Hi Quilting Friends,
Whew! January was a very busy month, with lots going on around here.
On the fun side of things, we started out January by celebrating Mr. Fix-It’s 70th birthday, as a surprise. (I got him, and good. He had NO clue that he was the guest of honor at a party until the first visitors arrived at our home.) Here he is with his birthday cake, made by Gaby, and his best helper Astrid, who blew out the candles.
We’ve stayed busy doing all of our usuals, including game nights, lunches with friends, dog walks, etc. I read the new Louise Penny book, “The Black Wolf” earlier this month. It was quite intense, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
We’ve had colder than normal temperatures here since last weekend, with a couple of hard freezes overnight, but the power stayed on and we were all cozy enough. Good thing that I have two nice lap warmers, and stacks of quilts!
I’m currently zooming back and forth to Houston Methodist Hospital in the Medical Center, where our youngest brother (Richard) is recovering from vascular surgery. I’ll be traveling with Richard on his return trip to Montana in mid-February, and then staying for almost a week to assist as needed. As a bonus, I’ll get to hang out with Dad, Mom, and our other brother Blake.
I don’t expect that I’ll be doing a lot of sewing during the next three weeks, but my family is (obviously) more important to me than this task list.
I’ve been pondering how the projects on my PHD list became “projects, half-done”. I was interested in making each of them when I began dreaming up ideas, collecting materials, and so on, but somewhere along the way my progress stalled out. I’m sure that you can relate!
- What is it about some projects that results in a LONG pause between their beginning and their finish, assuming that they are ever finished, while other projects progress seamlessly from conception through completion?
- How can we maintain the joy and excitement of creativity when faced with projects that have lost that “shiny, new” vibe?
- How can we maintain forward momentum, and thus prevent ourselves from accumulating a big ol’ stack of partially-finished projects?
These are some of the questions that I’ll be thinking about throughout the coming months. I’d LOVE to know what you think as well, so please add your thoughts in a comment. Perhaps, together, we can find strategies that will help us as we work through our lists for PHD in 2026.
I feel like I’m off to an excellent start in 2026, although I have yet to finish anything from my list. Progress is being made, and that’s satisfying. The finishes will come a little later! Here’s my PHD update for January-
Project #1: Stash-Bustin’ Scrappy Sampler
I bought a spool of black machine quilting thread while visiting the quilt shop earlier this month. I still need backing fabric, but I am not in a rush. Several of my other projects have upcoming checkpoints and deadlines, but not this one so it will wait a little longer.
Project #2: “Each Dawn A New Day”
Progress is happening! Here’s a photo from January 3 –
And here’s a photo from yesterday –
I am enjoying my new magnifying light, which makes it SO much easier to see my stitches on the navy cloth. When Mr. Fix-It wants to watch TV with me, I pull out the cross-stitch project and I’m able to stay awake to view the program because my hands are busy stitching away.
I actually like counted cross-stitch again. It really helps to have the right tools, such as a portable magnifying light, and now I know exactly why this project became a UFO.
Project #5: Baby Quilt for Nick & Caroline
I’ve come to the realization that Nick & Caroline’s baby quilt will actually be “New”, since the nursery theme has evolved from “Woodlands”into “Winnie the Pooh” . I don’t currently own any Pooh fabric, and so I must swap out Project #5. (See how easy that was!)
Project #5 will be another “New” design for Ms P, using materials that I already have on hand. I’ll add details as I make some decisions.
I LOVE the characters from A. A. Milne’s “100 acre woods”, and I know that I’m going to have fun as I create something special (& new!) for Nick & Caroline’s little one. They carry the Pooh fabric that I like at the local quilt shop, so I can support them with my purchase.
Project #8: Quilt for Anna
My “One Monthly Goal” for January was to piece this quilt for my co-Madre (Anna). Ta-done! Read more HERE. This photo is actually a bit washed-out. I’ll try to get a better exposure when the quilt is finished so you can enjoy the beautiful colors.
I have purchased the backing for this project, and the binding has been prepared for it. Next stop is quilting!
Project #11: Scrappy Zipper Bags X 12
I’ve decided to use the RSC colors for each month as the basis for choosing scraps for my zipper bags. I will use this tutorial from Noodlehead as my bag pattern. I might vary the size of the bags; we shall see!
January’s RSC color is BLUE, and so here is the (large) bag that I made this month. Read more HERE.
I ended up with some extra stitching time, mostly due to the cold weather this past weekend. I came across six beautiful BLUE 10″ x 10″ squares as I was organizing my studio area, and they are now a second (large) BLUE zipper bag! I had some fun with “fancy” quilting on this bag. The lining is a pretty yellow plaid from my stash. This bag will go with me to Montana where it will “live” with my Mom.
Linking with “Scrap Happy Saturday”
Project #13: Lupine & Laughter Mystery Quilt
The “big reveal’ was published on January 9, so I’ve been happily stitching units into blocks, and then sewing the blocks together to make the quilt top. I’m in love with the colors!
The quilt top measures 80″ by 80″ square, and all of the fabrics came from my scrap bins and my stash.
Nope; still haven’t run out of scraps in any of these colors. My “light neutrals” and “icy blues” might need to be replenished before I make another large scrappy project, since I don’t have much variety of either color left in those scrap bins or in my stash.
I’m currently sifting through my fabric stash to see if I have enough yardage to create a scrappy back for this quilt. I plan to quilt it at home with “Princess Nina”, my Bernina 770QE Plus. The binding will be purple, and scrappy of course.
Project #14: SAHRR 2026
The 2026 SAHRR started on January 14. So far we’ve chosen a center block, and added the first two clues. I’m working on the second weekly clue now, and I will share it soon. You can read about my project HERE, and HERE. This is the most recent photo of my quilt in progress-
My “One Monthly Goal” for February is to complete (and post about) Rounds 2 through 4. I may be slightly delayed due to my travel schedule, but I can (possibly) still meet that finish deadline. This is going to be SEW much fun!
Ready? Set. SEW!
And I’ve missed the goal-setting link window. Drat! Oh well. I can still work on this goal on my own.
New Projects
Ain’t nobody got time for this, although I have added a project (not started yet) to this list.
Ongoing Projects
Coffee Mug Blocks
I love, love, love these little coffee mug blocks! My January block is made with a pretty BLUE floral print. Read about it HERE.
“Signature” Blocks
I made 20 little signature blocks, all shades of BLUE! See more HERE.
PHD Progress Update
This is my updated PHD task list, shaded to show the finished tasks.
This is my updated PHD tracker, mostly as it was at the start of the year.
Party Time!
Now its your turn! Share your link and visit the others to support and encourage.
We would appreciate a link back from your post to this post. Here’s a link to copy and paste.
I hope that you’ll enjoy a productive month with your PHD list! Don’t forget to comment; I look forward to hearing from you.
Happy quilting,
Sharon
Ms P Designs USA 
You had a very productive January. The Scrappy Sampler and your version of Lupine turned out beautifully. Hope your brother is recovering well. Enjoy the visit with your family. With them being that far away, you probably don’t get to see them very often.
You ask some really good questions about why we have PHDs. Most of mine are because there was some shiny new thing that caught my attention. Working a more than full time job meant sometimes I just didn’t have time to sew and when I did it wasn’t fun to work on the older stuff. Figuring out how and what fabrics to use to get my RSC blocks into quilt tops as another big road block. Since retiring, I’ve found that deciding what’s my biggest priority has helped a lot. Including one of my older projects as a leader and ender has helped move a lot of older projects to finished quilt tops. I’m hoping that learning to quilt will move a lot off the PHD list this year. It will be interesting to see what other answers you get to those questions.
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Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful responses to those questions. Do you have a plan yet for learning to machine quilt? That was one of my roadblock too. I finally just gritted my teeth and practiced until it felt right. I am still learning, of course.
Ms P Designs USA
http://www.mspdesignsusa.com
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I started with a quilt as you go project using my walking foot. The project is far from perfect, but it’s been a great way to get started. I planned to finish a few other quilts using my walking foot once that one is finished.
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That’s how I got started too. You can do quite a lot with the walking foot. 🙂
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For me, my quilts stalled out for one (or more) of a few reasons: I got frustrated by some part of the project, I started something that was above my skill level at the time, it had hand-stitching, something else came along that was more fun or needed to be done sooner. For some of my oldest projects, it was because I didn’t know how to quilt them. I’ve mostly moved past that now, but some of my quilt tops require custom quilting and I either don’t have a plan worked out or don’t have free time to carry out my vision. Since I quilt for others, I have pretty limited time to work on my own projects. That is also frustrating, and is something I’m trying to figure out. Breaking projects into small goals (OMG) and some larger goals (PHD) helps.
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Thank you for your thoughtful responses. I have a similar set of explanations for my unfinished projects. Now that I have retired, the time constraints have eased, and that has made things easier. Have a great February!
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