Happy New Year!

 As the sun sets on 2025 I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!!!

My words for 2026 are THOUGHTFUL and APPRECIATE.   Maybe it's my age showing but my goal this year is to be more aware of how I go through my day.  Not to add more to my day but to enjoy my day more and the activities I chose to fill it with. My prayer is that at the end of each day I take time to reflect and embrace all the blessings that filled it with gratitude.

Have a wonderful day! and year!!

MaryEllen

The String Project

 My last big finish for 2025 was this scrappy queen size star quilt.

  

I try to make every scrap of fabric count so I keep a bag under my work table and I throw every leftover in.  When the bag gets full or when I'm running low on ideas I start making blocks.

 
And when the stack of blocks gets high enough I square them up and start thinking of how I can use them.

This fun star design was the result of a lot of playing around with my scrappy blocks. As you may see even the borders are scrappy.

 
For this piece the backing became quite the challenge.  I decided to not use any batting, only a wonderful soft fleece. I also wanted to make the quilting very loose,  I thought by doing all that I would have a really soft, yummy quilt to snuggle with.  This had worked great for a sofa throw sized quilt I made last Christmas. (blog post: Happy Holidays and new backing ideas, Dec.25, 2025)  However because this is a large quilt it was crazy trying to keep the backing straight and smooth.  I should mention I work on a domestic machine, not a long arm.  I think using a long arm may have been really helpful.  

But it's done!! And it's soft and yummy and I'm excited to start enjoying it.

Side note, check out my first attempt at AI by masking out that background in the photo. Go me learning new stuff.

Hope you enjoyed my piece! 

Have a wonderful day!

MaryEllen

A quick end of the year baby/kid's quilt

 

This little end of the year project started with a panel I found this summer at a thrift shop. For only $2.00 I couldn't pass it up.  Since the panel is marked 2002 I felt it was time to finish this piece up

I hope the mom or grandma that didn't quite get to this piece done will be happy with my results.  And, no judgement anyone, I have lots of stuff I'll never get to as well.

These are the instructions that were printed on the panel.  I almost added this piece to the back as a label but I think the quilt will go to donation so I wasn't sure that would be meaningful.  However, I think the idea is something to remember for future projects.  As a member of the Quilt Alliance quilt labels, quilt preservation and quilt documentation are all of special interest to me.  If you are interested in quilt history and documentation check out the Quilt Alliance at their website, quiltalliance.org,

As you can see from this detailed photo as well as the full photo at the top of the page I didn't follow the layout exactly but I was close.

Finished quilt was quilted on my domestic machine, 80/20 batting and a wonderful, soft flannel backing.  Size 46" X 60".

Have a wonderful day!

MaryEllen