Best of 2025--Year in Review

The end of the year is always a good time to look back and reflect on what we accomplished this year. Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs is hosting the Best of 2025 Linky Party, a chance to link up our top blog posts from the past year. I've been having a great time going through my posts from 2025 and revisiting my quilt projects. Each listing has a link back to the original blog post.

1. Favorite finished top: Scrappy Colorwash "Terry" quilt top

I began making the scrappy little 3" blocks for this quilt early in 2024 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and the top was completed this July. I was inspired by Terry Rowland's amazing colorwash quilts, which are featured in her series of three YouTube videos. I ended up using a total of 540 blocks in the quilt top, each finishing at 3" square, and I'm extremely happy with how well the colors flow across the quilt.

 Scrappy Colorwash "Terry" quilt top

60" x 81"

2. Favorite year-long project: Temperature Quilt 

In November of 2024, our guild enjoyed a presentation by Jo Avery on Temperature Quilts, which led several of us to start our own Temperature Quilt projects. I came up with a block design that is fairly easy to make every day, and I've mostly managed to keep up making the blocks. As you can see in the photo, I  have all the blocks for the year finished except for the last few days of the year, and I hope to have a finished quilt top before long.

Temperature Quilt, blocks through 12/27/2025

3. Favorite (and oldest) UFO finish: Chinese Coins

My Chinese Coins quilt was started at a quilt shop sewing day way back in 1998! The quilt shop called the design Chinese Coins, but they look like Snowball blocks to me. The quilt top was completed very quickly, but I always struggled to figure out how to quilt it. Our guild's 2025 UFO Challenge motivated me to finally get it done, and I'm so glad that I did.

Chinese Coins, 44.5" x 51.5"

4. Favorite workshop: Outspoken (Improv Alphabet)

This was a tough choice because I was able to take several excellent workshops this year, but this was the one that I just couldn't stop working on until the quilt top was complete. Our "Outspoken" class was taught by Elaine Poplin, who shared her techniques for making these wonderful scrappy improv letters.

Improv Alphabet, 53.25" x 55.75"

5. Most challenging new project: Jane Stickle Sampler

I've admired many beautiful versions of the Jane Stickle Sampler Quilt through the years. For some reason, 2025 was the year that I decided to try making one myself. I bought several different blue, teal and turquoise shades of Grunge in the spring, plus a cream Grunge for the background, and got started. At present, I have made 76 of the 169 blocks needed for the center of the quilt, which means I'm nearing the halfway point. After that comes the 56 triangle and kite-shaped border blocks.

Jane Stickle Sampler

My greatest satisfaction in 2025 is the fact that I finished more quilts than I have in many years. I ended the year with 12 finished quilts, ranging in size from wall-hanging to throw quilt. Half of those were new projects in 2025, and the other half were UFOs that are now completed. I also assembled 10 other quilt tops, most of them started in 2024 or 2025, but a few were older projects. My focus next year needs to be on quilting up more of those quilt tops.

Thanks to Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs for giving us all the opportunity to share our favorite posts and projects from the past year. I'm joining up with her Best of 2025 Linky Party.

Happy quilting and Happy New Year to all!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 12/28/2025

It was a surprise when I sat down to write my blog post today and discovered that I didn't post a stash report last Sunday. I can't even remember what kept me from posting last week, just holiday busy-ness I guess. But I'm back today, and it's the last Sunday of 2025.

Improv Alphabet, 53.25" x 55.75"

My stash report shows fabric both coming in and going out. The usage side has 4.5 yards used in my Improv Alphabet quilt top, shown above, which I was very pleased to finish last week. You can read more about it in my post HERE.

Spell It with Fabric

While working on the alphabet quilt, I remembered a set of blocks I made a few years ago for another alphabet quilt called Spell It with Fabric, a free pattern available from the Fat Quarter Shop. I first blogged about that project HERE. The blocks are all made and have been waiting patiently, but I was never quite satisfied with my border fabric. Last week I ordered another option for the border, which I think will be much better. That's the grey piece in the photo below. The lime green prints are part of a single piece of fabric that will be divided into four different fat quarters. Total added to the stash was 4 yards.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   4.5 yards

Used year to date:             73.5 yards

Added last week:                 4.0 yards

Added year to date:       103.875 yards

Net added in 2025:     30.375 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 missed one day in the last two weeks, but managed to get at least a little quilting time every other day, and I'm very happy with my numbers for the year.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

12/14 - 12/27        13 of 14 days

2025 Total         356 of 361 days

Success rate               98.6 %   

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

Improv Alphabet Quilt Top Finished!

The holiday season has seemed even busier than usual this year, which has really limited my time in the sewing room. For the past month, almost all of my quilting time has been focused on a single project, and now my Improv Alphabet quilt top is complete!

Improv Alphabet, 53.25" x 55.75"

My alphabet quilt was started in a workshop called "Outspoken" with Elaine Poplin of Huntsville, AL. We learned Elaine's techniques for making scrappy improv letters. Below is one of Elaine's quilts that includes letters.

Be Strong by Elaine Poplin

Some people were making letters for specific phrases, but I decided to make the whole alphabet, using bright colors on a background of scrappy black and dark grey fabrics. I added chunks of bright-on-black prints for the outer border to finish it off.

This is probably my last finish for 2025, but who knows what I might get done between now and the end of the year. I've been thinking about quilting plans for the new year, including UFOs for our guild challenge and which quilts I hope to finish for an upcoming show. There's always plenty to keep me busy around here.

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

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

 Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Happy holidays and happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 12/14/2025

This week's stash report doesn't show any changes on the fabric used side of the tally. I've continued working on the alphabet blocks, making the last set of letters this week and starting to get them joined into rows.

Improv Alphabet blocks,

based on "Outspoken" workshop with Elaine Poplin

The pattern for these blocks also included numbers, and I considered adding them at the bottom. By the time I finished making letters, I was losing interest in making more blocks and decided to stop here. The next step will be to even out the rows, then get them joined together.

Unfortunately, the stash report shows a very large amount added to the stash this week. I gave in to an early Black Friday sale at Connecting Threads back in early November, and my order finally arrived this week, almost a month after it was placed. Some of their sale prices were as low as $3/yard, although many of those were sold out by the time I ordered. Anyway, 25.5 yards of fabric was added to my stash. 

"On the Sunny Side," 21 pieces

"Cheddar Blues," 10 pieces

"Faux Linen" and batiks, 6 pieces

Now that I'm adding up the stash totals, I see that this large addition brings my total for the year up to just below 100 yards added in 2025. My goal for the year was to use at least 100 yards, but there's no way I will accomplish that, unless I give away a large amount of fabric. It might be time for an end-of-the-year reduction in stash!

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   0.0 yards

Used year to date:             69.0 yards

Added last week:               25.5 yards

Added year to date:        99.875 yards

Net added in 2025:     30.875 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. I've continued to spend the majority of my limited quilting time on the alphabet quilt, and I hope to finish that top before the end of the year.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

12/7 - 12/13             7 of 7 days

2025 Total         343 of 347 days

Success rate               98.8 %   

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 12/7/2025

It wasn't the most productive week for quilting, but I did manage to make some progress on my Improv Alphabet quilt. My total number of letters has reached 45! The second row is complete, and those blocks have been stitched together.

Improv Alphabet blocks,

based on "Outspoken" workshop with Elaine Poplin

Calculating my stash usage for this quilt will be difficult since it is all made from scraps and strips, with lots of trimming to straighten edges. I will probably have to estimate the yardage used after it is all together by weighing the quilt top. Because of that, my stash report doesn't show any changes for this week.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   0.0 yards

Used year to date:             69.0 yards

Added last week:                 0.0 yards

Added year to date:        74.375 yards

Net added in 2025:       5.375 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 may not have made huge progress on any quilt projects this week, but I did get in more than 15 minutes of quilting time every day. 

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

11/30 - 12/6             7 of 7 days

2025 Total         336 of 340 days

Success rate               98.8 %   

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 11/30/2025

Did everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? We certainly did, although getting ready for it was exhausting. We have cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner many times before, usually just for the two of us. We were out of practice at hosting, but everything turned out well, and we've been enjoying the leftovers ever since!

Thanksgiving preparations took up much of my usual quilting time for the week, and I have no changes to report for the stash numbers. Yesterday's post included some photos of my newest project, Improv Alphabet, which was started recently in an "Outspoken" workshop with Elaine Poplin. This photo is another of Elaine's beautiful quilts. (Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the quilt.) 

Quilt by Elaine Poplin

My collection of alphabet blocks increased by a few more yesterday. I'm past the half-way point!

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                   0.0 yards

Used year to date:             69.0 yards

Added last week:                 0.0 yards

Added year to date:        74.375 yards

Net added in 2025:       5.375 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 was able to get my time in every day, although there were a couple of days with not much more than 15 minutes. Fortunately, I made up for some of those short days on Friday, with much of that day spent in the sewing room, making more improv letters.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

11/23 - 11/29           7 of 7 days

2025 Total         329 of 333 days

Success rate               98.8 %   

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

A New Project--Improv Alphabet

The last thing I need right now is to start a new quilting project, especially with the busy holiday season upon us, but that's exactly what I did recently. Our November guild meeting featured a presentation by Elaine Poplin of Huntsville, AL, who shared many quilts she has made, including her inspiration and design process. Here are photos of a couple of her beautiful quilts with amazing quilting on them. You also get to see Elaine in a great jacket made from a pattern she designed. See more at her website HERE. 

Elaine Poplin

The next day was our "Outspoken" workshop with Elaine, where we gathered to learn her methods for making scrappy improv letters. 

Be Strong by Elaine Poplin

Elaine had samples of a full set of letters, numbers, and symbols up on the wall for us to study. We started with an easy one, a capital "E", to learn the basics, then continued from there. Here's what I had completed by the end of the day.

Some people were making letters for specific phrases, but I decided to shoot for making the whole alphabet, and I might make numbers as well at the end. The blocks will get joined together into horizontal rows, and some will need background added to get them up to size, like that small "w" needs an addition at the top to make it tall enough. 

As you can see, I'm using bright colors on scrappy black and dark grey backgrounds. The colors for my letters made in the class were chosen randomly from the scraps I had brought with me. After I got home, I wrote out the whole alphabet and assigned a color to each letter in order to get a fairly even distribution of the colors. Getting ready for Thanksgiving limited my quilting time, but I was able to complete one short phrase that seems appropriate this week. 

I was able to spend most of Black Friday in the sewing room, and I am very thankful for that. Here's where I am on my alphabet after my marathon of scrappy stitching. I count 26 letters done, which means I'm halfway there!

I'm currently working my way through each color separately (i.e. making all the red letters at the same time before moving on to another color.) That approach seems to make the process a little more efficient. I'm having a great time digging through my bags and bins of scraps to find pieces that will work together. These orange letters are nearly done, just needing some background added around them, then I can move on to another color today.

I'm  linking up with:

Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy

 Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework on Sunday. 

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday Musings at Songbird Designs

Wednesday Wait Loss at Inquiring Quilter

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Happy quilting everyone!

Julie in GA

Stash Report and Stitching Time 11/23/2025

It has been a very busy week, with limited time for quilting due to appointments and holiday prep. We are hosting Thanksgiving for the first time in several years, and that seemed like a good reason to get the Christmas decorations up early. I even pulled out a Christmas quilt top, with the goal of getting it quilted before Thanksgiving, but that seems unlikely to happen now.

The only change to the stash for the week was 3/8 yards used for one more orphan block placemat. This was the last of the blocks from the National Quilt Museum's 2023 block of the month, and it's also my last placemat made for donation to Meals on Wheels this year. I think I ended up with a total of 50 placemats donated in 2025, just shy of my goal of one per week.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                 .375 yards

Used year to date:             69.0 yards

Added last week:                 0.0 yards

Added year to date:        74.375 yards

Net added in 2025:       5.375 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 week included a quilt guild meeting, plus a workshop on Friday, along with the projects mentioned at the beginning of this post. Quilting time is sure to be limited as the holiday activities get ramped up, but I'm hoping to continue squeezing in at least a little time every day.

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

11/16 - 11/22           7 of 7 days

2025 Total         322 of 326 days

Success rate               98.8 %   

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

Stash Report and Stitching Time 11/16/2025

There were still more placemats finished this week, but this set is not meant to be donated. I'm keeping these daisy border-stripe placemats to use along with the matching tablerunner and napkins made earlier this year. 2.5 yards of fabric was used to make these placemats.

As suspected, I had enough of the sunflower border-stripe fabric to make three more of those placemats for donation, using 1.25 yards of fabric. I didn't bother taking any new photos of them; this is a repeat of last week's photo.

 

That brings my total fabric used for the week to 3.75 yards, with no new fabric added to the stash. Unfortunately, I gave in to a sale at Connecting Threads and placed an order, but I don't expect it to arrive for another week or two.

2025 STASH TOTALS

Used last week:                3.75 yards

Used year to date:         68.625 yards

Added last week:                 0.0 yards

Added year to date:        74.375 yards

Net added in 2025:         5.75 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. This week was the usual mix of working on several different projects: making placemats, catching up on blocks for my Temperature Quilt, and prepping the layers for my next machine quilting project. 

15 Minute Challenge for 2025

11/9 - 11/15             7 of 7 days

2025 Total         315 of 319 days

Success rate               98.7 %   

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