All Olympics, All the Time and NTT

Hey, y'all!  I just love the Olympics.  I love the inspirational stories, the feats of athleticism, and the pride the athletes have in representing their families and their countries.  And when the Olympics happen, I watch as much as I possibly can.  Any sport and any event- qualifiers, finals, medal ceremonies- I love all of it.  I especially love that the games are happening in a time where the prime events in Italy are happening live during the daytime here.  Of course, that means that my days have been spent glued to the TV, rather than sewing, but that's okay.  

So, without any new progress from my sewing studio, let's go ahead and jump right into the highlights from last week.  Take a look at this scrappy quilt from Gretchen's Little Corner-

Check out this cute house block from Kat at Scrapbook Quilts-

And finally, this quilt from Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl is absolutely stunning.  I love the creativity of leaving some of the raw seams visible-

Okay, friends!  It's time to link up!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Day 17,631...and NTT

Hey there, my friends.  It's currently day 17,631 of this ice storm.  Not really, but it sure feels like it, and for those of you who have seen the movie Groundhog Day, I guess it's fitting for this week.  As I write this, we're on day 12, and my neighborhood streets are still icy, which means the schools are still out, no mail or package deliveries, and things are still not back to normal.  And of course, since I haven't gotten to the quilt shop, it means that I haven't sewn anything new.

I know some of you northern folks are thinking that 4.5 inches of sleet is no big deal, but I'm in a southern city that doesn't plow roads (not that you can really plow ice anyway) with drivers who don't have chains or snow tires, so the best we can do is just wait for it to melt.  And usually, within a few days, it does.  But not this time.  This storm has brought temperatures barely above freezing every day, and then bone-chilling refreezing each night, making the roads into a lovely place for sledding, figure skating, or hockey, but terrible for driving.  We are all so over it.  Please understand, I know that SO many others have had it worse in this storm, and I am grateful for how well we've fared overall, but I sure do wish it would all just go away.

In the past two days, we have finally gotten some significant melting, and all I can say is, bring on spring!  

So, in lieu of sewing something myself, I'm living vicariously through your awesomely creative link-ups, like this fun string quilt from Deb at A Scrappy Quilter-

And this fun quilt from Maggie at Making a Lather-

Sally at Crafts, Cavies, and Cooking showed off this tiny beauty, which is only six inches square!

I love the movement in this quilt from Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting-

And finally, look at this amazing quilt from Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl!

Okay, y'all!  Let's get our party going!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

MidMod Stars and NTT

Hey there my friends, and welcome to this week's Needle and Thread Thursday.  As you can see from my photos, we are covered in a blanket of white, but unfortunately, it's about 4.5 inches of pure sleet rather than soft, fluffy snow.  The only footprints in it are from Tucker running through it and digging in with his claws.  It's so icy and hard-packed that regular walking doesn't leave any marks at all. Thankfully though, we didn't get any freezing rain ice buildup, which is the big worry with power lines and trees.  We have kept our electricity, and we are so thankful.  Our neighbors just to the south of us were not so lucky.

The weather did give me time to get my latest quilt finished, and I love how it turned out.  I decided to lean into the Mid-Century Modern feel of this pattern and call it MidMod Stars.

It felt so good to have a finish after such a long break raising a puppy.  He's nine months old now, so technically I'm still raising him, but he has gotten a little easier lately.

As I mentioned in my last post, last fall, when I was really missing creativity but still couldn't sew, I did lots of pattern designing.  This is one of those designs.  When I designed it, it was an immediate favorite and I knew I had to make it first.  It was a lot of fun to sew.

I decided to quilt this one with a nice, easy stipple to ease back into the quilting groove.  It gives the quilt plenty of texture and allows the pattern to really be the star.

This quilt makes very efficient use of either fat quarters of long quarters, so I didn't really have many scraps to speak of.  So, for the back, I made what I like to call a Focus Stripe backing.  This backing is from the Stash and Yardage Backs section of my book, Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs.  Often, I like to use a large print in the center focus stripe, but for this quilt, I made the backing using three tonal prints to keep the color stripes as bold as possible.  It's a really simple backing, but adds just a little extra interest to the back.  My book is full of full patterns for pieced quilt backs (30 of them!), ranging from simple to a little more intricate, but all are easy and are a perfect way to remember that the back of your quilt is another place to get creative!  

And a crisp Kona Navy binding frames the whole quilt nicely, and looks great with the front and back of the quilt.

One of the things that felt the weirdest about this quilt is the fact that I had to purchase every single bit of fabric for it.  Usually I shop my stash and then purchase fabric to fill out the fabric I need, but after using up all of my fabric last year, that's no longer an option.  Of course this means that until our ice melts, I'm at a standstill on starting something new.  Hopefully we'll get above freezing within the next couple of days!

It's almost time to get our party on for this week, but before we link up, check out some of my favorite projects from last week.  Sandra at mmmquilts showed off this lovely quilt with a snowy backdrop of her own!

Check out all of the delicious texture on this sweet owl quilt, shared by Anne-Marie at Stories From the Sewing Room-

And finally, Jan at The Colorful Fabriholic linked up this scrappy teal goodness-

Okay my friends!  I hope you're all warm and cozy and getting lots of good creative time!  Let's get this party started!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

An Ice/Snowpocalypse, and NTT

Hey there friends!  According to the weather forecasts, if you're almost anywhere in the southern/central US, you're gearing up for a major winter storm, with some pretty shocking ice/snow forecasts.  I'm hoping that as the storm gets closer, these numbers are a little more reasonable, but at one point here in the Memphis area, we were forecasted to get 18-24" of snow!  That is completely unheard of here.  Currently, our forecast sits at 5-8" of snow, which is better, but not really.  Because with this storm, less snow means more ice (up to a half inch for us), which is even worse.  

So, I've been planning and shopping for meals that can easily be cooked on a grill if we lose power (visiting three different grocery stores, because they are already a zoo), we also convinced our son to come stay here for the duration, and even purchased some firewood for our fireplace that has never had a fire in it in the six years we've lived here.  This amount of snow and ice is absolutely crippling for a southern city, and since the temps are projected to stay below or just above freezing into next week, we have to be prepared to be stuck at home for several days, which is probably through next Thursday.  It's been a lot.

Nevertheless, I have made some good progress on my latest quilt this week, and finished all of the quilting.  Here's a little peek!

With all of this snow and ice on the way, I'm sure I'll have no trouble getting the binding put on before next week.  But on that note, just keep in mind that if I lose power, I may not be able to post.

Before we get to our party, check out the highlights from last week.  This lovely quilt is from Sew Preeti Quilts-

All three of these awesome quilts were linked up by Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting-

Andree' at Quilting and Learning showed off the center block of a fun new project, and I can't wait to see more!

This pretty quilt is from Something Rosemade-

And finally, I'm in love with this beauty from Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl.  Y'all know I love the green!

Okay, friends!  Let's get our party on!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Miraculous Sewing and NTT

Hey friends!  Welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday.  As the post title suggests, it's a miracle with an 8 month old puppy, but I've been able to get LOTS of sewing done this week and actually finished a quilt top!  Most of it was over the weekend when I'm not the only one at home and therefore not the only one responsible for puppy duties, but I'll take what I can get.

This is a brand new design (one of the ones I worked on last fall before the holidays), and I really love how it turned out.  The stars have a fun, mid-century modern feel that I really like.  I already have the plan for the backing, so I'm hoping for a timely finish for my first quilt in several months.

I also visited the lovely ladies of the Sherwood Park Quilt Guild in Canada last week- virtually of course!   I presented my trunk show, "Show Your Back Side: Quilts From Perfectly Pieced Quilt Backs" and it was lots of fun.  I just love that I can present anywhere in the world with the magic of Zoom!  If your guild is looking for fun and unique programming, please send me an email and we'll chat!  I would love to visit you- either virtually OR in person!  

In other big news, the cover for my upcoming book is finalized, and I'm so excited to share it with you!

You might notice that the cover has the numbers removed from the Twelve Days blocks, and that is for a couple of reasons.  First, the book gives the option for making the quilt without the numbers if you prefer, so I wanted to show that.  And secondly, in this digital world, a book's cover has to look crisp and vibrant not only in real-size, but in thumbnail-size as well, since this is how many people see book titles on phones as they shop.  When the quilt is shrunk down to that size, taking the numbers out allows the block designs to stand out better.  

It makes me so happy to see that the designers followed my request to "lean into the Christmas" theme of the song and quilt, even though the blocks themselves aren't all red and green.  The book will be released late this spring, with plenty of time to start a Block of the Month Quilt Along for Christmas in July!

Okay, y'all!  Let's get down to business with this week's party!  But first, a few highlights from our first party of 2026 last week!

Linda at kokaquilts linked up a recap post of all of her 2025 quilts, and this one is just so lovely.

These sweet butterflies are from Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting and Stitching-

And finally, Yvonne at Sew Yummy shared this vibrant quilt-

Okay, friends!  It's time to link up!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Kicking Off 2026 and NTT!

Welcome to 2026, my friends!  If you missed my last post way back in November, I decided to take a blogging break for the rest of 2025.  I usually take a break during the month of December and adding most of November to the break wasn't my intention, but things just came at me fast in those last six weeks of the year.  In addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas, my husband and I also celebrated our 27th anniversary, his birthday, and hosted a huge Christmas party.  

And if that wasn't enough, I ended up doing the final draft reviews of my Twelve Days of Christmas book, which is a line-by-line check of every word, number, punctuation mark, photo, illustration-  ALL of it...twice (once to mark any edits/changes, and then a second time to ensure all of those changes were made).  It's a huge job, but my publisher will be sending the book off to the printer in a couple of weeks for a release late this spring (yay!) so it had to get done. 

Oh, and amidst all of that, I had jury duty, AND then was down with Covid for an entire week.  Miraculously, I got Covid during the only week I could without missing any events or travel, so thank goodness for small mercies.  All of that said, it was still a fantastic holiday season.

I'm so happy to be back though!  I went to my local quilt shop today and purchased this lovely bundle of fabric for a fun new design-

If you recall, for most of 2024, I sewed quilts entirely from fabric I already had, and as a result, I completely emptied out my fabric stash.  Then, at the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025, I made my first two quilts with purchased fabric in almost a year (two Twelve Days of Christmas quilts).  After that, in spring of 2025, I worked to sew up all of my scraps, which I have (mostly) done.  I also traveled for five weeks straight, and then came home and wrote a whole book. lol!  All of that is to say that the first half of 2025 was super busy for me...and then we got a puppy and all of that productivity came to a screeching halt.

Tucker completely consumed the last half of 2025 for us, and I wasn't able to sew anything at all, and because I had literally NO fabric or scraps on hand, even sewing something small seemed difficult.  He's 8 months old now (and about 60 pounds), and though he still requires a lot of attention, I am ready to start sewing again.  I'm sure it will be at a slower pace with lots of playtime breaks, but I'm looking forward to creating something more than a design on a computer (and getting to shop for new fabric!).

Okay, y'all!  I hope you've had a wonderful holiday season as well, and I hope your own reflections on 2025 make you smile.  It's time to get our party going!  I know you have lots to show off.  And since our last party was so long ago, we're just going to jump right into our very first NTT of 2026.

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

Bring on the Holidays! and NTT

Hey there, and welcome to Needle and Thread Thursday, my friends!  I have finally finished all of my Christmas decorating, and I'm cautiously optimistic about Tucker's ability to stay out of everything.  He was all up in the middle of things as I was putting it all out, but now that it's done, he seems to be less interested in it, which is a trend I hope continues.  

Here are photos of all six of my trees, plus some of my other favorite decor.  Of course, this isn't all of it!  I decorate my entire house and I can't possibly show everything, but you'll definitely see why it's such an undertaking.  These are all unedited photos, with the exception of the first one.

Our main tree-  This tree holds all of our vacation ornaments, as well as lots of "other" ornaments I've collected over the years that don't fit into any of my other themed trees.  This one is in our main family room, and I love that it holds so many memories.

Vintage aluminum peppermint tree-  This tree is from the early 1960's, and though I do have the color wheel that was traditionally used to light these kinds of trees, it gets very hot, and is noisy.  So instead it is lit with spotlights from below.  Since the tree is metal, it isn't safe to string lights on it.  This peppermint tree is in the corner of our dining room.

LSU tree- This tree is just so much fun and though my Tigers are disappointing me this season, I still bleed purple and gold.  I love the way the purple and gold ornaments stand out against the white tree.  This one brightens up my breakfast nook.

Santa tree- I love Santa, and my late mother-in-law shared that love.  In fact, she had Santas that she kept out year round!  When she passed six years ago, I inherited most of her Santa collection, including most of the ornaments on this tree, prompting the addition of this tree in 2020.  Usually, I use a flocked tree here, but I did a little tree switcheroo this year, and you'll see why!  The Santa tree is in the formal living room, but we're not very formal people, so this room actually houses our pool table.  

Winter Wonderland tree-  Here is the flocked tree!  I think the flocking looks amazing with the icy winter ornaments.  This one is full of feathers, deer, snowflakes, icicles, owls, white birds, and lots of berries, branches, and pine cones for a perfectly snowy woodland feel.  This tree is in my bedroom, which has a very colorful Anna Maria Horner quilt on the bed, so the muted tones of this tree are a perfectly peaceful addition to the room.  I love reading a book in bed at night with this tree lighting up the room.

In years past, I have used a super-slim pencil tree in this spot, and don't worry, that tree hasn't been cast aside.  It has been moved, and is now a brand new themed tree.

The Twelve Days of Christmas tree- Yep!  After I made my Twelve Days of Christmas quilt last January, I decided to start collecting ornaments for a Twelve Days themed tree.  It is in our foyer, so I knew it needed to be a super-slim tree for it to fit.  The one that was formerly my winter tree in my bedroom was the perfect size, which prompted the whole Christmas tree shuffle.

The Twelve Days tree is so much fun to look at, but much better up close.  Each ornament is one of the Twelve Days figures, so I included a couple of close-up photos of it.  Twelve Days of Christmas themed things are usually so colorful, so I trimmed this tree in jewel tones, which is totally different from the rest of my trees.

I can't possibly forget the quilts I hang on the wall.  Santa's Christmas Forest hangs in my main family room-

And of course, new this year is my Twelve Days of Christmas quilt!  This hangs in my formal living room, on the same wall as the Santa tree.  You can't tell from the photo, but this quilt is directly across from the Twelve Days tree.  It would be great to be able to have the tree and quilt together, but the Santa tree is too wide to move into my foyer, so the trees have to stay where they are.

Also in my family room are the fireplace and shelving unit.  I completely remove every bit of regular decor to make way for the Christmas stuff!  The Santa collection on the top two shelves is so neat.  They're Santas of the 20th century, and each one represents a decade in his dress, as well as the toys in his bag.  For example, the Santa of the 1970's is wearing bell bottoms, a big butterfly collar, and platform boots.  He holds a disco ball, and and has an eight track tape and a yellow smiley face in his bag.  Each one is so detailed and unique.  This collection has been my dad's for years, and this year, he decided to go ahead and pass them to me.

And here's the other side of our fireplace, with the mantel and our childhood stockings (the stockings are centered on the fireplace, it's just that the photo is very slightly angled)-

I also love Christmas trees!  I have a couple of different Christmas forests in my house as well.  This one is on the dresser in my bedroom-

And this one is really special to me.  With the exception of one tree, all of these ceramic Christmas trees have been made by my grandmother, the biggest one way back in 1970.  I love this collection, and it makes me smile every time I walk into my kitchen.

Well, now you see what I've been busy working on for the past couple of weeks!  It is so much work to do it all, but it makes my heart happy for my whole house to be so festive.

And now, let's check out just a few highlights from last week!  This beauty is from Nancy at Grace and Peace Quilting-

This cozy quilt top is from Maggie at Making a Lather-

Myra at Busy Hands Quilts shared these cute Christmas projects-

And finally, Sew Preeti Quilts linked up this cheerful quilt-

Okay, friends!  Let's party!

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link within your 

    post.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

November and December are jam-packed with my husband's birthday, two major holidays (accompanied by visiting family and travel), our wedding anniversary, and parties/events throughout the season.  

This year, I also have another major thing on my list- the review of my draft of my Twelve Days of Christmas book!  For a late spring/early summer release, the book will be sent to the printer in January, so I have to go through line-by-line and check every word, number, punctuation mark, and illustration before Christmas (and then again right after the New Year).  This is a major undertaking, and it could not possibly come at a busier time.

So, NTT will be taking a break through the rest of 2025, and I'll see you again in the New Year!  Happy Holidays, everyone!  :)