starts

1. Door Banner kits of the Month – Feb 2024… in progress worked on regularly through 2025. Just have 3 tops left to do.

Happy quilting friends

Melanie

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