2026 Temperature Quilt, Version 2

Back in January I shared a post about my plans for a 2026 Temperature Quilt. I had such a good time making my 2025 Temperature Quilt that I was eager to start a new one. I decided at that time to keep it easy and started to piece a Herringbone Quilt. This section represents the highs and lows for the first 9 days of 2026.

Well, that plan didn't last long. Just a day or two after that blog post, I was talking to my sister Karen, who is also a quilter. She was considering making a temperature quilt, and we discovered that we were both very intrigued by a design by Jo Avery. The next photo is Jo's 2022 Sea Urchin temperature quilt.

I discovered that Jo teaches an online workshop that includes the Sea Urchin design, her Supernova class at The Thread House Academy. We both got signed up for the class and began our separate versions of this amazing quilt.

I'm using most of the same fabrics for my Sea Urchin quilt as last year's temperature quilt which are  Glaze and Glaze II by Libs Elliott for Andover Fabrics. Here's my color palette for the 2026 quilt. The hot pink diamond at the bottom center represents the hottest temps, over 100 degrees, and they go down in increments of 3 degrees, with the grey for the lowest temps. The black solid will be my background.

Jo's method for making this design involves drawing it out on light-weight non-fusible interfacing, which becomes the foundation for the piecing and is not removed from the blocks. The fact that the shapes are a little wonky and vary in size makes it easier to deal with the fact that the  number of days varies from month to month. Here is the pieced area of my January block from both the right and wrong sides.

The last steps for finishing the January block were adding the black background around the outside and at the center. I machine pieced the outer background to the foundation-pieced section, then hand appliqued the center. 

This is my block for January, 2026. The tiny safety pin in the top  segment marks January 1st, and the days go clockwise around the block. The outer wedges represent the daily high temperatures, and the inner wedges are the lows.

I have the foundation piecing done for the February block and need to get the four quadrants of it joined together before I can add the background. Karen and I are going to get together this weekend, and I can't wait to see how different out blocks look. My block represents the temperatures for the Atlanta airport, our nearest weather station, and hers will be for Madison, WI. We are not using the same fabrics, but our colors are similar.

I'm  linking up with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 3/15/2026

Spring has been putting on a show here lately, with several days of warm temperatures and all sorts of flowers and trees blooming. We spent a few days in New Orleans this week, and it was even warmer there (mid 80's) until one night when thunderstorms rolled in and cooled things off. We are back home now and expecting a major cool-down in a day or so.

Here's a tip for anyone planning a trip to New Orleans--the National WWII Museum is well worth a visit. We took a highlights tour in the morning, then spent more time after lunch exploring on our own. It was very easy to spend a whole day there, and we still didn't see it all. Highly recommended! We also spent some time wandering the French Quarter and ate lots of wonderful seafood.

St. Louis Cathedral/Jackson Square

New Orleans

My stash report is very brief this week because there is nothing to show and very little to tell. The only change to the stash was the addition of 2 yards of black solid for my new temperature quilt project, and I didn't bother taking a photo of that.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                     0.0 yards

Used year to date:            18.875 yards

Added last week:                   2.0 yards

Added year to date:              20.0 yards

Net added in 2026:         1.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. The trip to New Orleans reduced my quilting time, but I did take a hand-stitching project along. I also got to visit one quilt shop there. Now that we are back home, I'm finishing up the binding on a quilt.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

3/3 - 3/14                7 of 7 days

2026 Total            73 of 73 days

Success rate                100 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 3/8/2026

It has been another busy week, with a little time spent quilting combined with lots of time getting the house ready for a birthday party yesterday. Having people over is always good motivation to get the place cleaned up. The party was last night, so I'm looking forward to more quilting time today.

The quilting highlight of the past week was finishing up my UFO #5 for our guild challenge, the Square Dance quilt. You can read more about it HERE.

I used 3/8 yard of fabric for the binding on this quilt, and there was no new fabric added this week. 

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   .375 yards

Used year to date:            18.875 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:              18.0 yards

Net used in 2026:             .875 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. Along with the binding on the Square Dance quilt, I have been working on the February block for my 2026 temperature quilt. I also made the bindings for three quilts that are being long-arm quilted, and I just got the first of those quilts back a few days ago. It's time to start attaching binding and a hanging sleeve.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

3/1 - 3/7                 7 of 7 days

2026 Total            66 of 66 days

Success rate                100 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Another UFO Finished!

The assigned number for the next UFO to be finished as part of our guild challenge was #5. As I'd hoped, it was a quick finish for me because my #5 project was a small quilt top that needed to be quilted and bound. This is my finished Square Dance quilt.

Square Dance quilt

40" x 52"

The blocks for this quilt were made as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge throughout 2020. The Square Dance pattern was the Stashbuster Challenge Block at Border Creek Station that year. Each block is basically a Double Four-Patch, with the black squares forming a diagonal chain through the block. 

I made about 30 blocks each month using the assigned color of the month along with the next color of the rainbow progression. By the end of the year, I had the blocks all joined together into two small quilt tops that measured 40" x 60" each. 

I could have joined the two small tops into a throw-sized quilt, but decided they would be more useful as baby/kid quilts. The first quilt was finished in the fall of 2022, and now I've finally finished the second quilt. I removed two rows of blocks before quilting, taking the size down to 40" x 52". I used one of my favorite flannel prints for the back, and quilted wavy lines through the chains of black squares. A black binding was added, and this UFO was finished!

I'm 2 for 2 on the UFO challenge so far this year, mostly because the first two projects assigned were easy ones. I've got my fingers crossed that my success rate continues for the rest of the year.

I'm  linking up with:

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

TGIFF (Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday) at Anja Quilts

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 3/1/2026

The weeks keep slipping by so quickly, and suddenly here we are at March. How did that happen? I had a very busy week of quilting, but somehow I didn't manage to get photos of most of my projects. I did get a shot of the backing I pieced for my #5 UFO that is part of our guild's UFO challenge. 

The backing fabric is an old favorite flannel from JoAnn's and I wish I had more of it. I used to have several yards, and it has been used to back multiple baby quilts. I had to piece in a chunk at the upper left to make it big enough, and that used up most of my remaining yardage of this fabric.

I'll wait and show you the front of the quilt after I finish the quilting and binding. If you are able to zoom in on the photo, you will see that I've been quilting wavy diagonal lines on this quilt. I'm debating whether I should add more quilting or just call it done and add the binding.

I used 1.625 yards of fabric for this quilt back, and there was no new fabric added this week. That means my stash report is back to showing more fabric used than added for the first time in over a month!

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                 1.625 yards

Used year to date:               18.5 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:              18.0 yards

Net used in 2026:                 .5 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I finished piecing the backing for my 2025 Temperature Quilt, which I hope to share very soon. I also worked on the first block for my 2026 Temperature Quilt, and I'm very excited about that project. There was also one secret project that can't be revealed just yet. Definitely more than 15 minutes of quilting every day!

15 Minute Challenge 2026

2/22 - 2/28              7 of 7 days

2026 Total            59 of 59 days

Success rate                100 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 2/22/2026

For the first time in over a month, my stash report is very close to being back to even. I have more than 9 yards of fabric on the "used" side this week and no new additions to the stash. 

The outgoing fabric included almost 3 yards for the border, back and binding on my recently finished Herringbone baby quilt.

Herringbone baby quilt, 38.5" x 45"

I also used 1 yard to make a pillowcase from this wild print. This fabric was used for a quilt back several years ago, but the print is so large that it's hard to figure out anything else to do with it.

The largest amount to leave the stash was 5.25 yards donated to the quilt guild as a raffle prize. I bought these fabrics, which are part of the line "On the Sunny Side" by Connecting Threads, last December. There were 21 half-yard pieces, and I cut them all into fat quarters, keeping some for myself and donating the rest. The raffle prize proved to be very popular.

"On the Sunny Side," 21 pieces

It feels good to see some significant movement on the stash report this week, and I am hoping to be back in the black by next Sunday.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                 9.125 yards

Used year to date:            16.875 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:              18.0 yards

Net added in 2026:         1.125 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I cut kits for two quilts at the beginning of last week, then the majority of my quilting time was spent on the pieced backing for my 2025 Temperature Quilt.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

2/15 - 2/21              7 of 7 days

2026 Total            52 of 52 days

Success rate                100 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Herringbone Quilt Finished!

It has taken longer than I'd hoped, but I finally have my first finished quilt of 2026! This is my Herringbone baby quilt.

Herringbone baby quilt

38.5" x 45"

For the second year in a row, our quilt guild is having a UFO (UnFinished Object) Challenge. Last year we could work on whichever project(s) we chose each month, but this year we each turned in a numbered list, and a number is assigned as the project to be finished by the next meeting. I was very happy when #8 was pulled at the January meeting, because I've been eager to finish this little quilt.

Herringbone quilt center before borders

The center of my quilt was assembled in July of 2024 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Our color of the month was aqua, and I decided to pull out all of my scraps in the blue-green family, aqua, teal, and turquoise, plus some accents of lime green. These are my favorite colors for quilting, and my stash reflects that preference. My pattern was inspired by the design on a box of Kleenex!

My UFO goal for this year was to add a border to the quilt center, then get it quilted and bound, and those steps have all been done. I'm happy with the way the border mimics the angles of the quilt center, and I was pleasantly surprised by how well the mitered corners turned out.

Making scrappy quilts like this one is always a wonderful trip down memory lane as I revisit my fabric scraps. This quilt has some fabrics that date back to my early days of quilting in the late 1990's, and they look great next to more modern fabrics.

I almost forgot to include a photo of the back. I love these beautiful prints, but wasn't having much luck finding a way to use them in a quilt top. They worked out perfectly for the back of the Herringbone quilt.

The quilting is very simple, with stitch-in-the-ditch in white along the seams of the quilt center. For the border, I decided to practice free-motion quilting straight lines along the seams with a ruler in order to avoid the constant turning that would have been necessary otherwise. They're not all perfectly straight, but I did get much more comfortable with the ruler by the end.

I'll be taking this quilt to share at the guild meeting today, which is also when we will find out the number for our next UFO project. I hope it's another small quilt, because the next month is going to be a busy one.

I'm  linking up with:

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

 Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 2/15/2026

It was an unusual week because I spent three days working in the costume shop at my former theater employer. They needed a little extra help getting a big show ready for dress rehearsals next week. I always enjoy being back there, but it's also a relief when it ends. I'm not used to working/sewing a full eight hours a day anymore.

Despite the time at the theater, I did get some quilting done too. I finished January's Old Italian blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, ending up with 20 for the month. I need to pull out my green 30's fabrics and cut some blocks for February.

I also made three strippy placemats which I am using to try out different quilting designs. You can read more and see them in yesterday's post. Altogether I used 1.75 yards of fabric for the week, and no new fabric was added to the stash.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   1.75 yards

Used year to date:               7.75 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:              18.0 yards

Net added in 2026:         10.25 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. I went back to my habit of hand-stitching on the commute to work, and that was the only quilting time I got on those three days. I tried to make up for that on the other days last week and managed some good chunks of time in the sewing room.

15 Minute Challenge 2026

2/8 - 2/14               7 of 7 days

2026 Total            45 of 45 days

Success rate                100 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Catching Up on Blue

I know that green is the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I've been finishing up some blue scraps from January. First of all, I made four more Old Italian blocks. I still have more blue blocks cut out, but I will save them for a future RSC month.

Old Italian blocks, 3" finished size

My other scrappy blue project this week is three blue placemats, made from 2.5" strips. I'm making these as my practice pieces for a free online free-motion and ruler quilting class, 99+ Strip Designs by Natalia Bonner of Piece n Quilt. The white dots you see on the placemat to the right side are pins in preparation for stitching in the ditch along the seams

Natalia's class started on February 1st, and each day she demonstrates a different free-motion design that works well in a 2" finished strip. I have one placemat completely quilted, and the second is halfway done. 

Some of the designs are turning out well, and others definitely need more practice. I really want to get better at quilting the Ribbon Candy design in particular. I'm definitely getting more comfortable using rulers for quilting on my sit-down machine. The class is free, and it's definitely not too late to join the fun.

Be sure to check out all of the wonderful scrappy projects at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge every Saturday and Oh Scrap! over at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all! I don't have any chocolates for you, but I can share my Hearts Applique quilt top, which was completed last September.

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Sunday Stash and Stitching 2/8/2026

It's hard to believe that we are already one week into February. I missed writing a stash report last Sunday because we our furnace decided to quit working properly (on a Sunday, of course!) Fortunately, our HVAC guy was willing to come out that day and got it working again. By the time it started warming up the house, the temperature inside had dropped to 57 degrees. Brrrrr! I'm ready for some warmer weather.

The stash report has finally made a move in the right direction. I used 2.75 yards to make the top for my Trip Around the World baby quilt. You can read more about it HERE.

2026 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   2.75 yards

Used year to date:                 6.0 yards

Added last week:                   0.0 yards

Added year to date:              18.0 yards

Net added in 2026:           12.0 yards

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces has us tracking how many days each week we get in at least 15 minutes of quilting time. The last two weeks have been busier than usual, both in the sewing room and just day-to-day. We had a Community Service workday for the guild one day, and I spent lots of time at my computer writing up directions for my version of a twin-size Trip Around the World quilt. I've also been prepping quilts to be long-arm quilted with the goal of entering them into a local quilt show in June. There's never a lack of projects around here!

15 Minute Challenge 2026

1/25 - 2/7            14 of 14 days

2026 Total            38 of 38 days

Success rate                100 %   

Check out more stash reports at quiltpaintcreate and join the 15 Minutes to Stitch Challenge at Life in Pieces. Thanks so much to Donna and Kate for continuing to host these link-ups. 

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA