Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and that you were able to spend time with family and friends. Our Christmas was somewhat quiet this year, and New Year’s Eve was the same. The new year starts in earnest on Monday! Please tell me that I’m not the only one who considers the new year to be started on the first Monday of the year. lol

I’ve decided to participate in the American Patchwork & Quilting UFO Challenge in 2026. It isn’t quite as much fun now as it once was, since they no longer choose the project number for you to work on. You choose it yourself, which is fine with me, but less exciting. For January, I have chosen to sandwich, quilt & bind one of the quilt tops I have finished already. I also intend to work on the t-shirt quilt I’m making for my former colleague. And when I have time, I will continue the Spare Squares quilt from Lori Holt that I’ve been working on.

January’s UFO Project

This month’s UFO challenge is sandwiching, quilting and binding this quilt top. Yes, this is the quilt I pieced for my daughter more than 20 years ago. Yes, I’m still going to give it to her. The sea life focal fabric is from Robert Kaufman; I couldn’t tell you exactly when it was released, but it was in the early 2000s.

I am thinking about using the Bernina 735 Pro to do the quilting, since I want to try out the embroidery technology for perfect placement. I am absolutely intrigued by the idea of having perfect placement for quilting within the blocks, though to be honest, I’m not sure that the hoop I have is truly big enough for the blocks on this quilt. I ordered the Bernina Large Magnetic Hoop back during the Houston Quilt Festival last October, but it still hasn’t come in. They have shipped the Medium Border Magnetic Hoop, though, so I bought one of those to use for now but it’s only 6.25″ wide.

Fortunately, I bought four yards or so of the Robert Kaufman fabric for the backing. I may need to do a little piecing but probably not too much. I thought this was a twin size quilt, but it looks to be a little smaller than a twin size, but bigger than a throw? Maybe it is a throw? I’m not sure … it’s been at least 20 years since I pieced it!

The T-Shirt Quilt

One thing I need to do for the t-shirt quilt is to go to the home improvement store and pick up some insulation boards to make a design wall. Since I don’t have a good space to spread out the blocks for the t-shirt quilt, this will allow me to see the big picture on how it’s going together. I am NOT excited to make this quilt, though I am ready for it to be done. This is the last commission quilt I take in, because when I “have” to make them, I am completely unmotivated to work on them.

And now you know why I would never take in sewing for others. I find the entire process of sewing for someone else to be unpalatable. If you want to see me unmotivated, please just offer me money to sew or quilt for you. I think we can all agree that is weird, but I have heard the same sentiment from others who quilt and/or sew.

At any rate, I am really hoping to get both projects completed in January, or at least the segments of the projects I am already planning to complete. In order to make that happen, I am going to have to set aside actual time to work on them. I think my plan will be to do all the cleaning/running around I want to do in the mornings, and leave the afternoons open for sewing & quilting. If I can adhere to that, it would be like working part time, which sounds like a pain, but on the other hand … a) what do I have to lose, and b) what else am I going to do everyday?

Are you taking part in the UFO challenge? If so, what are you starting with this year? Let me know in the comments!