2025: Midnight Manor, Pumpkin Mug/Candle Mat, Autumn Nights, and Autumn Bloom

Midnight Manor

Designed by Joanna Figuero of Fig Tree Quilts

Completed quilt top September 19, 2025

Audiobooks: Ink Black Heart – Robert Galbraith

Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks

Die Around Sundown – Mark Pryor

This pattern and its fabrics were the main features of my autumn issue of Little Box of Figs subscription, which is better for me right now than a traditional block-of-the month program - I have so many projects on my list! The pattern is a simple house framed by two trees, flying geese, and stars. 

Pumpkin Mug/Candle Mat

Mini quilt top completed September 30, 2025

Audiobooks: The Correspondent – Virginia Evans

The pattern for a pumpkin mat was included with the Little Box of Figs which used leftovers from the main project. At just 8 ½ by 12 ½, it worked up quickly. This would be great to make small projects for Christmas gifts.

Autumn Nights Mystery Sew Along

Designed by Fat Quarter Shop

Competed quilt top September 20, 2025

Audiobooks: Die Around Sundown – Mark Pryor

This mystery sew along took place at the same time that I was working on Midnight Manor and the pumpkin mat. I was in an autumn project mood, so I used leftovers from Midnight Manor and mixed in my own fabrics. It turned out to be cute as a wall hanging or table topper.

Autumn Bloom

Designed by Lindsey Weight

Completed quilt top October 4, 2025

Audiobooks: The Correspondent – Virginia Evans

Isola – Allegra Goodman

This pattern was offered as a free Friday pattern of the month project by Primrose Cottage. Except for two of my own fabrics for the main flower, all the fabrics for this project came from the leftovers of Midnight Manor, plus a pack of mini charm squares included in the Little Box. 

2025: Pumpkin Pillows

Designed by Buttermilk Basin Design Co.

Pillow tops completed September 5, 2025

Audiobooks: Union Street Bakery – Mary Ellen Taylor

    Memorial Days – Geraldine Brooks

I rarely buy “cute” kits, but I found these little pumpkins irresistible! They worked up very quickly, and I made both pillow tops in one day. 

2025: Wandering Star

Designed by Melissa Corry
Completed quilt top September 3, 2025

Audiobooks: The Lion Women of Tehran – Marjan Kamali
A Week in Winter – Maeve Binchy
The Once and Future Witches – Alex E. Harrow
To Die For – David Baldacci
We Used to Live Here – Marcus Kliewer
The Piano Tuner – Daniel Mason
The Great Circle – Maggie Shipsted

Wandering Star was my second quilt class at the 2025 Cedar Chest Quilt Retreat. This was much more complicated than I had first thought. I had to use my library for the room to lay it all out. It measures 90” x 90.” I had not planned to make it so big, but I got carried away.
The fabrics are mostly Botanical Journal by The Smithsonian Institute for Marcus, a palette of soft greens, raspberries, purples, and golds. The backing is AMAZING – a botanical floral from the same line.

2025: Pick n' Mix

Designed by Pam Schoessow
Completed quilt top August 31, 2025

Audiobooks: The Edge – David Baldacci

This pattern was published in the June 2025 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting. It is a very simple design; I used my mid-century fabrics which gives the quilt an energetic and nostalgic vibe that brings back memories of vintage kitchens and cheerful gatherings. Yes, I am a member of the Baby Boomer generation!

 

2025: Red and Gold Churn Dash

Designed by Joanna Figueroa for her 2025 Designer Challenge in the American Patchwork & Quilting Magazine

Quilt top completed June 2, 2025

Audiobooks: The Diamond Eye – Kate Quinn

I have been wanting to make a red and yellow quilt for some time when this pattern showed up in my magazine. The Designer Challenge pattern for the June 2024 issue was a simple churn dash. In Joanna’s version, she turned the triangle-square corners around to make it look like a circle.  I pulled out my red and yellow stash and worked up a beautiful lap quilt.

2025: Butterscotch Baskets

Completed quilt top May 27, 2025

Designed by Lynn Wilder 

Audiobooks: All the Colors of the Dark – Chris Whitaker
    A Calamity of Souls – David Baldacci
    The Day Shelly Woodhouse Woke Up – 

                            Laura Pearson
    Bram Stoker’s Dracula
    The Beekeeper of Aleppo – Christy Lefteri
    Brain Damage – Freida McFadden
    Person (Jack Reacher) – Lee Childs
    Sundays at Tiffany’s – James Patterson
    The Other Einstein – Marie Benedict
    A Week in Winter – Maeve Binchy

I got myself and a friend in trouble with this BOM. Offered by Stitchin’ Heaven from Texas, I just could not let this one pass me by. And neither could my California partner in crime.

We spent many months making 80 scrappy 6-inch Ohio Stars, and 12 baskets, all surrounded by butterscotch sashing and borders. 

2025: Dealers Choice, A Brown Bag Mystery 2025

Completed quilt top May 22, 2025
Designed by Karen Montgomery of Nine-Patch-A-Day Facebook page

Audiobooks:    Brain Damage – Freida McFadden
    Evvie Drake Starts Over – Linda Holmes
    Personal (Jack Reacher) – Lee Childs
    The Other Einstein – Marie Benedict
    The Once and Future Witches – Alix E. Harrow

I have explained in several other Brown Bag Mystery Quilt (BBMQ) posts how this mystery works, but to refresh: I choose a brown bag, which is stapled shut, and a strip of fabric is attached to the handle of the bag. Other than that little hint, I have no clue what the fabrics will look like, and no clue as to what the pattern will be. All I get for instructions are what and how to cut the fabric. That’s it. Clues are sent every two weeks over several weeks beginning in March. 

This year I discovered the bags at The Christmas Goose booth at the 2025 Cedar Chest Quilters Guild Annual Retreat in Cedar City, Utah! I was so excited about the mystery quilt and explained to my friends how it worked. The next day they all bought a bag!!! Must warn this shop we will be looking for bags at the next retreat in February 2026!!

I chose a strip of fall colors on a black background that looked like a batik. To my surprise, this quilt has a black background, something I have never done before. It is very colorful with orange, teal, and deep wine. Fabrics are “I Dream in Color” by Jason Yenter, “Shadow Blush for Quilters,” and Basic Grey Grunge by Moda in dark charcoal. I decided not to add a border on this one.

2025: Civil War Mini Quilt Sew Along 2025

Completed quilt top April 4, 2025
Designed by Kathleen Tracy (not my sister-in-law!)

Audiobooks:     Evvie Drake Starts Over – Linda Holmes
    Personal (Jack Reacher) – Lee Childs

Kathleen Tracy specializes in small blocks and small quilts. She offered a mystery sew along on Facebook and Instagram. I used my reproduction scrap collection for this project, which was done over 5 weeks every Friday. 

2025: Civil War Stars with Fence Rails

Completed quilt top March 31, 2025
Designed by American Patchwork & Quilting at allpeoplequilt.com.

Audiobooks:    Personal (Jack Reacher) by Lee Child

I purchased this kit on a shopping trip to Meeting House Fabrics. I was drawn to the simplicity of the pattern made with reproduction fabrics. 

2025: Andromeda

Completed quilt top March 27, 2025
Designed by Melissa Corry

Audiobooks: None documented

This was a quilt class at the 2025 Cedar Chest Quilters’ Guild Annual Retreat in Cedar City, Utah in February 2025. Because this is a contemporary pattern, I decided to use more modern prints. As I thought about the look I wanted, I asked my son what he envisioned his house to look like eventually. He described a clean industrial look, much like the house my fellow quilters stayed in at the retreat. I combed a quilt shop in California for the fat quarters I needed and found the perfect background fabric at one of my “local” quilt shops. I chose a wide back of maps of the world. The result is a clean, unfussy quilt in neutrals.

2025: Simple Whatnots IV Mystery Stitch-Along by Kim Diehl

Mystery stitch-along on Instagram. 
Completed top February 22, 2025

Audiobooks:
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

I love all things Kim Diehl so, of course, this was a no-brainer. I have a big supply of her fabrics and scraps, so I did not have any trouble looking for the perfect fabrics. In each installment, a different block from her new book, Simple Whatnots IV, was presented. I had already made a number of these blocks in various projects during her Simple Whatnots monthly subscription, so I was familiar with the patterns and techniques.

Unfortunately, I gave this little quilt as a birthday present before I remembered to take a picture.

2025: From the Linen Cupboard Mystery Quilt 2024 BOM

Designed by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts
Completed quilt top January 11, 2025

Audiobooks:
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson
A Killer in King’s Cove by Iona Wishaw
The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
An Elderly Lady is up to No Good by Helene Tursten
Never Go Back (Jack Reacher) by Lee Child
All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Eruption by Michael Chrichton and James Patterson
Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness

I have always wanted to make a low-light quilt, with very little color. This Fig Tree offering was very enticing, so I signed up. I have now become a BIG fan of Fig Tree fabrics. I have been working on other quilts, and I love the delicate prints and the sherbet-type colors that are so luscious. From the Linen Cupboard is the perfect summer quilt!

2025: Tiny Quilts: Square-in-a-Square and Stacked Coins

These two little quilts started with the fabrics. And the urge to make something small. Making these two little quilts was an inspirational break after working on bigger quilts.

Audiobooks:
None documented

Completed Square-in-a-Square March 8, 2025
Designed by Sheryl Johnson of Temecula Quilt Company
January Mini-a-Month post card quilt

I had bought a fat-eighth  bundle of Dressing Gowns by Judy Rothermel from the Ye Olde Schoolhouse Quilt Shop in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. Jeanie, the owner, had posted it on Instagram. No quilter needs an excuse to buy fabrics that speak to her (or him)! When I received the bundle, I immediately turned to my tiny quilt patterns collection and found Sheryl’s postcard quilt. I made this tiny quilt in one day!!! Later I ordered two yards of the Tossed Tiles fabric and had a lovely conversation with Jeanie about how we love reproduction fabrics and quilts. Jeanie, if you ever read this, find me a good quilt retreat and I will come to your shop!

Completed Stacked Coins March 10, 2025
My design

I had a bunch of small rectangles just waiting to be used, so I started sewing them together into strips randomly. I arranged them with shaded strips of turquoise I had left over from another project. I finished the quilt with an eye-popping binding.

2025: Valentine’s Day 2025 Mystery Sew-Along

Designed by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree Quilts
Fig Tree blog project

Completed top February 25, 2025
Audiobooks:
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Due to my new love of all things Fig Tree, I decided to try a more playful pattern when this free online project was offered. I had some fabrics that were appropriate, but I ordered the Sweet Romance bundle to have a selection of light fabrics for this project. I am very happy with this lovely quilt.

2023: Garden Trug by Kim Diehl

A Simple Whatnots 12 project

Completed quilt September 1, 2023
Audio books: 
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

The traditional meaning of a garden trug is a narrow basket used to gather flowers or vegetables from the garden. This little beauty could be used as a liner for the basket, but I like it best as a table topper. I forgot to take a picture of my completed trug so this is Kim Diehl's picture. I gave this to my dear friend Lucy. She only enjoyed it for one season and then left us. 

2023: Starstruck

Pattern by Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison of Red Crinoline Quilts, from the American Patchwork and Quilting Calendar, September 2023

Completed quilt October 4, 2023

Audio books:

            The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell

            and Dustin Thomason

            When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskins

 

I had the lovely Red Rose and Vine fabric by Paula Barnes from a previous project.

 

2023: Christmas Birds

Based on Chain Reaction, from the book Modern Views with 3-Yard Quilts by Fabric Café
Completed top October 9, 2023
Quilted February 2024
Audio books:
None

This was a retreat project with JH. We had bought this beautiful bird fabric, Holiday Collection, by Laurel Burch, many years ago at a lovely quilt shop that no longer exists. It sat and sat and sat because we had no idea what to do with these birds. When the 3-Yard-Quilt craze came along, we thought this pattern would be perfect to showcase them. 

 

2023: Cozy Flannel Throw

Completed quilt October 28, 2023
Audio books:
Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner

This quilt replaces a worn out flannel throw that I made 30 years ago. I don't have the original pattern so I just copied the quilt and added churn dash blocks. I had some leftover flannel from a previous project. 

I found the finishing flannel at Meeting House Fabric in Wales, MA. It is hand-tied with black cotton.

    

                         Old Quilt                         

                  

                                                                        New Quilt

2023: Striking Stars

Designed by Paula Barnes and Mary Ellen Robison, from the book Tucked Away Treasures
Completed top November 23, 2023 in California

Audio books:
Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
61 Hours (Jack Reacher) by Lee Child

I found the fabric pack for this wall hanging on my first visit to Meeting House Fabric in Wales, MA. I have this book, which features this pattern on the cover. As I was sewing this project, I realized that the fabrics in the pack were not as bright as on the cover photo. I added a couple of brights from my California scrap bin. The quilt was made entirely in California. 

2023: Fresh Off the Vine

Garden Path, from the book Modern Views with 3-Yard Quilts by Fabric Café 

Completed top January 11, 2022; quilted November 2023

Audio book: Elegy for Eddie (Maisie Dobbs #9) by Jacqueline Winspear

The quilting is exquisite...I wish I had kept this!

I made this as an easy, quick project between larger ones. It hung in the closet for over a year. My WW coach loved the picture of the quilt so much, she bought it after I had it quilted.

2023: Mirror, Mirror

Designed by Jordan Fabrics

Completed top December 29, 2023

Audiobooks:  Name of the Wind by Peter Rothfus

My sister-in-law Nancy asked me to make a quilt for her bed.  Her husband had adopted her “retirement” quilt from years ago. She picked the pattern, bought fabrics, and chose quilting design.  I thought her choice of backing was perfect -- she does love blue!

2024: Christmas Tree Skirt

Designed by Donna Jordan of Jordan Fabrics.com
Completed skirt December 30, 2024

Audio books: None documented

For years I have been wanting to make an official tree skirt but kept putting it off and using a quilt. This year I did it! I bought the fabrics in November 2023 in California.

2024: Spruce Lane

Designed by Taunja Kelvington of Carried Away Quilting

Competed top December 13, 2024

Audio books: Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune

This is another of Taunja’s patterns that I found on IG.  It is a winter design, but the greens give hope for the coming spring. This pattern was refreshing to make. I used all my own fabrics. 

2024: Giving Season Pillow

Designed by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique
Completed top November 26, 2024 in California

Audio books: None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

I bought this pillow kit at Quilty Pleasures Quilt Shop in Simi Valley, CA in November 2023. I loved this pillow so much that it stayed on my sofa till the end of March! 

2024: "Tis the Season Snowman

Designed by Cyndy Fahey
Completed pillow November 29, 2024, in California

Audio books: none documented

This was an adorable little kit I could not leave in Meeting House Fabric. I had not done anything crafty for many years except quilting. I managed to muddle through, and my little guy is so cute!

2024: Nestled

Designed by Taunja Kelvington of Carried Away Quilts
Completed top November 27, 2024, in California

Audio books:  None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

I have been following Taunja on Instagram for a while now. Her patterns are simple and fresh. Although I love making reproduction quilts, I have come to love her modern style.

Nestled is a wreath wall hanging or table topper. When I saw this darling posted on IG, I immediately ordered the cute little Christmas mice fabric that she uses in the windows of the house. The tiny mice are adorable.

Using my own green and red fabrics, it turned out beautifully. I will be sure to use it next holiday season.

2024: French General Floral Fire

Designed by Suzanne McNeill, for 10-Minute Blocks
Completed top November 17, 2024

Audio books: None documented. 

Yankee Quilter in Seymour showcased this quilt in the shop. JoAnn and I were entranced with how this quilt is put together, so I bought the pattern book. 

I had been collecting French General fabrics for a couple of years for a project like this, so I got right to it. It was a bit tricky to put together the first block, which took me three attempts to get it right. For every block I made, I had to pay really close attention. The pattern calls for a border, but I felt with all the busy fabrics in the top, I would leave it as is. The top is now waiting to go to my long-arm quilter.

Safe Keeping by Kim Diehl

 

A Simple Whatnots 12 project

Completed top October 31, 2024

 

Audio books:

None documented

 

I gave this little quilt to my chiropractor, who has been keeping me on the straight and narrow for the last 12 years.

 

2024 Vintage Sampler Block of the Month

Designed by Nancy Rink
Completed top January 8, 2024 (began May 14, 2023)

Audio books:
            The Medici Manuscript by C. J. Archer
            Winter’s Redemption by Mary Stone
            Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
            The Life We Bury by Allen Eskins
            The Guise of Another by Allen Eskins
            Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger
            Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin
            The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
            Worth Dying For, a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child
            The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne
 
Whoa! I COULD NOT RESIST when I saw basket blocks on the wall of Yankee Cloth's second floor. When I discovered they were part of a BOM, I paid for the entire program then and there! The fabrics are Vintage Charm by Judie Rothermel, my favorite reproduction fabric designer. Each month brought beautiful fabrics into my home, and it is ready for my bed.

 

2024 Go Getter

Designed by April Rosenthal of Prairie Grass Patterns 2020

Completed top January 19, 2024

Audio books:
The Heavens May Fall by Allen Eskins
Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger
Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger
#23 Burlington Square by Jenni Keer

        The Pecan Man/The Truth About Grace 

            by Cassie Dandridge Selleck

This quilt really needs a better name.
I purchased this kit at Cotton & Chocolate in Thousand Oakes, CA in 2023. This is another quilt, with Love, Lilly fabrics, that has a breezy, summer cottage feel.

2024 Harvest Pumpkins

Designed by Vickie Gerike, from County Seat Quilts book
Completed top January 14, 2024

Audio books: 
Purgatory Ridge by William Kent Krueger
#23 Burlington Square by Jenni Keer

This was a quilt waiting to be made for my house.

I had mentioned to my husband last fall that the seasonal Halloween quilts were cute, but not something I would want to make for our 1897 house. And then, during the 2023 All New England Shop Hop, I found one of my favorite shops, Meeting House Fabric in Wales, MA (not on the shop hop list of stores).

This beautiful autumn quilt, with stars in the center of the pumpkins, was made in traditional fall colors. I thought the kit was too expensive for me, so I bought the book! When I returned home and turned the page on my quilt studio calendar -- there it was, the featured quilt for October! Needless to say, I had not needed to buy the book, but I am happy I did. 

Did you feel the universe reaching out to me? On the next visit I just picked up the fabric pack because there was no way I could replicate the look of the original, to heck with the cost! This quilt is perfect for my house. The quilting is exquisite with oak leaf and grape vines intertwined throughout. 

I had extra blocks, so I made a table runner for my good friend Lucy, who loved this color theme. Sadly, she never got to use it before she passed in August. But her husband is keeping her decorating traditions going.

2024 Vintage Stars

Designed by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree & Company

Completed top February 16, 2024

Audio books: 
Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
        The Pecan Man, and The Truth About Grace by Cassie Dandridge Selleck
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson

I purchased this kit at Cotton & Chocolate in Thousand Oakes, CA. I fell in love immediately with the sample because the fabrics in the kit were beautiful; if made up of fabrics in the pattern picture, it would have been a pass for me. The lovely florals give the quilt that cottage feel I love.