Introduction: PHD in 2026

Hi Quilting Friends,

Welcome to PHD in 2026! The purpose of this activity is to encourage and support each other as we spend the year doing these two things –

Finish at least twelve projects that you have selected for your PHD list
Complete all NEW projects that are started during 2026

We’ll share our progress via Linky parties at the end of each month

Your PHD in 2026 Project List

Choose twelve projects for your PHD list, for an average of one finish per month. It is fine to change your mind later and switch projects during the year. Life happens, and plans & priorities may change.

It isn’t necessary to list every single unfinished project in your studio on your PHD list. Prioritize your UFOs and choose just twelve that you really want to finish this year, unless it simply makes you happy to see everything on a single list. If that’s how you roll, then go for it! (Maybe place your top twelve priority projects at the top of the list?)

For many people, just looking at a list (a stack, a box, or a shelf) of 68 unfinished projects can quickly become overwhelming, discouraging, and de-motivating. (If you have 68 UFOs, I’m not judging. I started out with more than 50.)

We DON”T want to begin this adventure by being overwhelmed, discouraged, or de-motivated, so let’s get set up for success at the outset and maintain our focus on a limited number of projects. I highly recommend keeping your list to a realistic number of PHDs to finish in a year’s time.

You can always add to the PHD list later, after you’ve finished those twelve initial projects ahead of schedule. Wouldn’t that be great!

What projects are OK for my PHD list?

PHD is an acronym for “projects half done”, so let’s discuss the types of projects that are appropriate for your PHD list.

Unfinished quilting projects (UFO’s), obviously
Other unfinished handwork or sewing projects, since most quilters have multiple “vices” including, but not limited to-
- Cross-stitch, embroidery, needlepoint, knitting, crochet, garment-making, etc.

I have been working on my PHD for several years now, so I currently have fewer than twelve UFO quilts in progress hanging around my sewing studio, and I’m happy with this situation.

However, I have a healthy fabric stash, a sizeable scrap accumulation, and a sweet collection of quilting tools that I’ve curated over many years of quilting. That’s a lot of potential projects on the shelves of my studio! I would like to see that potential come to fruition in the form of finished quilts.

Thus I’ve determined that having items on hand also involves, at some level, “starting” a project.

Planning and acquisition are important aspects of our creative process, so with this in mind your PHD list may also include –

Kits that you haven’t gotten around to making
Fabric from your stash
Scraps from your collection
Patterns from your “to make” files
Cool tools from the sewing table drawer

Basically, let’s just say that if you currently possess nearly everything that is needed to complete a project, then it can join your PHD list.

It is OK to be vague about an end product on your list if you are using stash or scrap fabrics that you have on hand. List it as “Scrappy Quilt TBD” (for example), and then be more specific later on as decisions are made about the project. We all understand that some projects evolve slowly and reveal their form over time.

If you have to obtain nearly everything that’s needed for a project, whether you purchase it or receive it as a gift, then that project hasn’t been started yet and it shouldn’t be on the PHD list because it is “New”. Does that make sense?

What about my new projects?

“New” projects mean just what you’re thinking, and include everything else that you begin working on during 2026.

We all obviously understand the allure of a new project. There’s something irresistible about beginning a new quilt, isn’t there? And it is fine to give in to that temptation, but keep this in mind-

You must finish all new projects in order to earn your PHD in 2026.

Hold on a moment. There are a couple of exceptions to this expectation –

Exception #1- Ongoing projects such as collections of leader/ender blocks, mystery quilt projects, quilt challenges, or block of the month programs, that begin during 2026 and continue into 2027.

Exception #2- Projects that are initiated during the fourth quarter of 2026, and remain unfinished at the start of January, 2027. We can all agree that there are many projects which require more than a few months to finish well, so this seems reasonable.

However, every effort should be made to complete those “Exception” projects during 2027, if at all possible, since our primary objective is to finish projects rather than add to our stacks of unfinished ones.

I’m in! What’s next?

So now you have THREE things to do, if you want to join us and earn your “PHD in 2026”! (I really hope that you’ll join us!)

Choose twelve projects for your PHD in 2026 list. Use these handy templates for your list, if you like. I use both templates as I track progress for my PHD, and I include them in my monthly update posts. (Click to view an example update post.)

Download the PHD Task List Template

Download the PHD Tracker

2. Write a post about the projects from your list, with brief descriptions & pictures if possible. Please copy and paste this link somewhere in your post:

PHD in 2026 Project List

If you’d like to add our “PHD in 2026” logo to your post or sidebar, here it is-

3. Join the linky party (see below) to share your PHD list.

I’ll be back again by the end of the week with my personal PHD list for 2026. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns about joining in. I’m happy to assist.

Happy quilting,

Sharon