#2026QuiltingCheckIn: Q3

Hi Quilting Friends,

I’m participatng in the #2026QuiltingCheckIn, hosted by Melanie @ mellmeyer. I feel more motivated to keep going on my goals if I have shared them publicly, so I appreciate this opportunity. Here’s the Q3 update for my 2026 goals.

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Goal 1: Play with UFO’s

My goal for Q3 and Q4 is to wrap up this counted cross stitch project. I started working on it in the late 90’s, and stopped because it was too hard to see where to stitch. I purchased a lighted magnifier in December, so now I’m able to continue stitching.

I’m nearly finished! The slideshow below shows the project at the end of each month during Q3, as well as photos from early January (when I resumed stitching this project) and the end of June (when I started participating in this linkup).

I need to carefully press the finished piece, attach the ten brass charms that came with the kit, and purchase a frame and some supplies. I’m sure to have this lovely finished before the end of 2026.

Goal 2: Play with Scraps

My goal for Q3 and Q4 is to complete a minimum of 8 scrappy projects by the end of 2026, with at least one of them a throw-sized or larger quilt.

Here are my three scrappy finishes for Q3-

These are my scrappy projects-in-progress, as of the end of September.  I have every intention of finishing them by mid-December, if not sooner.

It seems that I’m a bit behind schedule for this goal. This quarter has been challenging, since my primary sewing machine (Princess Nina) was out of action since mid-August. I took her to the sewing machine “spa” for a routine clean, lubricate, adjust, and it took much longer than anticipated to finish the job. My backup machine will do straight stitches, but that’s about it. Princess Nina came home on Thursday last week, so I’ll be playing “catch up” in order to complete 5 more projects during Q4. I’m up for the challenge!

Goal 3: Play with Friends, Online + IRL

Part of this goal is to participate regularly with the online quilting community.

I’ve chosen a handful of activities. Here are my most recent posts during Q3, with links to the activities –

• Finished (or not) Friday
• Monday Musings
• One Monthly Goal
• PHD in 2026 (I am the host.)
• Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2026

The other part of this goal is to interact with friends and family, in real life (IRL), at least twice a week. This quarter had 13 weeks, and I was “social” 46 times, for an average of 3.5 per week, so I have definitely exceeded the goal that I chose.

Here are just a few of the activities that I enjoyed during Q3-

• FIFA World Cup watch parties with our neighbors
• Houston Astros MLB game with our son & daughter-in-law
• Independence Day at Lake Conroe with friends
• Meals with various friends & family
• Hiking in Montana with my youngest brother
• Hanging out with my Dad & Mom in Montana
• Weekend at the Port Aransas beach with friends

Goal 4: Play Outside

My goal is to move my body vigorously and make my heart work harder at least twice a week by biking, hiking, going to the gym, or swimming. This goal is not going according to plan.

I was doing great with this goal, at least until August 21 when I did something stupid and injured my right foot. I slipped off a footbridge into the creek below, a 3 or 4 foot fall, during a hike while on vacation in Montana. (Bridge shown here, taken on a previous hike when I crossed it successfully, twice.) We had to cut the hike short, but I was able to return to the vehicle (a little more than a mile of hiking) without assistance. This could have been a LOT worse than it is!

Nothing was broken in my foot, as far as the urgent care and orthopedic doctors could see on several x-rays, so the diagnosis is a bone contusion (bruise) on the bottom side of metatarsal 4. Unfortunately, a bruised bone is quite painful and it requires at least the same length of recovery time as a fracture.

I’m resting, elevating my foot, wearing a cute and comfy orthopedic boot or post op shoe, and drinking lots of milk to feed my bones. This is week 6, and I’m already weary of waiting for the bruise to resolve. The doctor says that it typically takes 12-14 weeks for this type of injury to heal.

I miss sweating from a hard workout. (I do plenty of sweating otherwise, just from living in Houston, LOL.). I am cleared to use a stationary bike for cardio, so I’ll see how that goes. 

I will not include the “injured list” weeks in my goal calculation, since rest during recovery time isn’t optional and cardio exercise isn’t possible. For the 8 weeks this quarter before my accident, I worked out vigorously 20 times, and that’s an average of 2.5 times per week.

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Thank you for visiting, and thanks to Melanie for hosting! You can see the other links HERE, for inspiration.

Happy quilting,

Sharon