Arubabookwoman Promises to Finish 5 (6) (7) Quilts in 2026

The ultimate scrap quilt underway.

Hi--I'm Deborah. I've been here before, but not in a long while, so I started a new thread. I do all kinds of needlework, but mostly small art quilts/textile art that are almost always done by hand and are heavily stitched/embroidered. I also make bed quilts for my grandkids.
On New Year's day, I was asked what my New Year's Resolution was, and I said, "To finish 5 quilts in 2026." But then I thought, I already have 6 grandkids quilts underway, so I should just resolve to finish those. Then I thought, I have 7 grandkids, and it wouldn't be fair to leave one out, so I should resolve to finish 7 quilts this year. So that is my resolution for this year, and I am afraid that it will be very difficult for me (slow worker), maybe impossible, but I will try.

As I said, I have (at least) 6 grandkid quilts underway, and I will post pictures of them and of my progress. I hope I can keep up with weekly posts. The picture above is of the most recently started quilt, which I began a couple of months ago. As with most of my quilts it was started with little to no planning--I get an idea and just jump right in, In this case I wanted to start using up scraps. Because my art quilts often use very small pieces, I keep scraps as small as one inch. This piece was made by strip piecing small scraps together, resulting in bigger and bigger pieces of "made" fabric. I started out wanting to make 8 1/2" squares, but because I don't measure these blocks vary between 8"-10". Right now I have 37 blocks, I figure I will need 30-40 more blocks to get the size I want, The blocks aren't sewn together yet.

Initially my plan was to put sashing between the blocks, but when I laid them out I liked the way they looked without sashing, so I think, this is how the quilt will end up (with a border). This one will be for my oldest grandson who is 15.

>1 arubabookwoman: Wow! Just … wow! What enormous dedication and patience!

Welcome back to the group, Deborah!

I love the look of that scrap quilt so far. I've wanted to tackle one for a long time. Maybe soon?

Welcome!!

Welcome Deborah! That quilt is so great!

Ooh, how neat! I look forward to seeing more of your quilts and good luck on your goal, very ambitious!

That looks amazing! I spent a long time just looking at the individual scraps and how they related to each other.

I suspect you're someone who actually achieves stated goals, but even if you don't get there, the intention is wonderful.

Welcome back! I love that sort of scrap quilt so much.

Almost all my ancestors made scrap quilts because that's what they used to make them--scraps left over from other things or cut down when a garment was worn out.

>3 Charon07: Hi Charon and thanks for visiting my thread. It's actually quite mindless and relaxing to randomly strip piece scraps. I find myself working on this rather than more pressing projects.
>4 scaifea: Hi Amber--scrap quilts are my absolute favorite, but they usually have fewer scraps than this!
>5 lauralkeet: Hi Laura, Welcome.
>6 dudes22: Thank you Dudes22.
>7 Kalira: Thank you Kalira.
>8 SassyLassy: Thank you Sassy. And just for you I will attempt to post a closeup of the scrap blocks.(see below)
>9 mabith: Thank you Meredith. Are ou a quilter too?
>10 thornton37814: Hi Lori. Scrap quilts are my favorite, but I do usually use purchased quilting cottons. I am saving some favorite old clothes to maybe someday use in something. I do love the look of antiques scrappy quilts, and I also love the look of African American quilts, including the quilts of Gees Bend.

This is the second quilt I want to finish this year.



This is the quilt for my newest grandson Jonah who turns one at the end of April, so I want to finish this by then. I am handquilting it, but have just started (Have quilted about 4 blocks). I haven't hand quilted in a while so I need to get back in the swing of things.

>12 arubabookwoman: There aren't very many people who still quilt by hand. My sister-in-law is one of those who never touches a machine, but it's harder and harder to find people who do it "the old way."

>13 thornton37814: I know. But I find hand quilting (or any hand sewing) so relaxing and meditative, and I often say I enjoy the process more than achieving a product. I am trying to sew more on my machine, but it often tenses me up. Almost all my art quilts are done entirely by hand.

>12 arubabookwoman: that's lovely. I'm impressed that you're hand quilting, too! My mom was an amazing quilter (art quilts mostly) but I think she always machine-quilted.

I love those blues!!

I do both hand and machine quilting. Right now I'm working on two quilts by hand, and one's a king size, which will take me close to forever, but I agree with you that it's relaxing.

>11 arubabookwoman: I have aspirations towards quilting but haven't done much yet (I have various plans for small quilted projects this year). My mom was an off and on quilter and we spent a lot of time going to quilt shows from my childhood onward.

>12 arubabookwoman: Love the style of those blocks!

>11 arubabookwoman: Ooh, so cool to see the closeup on the piecing!

>12 arubabookwoman: I love the patterns; very fun! And oh wow, hand quilting! My mom quilted some (I never got into it, though I might like to try again sometime), always by machine, and even that was a quite time-consuming process.

I've been working on a hand sewing project for a quilt called La Passacaglia since 2019. I started it because we were going to be spending a couple of months in Fla and I wanted something to work on while we were gone. I worked on it fairly steadily in 2019 and 2020, but then only sporadically. I was going to bring it this year but ran out of time to cut out fabrics for the outside of centers I already had done. I really need to get back to it. This is what one of the rosettes looks like. It has open spaces because it interlocks with another block.

>12 arubabookwoman: I love the design and the colors!

>11 arubabookwoman: That's a wonderful closeup. I love the balancing of colours.

>12 arubabookwoman: Great contemporary take, and I really like the way the border complements it.

>19 dudes22: Oh wow, that looks really intricate! I love the color combinations, too.

I think hand quilting would be more relaxing. I think too many people are in a rush.

>12 arubabookwoman: Beautiful! I tried quilting for awhile about a decade ago, because I love the result and playing with shapes and such... but I hate sewing by hand or by machine.

>19 dudes22: Wow! That's such a cool block.