2026 Color Challenge

Jen of Patterns by Jen has announced the 2026 Color Challenge. 

Jen always has fun ways to introduce the colors each month. She has used flowers, birds, classic cars, fruits and vegetables, fish, etc. to introduce the monthly colors and it is always fun!  The 2026 the color theme is frogs. Who would have thought that there would be enough different colored frogs for her to use them?  LOL 

In the introduction of the challenge, Jen shares the featured colors for each month. The 2026 Monthly Color Challenge Colors are listed below:

January - Olive Green (Pistachio WWT and Pine WWT)

February - Green (Peppermint WWT and Evergreen WWT)

March - Aqua (Aqua WW and Blue Grass WW)

April - Light Blue (Ice WWT and Bluebell WW)

May - Blue (Denim WW and Navy WW)

June - Grey (Cloud WW and Slate WW)

July - Black (White WWT and Midnight WWT)

August - Tan (Almond WW and Oatmeal WW)

September - Brown (Toast WW and Ginger WWT)

October - Orange (Marigold WW and Pumpkin WWT)

November - Yellow (Daffodil WW and Amber WW)

December - Red (Salmon WW and Cardinal WWT)

For 2026, Benartex is sponsoring the challenge and Jen is using Whisper Weave (WW) and Whisper Weave Too (WWT) - two of my favorite blender fabrics. 

What I typically do after the introduction is to decide a secondary theme (batiks, solids, etc.) and then go on a search for my fabrics. Here are a few of my choices over the years... (I have not made my decision for 2026.)

I have participated in this challenge in various capacities over the last few years (since 2019, actually) and always enjoy myself. Most years, I have made two blocks - either reversing the color placement, using two different background fabrics (one black and one white), or I've made two different size blocks (12" and 6" finished). It still surprises me how one simple change can make everything look different.  LOL

Below are samplings of what I've done over the years. Some pictures are just the blocks while others are some finished projects. 

Reversed Fabric Placement Examples

Reversed Fabric Placement Examples and Two Different Layouts

Two Different Backgrounds Examples

Exactly the Same Layout - Just Two Different Backgrounds 

On each of these quilts, I incorporated snippets of fabric, 

in the order used, into the binding. 

Two Different Sizes - Resulting in Placemats and Mug Rugs each Month

One Block Repeated to Make a Baby Quilt

I am excited to participate in this challenge again. Who wants to join me?

Special Day!

Today would be Dad’s 100th birthday. I know he always enjoyed a good party so I’m going to oblige.

While Jack is using some of Dad’s old radio equipment today, I’m preparing a few of his favorite foods.

Frank Schwab

11/26/1925 - 5/30/2003

**Yes, I know that I have been neglecting this blog for many months now. Life has been busy and some things had to give. The blog was one of them.

Will I try to post more frequently - Yes. 😊

Will I promise to post more frequently - No. 😏

Memorial Day, 2025

Typically during the Memorial Day weekend, Jack and I are in VA spending time with very special friends and family at Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Inn. 

Unfortunately, we are not there this year, as life happened and I spent time in the ER and then at home recovering. (Thankfully, it's nothing tragically serious, just a kidney stone, followed by a nasty infection that got the best of me.) 

We are missing our time together, but are already looking forward to next year. 

On Memorial Day, no matter where I am, I always have a Quit of Valor on which I work. I may be finishing another project as well, but a QOV is always being worked on, even if it's as a leader and ender project. Today is no different. I will share pictures later today or tomorrow, but I do want/need to recognize Memorial Day and the ultimate sacrifice made by our soldiers over the years. There truly are no words to describe my deep appreciation. 

Point the Way - New Version

I taught my wall hanging pattern, Point the Way - A Paper Piecing Primer at the NE Ohio Quilt Show last year. Because it sold out quickly and had a waiting list, I was asked to offer it again this year. Of course I said, "Yes!" 

This is a very basic introduction to paper piecing, which is exactly what my students wanted. 

I was given a charm pack of the fun collection called Creativity Roars by Creativity Shell for Moda. I loved the fabric and was thrilled to receive the pack. Of course there was a stipulation. I had to create something NEW with it. I was permitted to add fabric to the charm pack, but because it was a "Moda Guy" who gave it to me, preferably I would only add Moda fabrics. (I added a Thatched fabric by Robin Pickens that I think worked great!) 

I laid out the squares and looked at them for a while, trying to get some ideas. After a couple of days, inspiration struck and I started sketching. After some basic sketches, I sat down at the computer and started plying in EQ 8.  Here are some early sketches, all of which were discarded after a while. 

I quickly decided that I didn't care for the extra wide light pink sashing that was created when I put blocks together, so I tried it with just a few of them. 

I still wasn't thrilled and finally decided to ditch all the pink sashing, including the diagonal pink that was added to each of the blocks. (Can you see my seam ripping? LOL)

I liked this much better so I sewed all the block units together. Once that was done, I randomly sewed them into nine blocks. 

Much better!

Even better when I added the outside borders!

So...why am I showing you this now? Well, I decided that I wanted to make a new version. Here's what I have so far.

Sorry for the really bad picture!

Here's the fabric I'm using. The background is a Primitive Muslin by Primitive Gatherings and it is beautiful! I have more of each of these fabrics and am playing with the idea of expanding the pattern to add least one more size. I'll do the math first and then decide. Stayed tuned...

Of course I have thoughts on making another version of this too, but we'll see if that gets done any time soon. Don't hold your breath. Hahaha

Catching Up...

I am so darn bad at blogging on a regular basis! I am not even going to try to apologize or make excuses. It is just a fact that blogging has not been high on my priorities list. But...I'm here today to share some things that have been happening and I hope to be back sooner, rather than later.  :-)

There will be no rhyme or reason to the order of pictures I share today. I am simply going through some photos and sharing what I think are fun or special pictures. 

This was NOT fun! Fortunately I had a second pair on hand, so I didn't have to tape these. 

Honestly though, I kind of wanted to tape them and see Jack's reaction, as well as the grandkids. I'm sure they would have simply rolled their eyes.  

Since I'm feeling a little silly right now, I'll share one of my favorite pictures of my BFF Kare. She just might have a sweet tooth and when she goes/sews away from home, she is always prepared. :-) 

I don't know if you noticed in the picture above, but Kare is also health conscious, so she added a banana to the basket of Peeps and Milk Duds. 😂

My absence here on the blog doesn't mean that I haven't been busy. I love that Avery and Peyton spent some time sewing while they were here recently. They had projects in mind and I just let them "have at it." They are happy with their results and I feel certain that they are both becoming much more comfortable sewing on their own. 

They always clean up after themselves and I like that. Perhaps they can teach me. LOL

I've been busy with programs, classes and events over the past few months, and that will continue. This is what the back of my car looks like quite often these days. 

I'll eventually share pictures of some of the classes and events, but know that will not get done right away. I want to spend time at my sewing machine and will download pictures when I need a break from that. 

The image below made me laugh out loud. It was sent to me by a friend who heard me lamenting that I've been feeling like all I've done recently is attend meetings, prepare for events, etc.  If I was a drinker, I might consider doing this.  LOL

I'm going to go spent time with my trusty sewing machine. 💖 

See you soon!

Snow Days = Sew Days

This is what our front yard looked like yesterday morning, as we headed out to church. Beautiful!!

Once I saw this and heard the forecast, I knew that it would be a perfect day to sew. 

I pulled out the fabrics for the additional three blocks I decided to make for my toddler version of Disco Stars and I spent a little time working on those. 

I have all the sashing and small star units made and got excited to see how it was going to look, so I put everything up on the design wall. I really like the deep purple stars and background fabric (Kona Solid - Eggplant). 

On a side note...I am hosting a Disco Stars Sew Along for the members of the Friends of Chestnut Ridge Sewing Facebook group. I fell in love with this quilt when Modernly Morgan shared progress on her Facebook and Instagram pages at the end of last year, and then finally on her blog. I knew I wanted to make one of these quilts and decided to kill two birds with one stone when I chose that to be the long-awaited CRS Sew Along quilt. Toward the end of this post, you'll see a glimpse of my first Disco Stars quilt. This purple version is actually my fourth version. LOL I'll share pictures of the other two versions soon. 

Unfortunately, the machine sewing stopped at this point. I had to step away from the machine and for a variety of reasons, never got back to it. That will change today. My goal is to have this top sewn today and to start thinking about the quilting. Of course that means I have to think about the backing too. This is pretty small (40.5" x 54"), so I'm thinking that I will quilt this on my domestic machine and am pretty sure that I have fabric in my stash that will work for backing. We'll see...

Back to the snow...

We are fortunate to have double glass doors in our kitchen that look out to the back yard. Longtime blog readers know that I enjoy the view from those doors and have seen many pictures of wonderful green trees, lots of snow, and plenty of wildlife (deer, birds, etc.) Last night, I glanced out the door and noticed some snow that had "landed" on the door handle. I thought it was interesting and decided to see if I could get a picture of it. 

Don't ask me why, but I love how this looks. I love the layered look of the snow and the detail of both layers. I find the mirror-like effect of the handle both beautiful and intriguing. 

Jack suggested that I like it because it looks a bit like the front end of a ship and some of my friends just embarked on a week-long cruise. Maybe he's correct...LOL

While I didn't get back to the sewing machine, I did begin the hand-stitching on my first version of the Disco Stars quilt. I love everything about this quilt! 

I am thrilled with my binding choose. I don't usually choose binding until the quilting is complete, but I had chosen this binding even before I started piecing the blocks. I just knew it would work! 

Unlike the binding, I didn't know what I was going to use for the backing until I walked into a store one day as they were unwrapping a new bolt of wide backing. I saw it and just knew it would be perfect. I had only sewn a few blocks, but I just knew. :-)  

Maggie at Chestnut Ridge Sewing quilted this and while I don't remember the name of the quilting design, it is perfect! My other two completed versions of Disco Stars were quilted by Maggie and Linda at CRS, and they are perfect too. Maybe I should just have them quilt the purple version so it looks just as good as the others.  LOL

It's President's Day and we have no appointments. I've got a pot of soup cooking on the stove and Jack is working on a couple of projects at his radio desk. It's the perfect day to head back to the sewing machine and work on my goal. Tonight, you'll most likely find me on the couch hand-stitching while Jack is there reading a book.