The Next Shiny Thing, My Baker's Dozen, and RSC

The photo below is my Next Shiny Thing. I am borrowing this phrase from Terry at On Going Projects, who commented about her attraction to "the next shiny thing". I was immediately drawn to that phrase - it sounds so much better than "Squirrel"! So thank you Terry for that nice substitute.

Not mine! Photo from Stitched In Color

I've been an off-and-on reader of Rachel Hauser's Stitched In Color for years. Last year was quite interesting as she purchased and started the process of furnishing a 1905 home in The Netherlands with her now ex-boyfriend. I guess she will not be continuing that adventure, but this quilt she made, first for their living room before moving it to her guest room, really captured my fancy. I love everything about this quilt, so I purchased the pattern - Honeycomb Stars. The options are for a throw size, using 2-inch hexagons and a queen/king size, using 4-inch hexagons. I plan to make the queen/king size.

Me when I realized I bought the wrong size hexagon template

I am new to hexagons, so when the 4-inch hexagon template I ordered arrived, I quickly realized it was the wrong size and returned it. I emailed Rachel to ask what size of template I needed for the queen/king size, and her response was that hexagon sizes are determined by the actual finished size of one of the sides. I had ordered the 4-inch thinking it was the finished size across, if that makes sense. So I ordered an 8" finished size hexagon template, and it will be delivered on Thursday.

Our current bedspread, right after it was purchased in 2021 at Kohl's

My husband has grown weary of my love of grays and neutrals and wants more color in our bedroom. I would love to surprise him with a colorful hexagon quilt this year.

The initial pull, with many more to follow to accommodate light/dark values.

My 2026 Baker's Dozen Lost Quilts

This list is inspired by Mary Etherington of Country Threads who hosts "Dirty Dozen UFOs" each year. I have renamed my list Baker's Dozen Lost Quilts to include a 13th quilt (actually two small quilts from the same pattern). They have been "lost" in my closet, so they get a softer term than UFO.

Rosie's Garden was #1 on my list and is my first finished lost quilt of the new year. When I put the freshly laundered and cozily puckered quilt on the guest bed, Jack immediately claimed Rosie's quilt as his.

RSC

My Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks are coming along, but my blue scrap bin is not getting smaller! I think the scraps get fluffed up as I dig through them - lol! These blocks will eventually make a nine-patch and snowballs quilt. Here you see the blue nine-patches mixed in with the snowballs.

I am adding this post to the following:

Kate's 15 Minutes to Stitch