Quilts for the animals and Make Nine 2026 finish #6

We’re making another trip to local animal organizations to make a donation—of these scrappy quilts.

Pile of 8 charity quilts for the animal centers.

There are eight little quilts for the cats and dogs to snuggle—five quilts finished this week and three others completed earlier this year during the Winter of Care and Repair Challenge. I’m counting this as my 2026 “Fun and Functional” Make Nine project.

Sorting through the scraps

These charity quilts are perfect for using my scrap stash and discontinued fabric samples to create something colorful, fun, and functional. I love scrap quilts—admiring them and making them—so I never need much of an excuse to dig into the scrap bins!

Scrappy kitty quilt using a fabric panel. 24.5” x 26”

This quilt uses part of a fabric panel, which provides both a focal point and a source for a color palette. 

Dog and kitty quilt sizes

The Cat Clinic of Chattanooga likes a kitty quilt size of around 25” x 27” which fits their cubbies. The McKamey Animal Center, however, has larger crates for their dogs, so I’ve made four quilts a bit larger.

Batik quilt from an orphan quilt block sample: 37” x 29” 

These quilts let me play with improvisational patchwork to give leftover fabrics a second chance. They also let me try out new free-motion quilting designs and practice my favorites.

Batik quilt from discontinued fabric samples: 41” x 31”.

The bright colors of this batik quilt looks like a party on the beach.

Bright batiks: 35” x 25”

Every quilt is different and I love seeing all the colors and prints come together into something useful and fun. This red-white-and-blue quilt is probably my favorite from this batch.

Scrap quilt in a patriotic colorway: 39” x 27.5”

Using fabric panels for small quilts

Fabric panels are a great complement for fabric scraps. I picked up two fabric panels from the sale shelf at a quilt shop and made several small kitty quilts by cutting up the panels.

One block from a fabric panel is the center of this quilt: 27.5” x 24.25”

The panels can serve as inspiration for the color story for the quilt. It also makes for a faster quilt top assembly.

A fabric panel combined with coordinating fabrics: 28” x 26”.

Kitty quilt from a fabric panel: 27.25” x 25.75”.

The finished quilts are full of cheerful colors and playful novelty prints, and they’re always a hit with the animal center staff. Walking through their doors with an armful of quilts is one of the best parts of this process! Seeing the smiles as the staff looks through the quilts reminds me that handmade items can bring joy to people as well as comfort to the animals in their care. 

What’s making your day today?

Make Nine finish

Charity quilts for the animals are fulfilling my “Fun and Functional” prompt for Make Nine 2026. 

Fulfilling the Fun & Functional prompt, Make Nine 2026.

Make Nine 2026 tracker, July 18, 2026.

For me, this project perfectly captures the spirit of “Fun and Functional”—enjoying the creative process while making something that serves a purpose and brings a little extra comfort and happiness to others—the people at the animal centers as well as the animals. It’s a wonderful reminder that even the smallest fabric scraps can be transformed into something meaningful. 

It makes every stitch worthwhile!

Stan Leigh approves of the kitty quilts, too!

———-

Quilt Stats

I tracked the process for completing the five most recent quilts.

• layout and patchwork: 8.5 hours
• basting: 2.5 hours
• free-motion quilting: 4 hours
• binding prep and binding by machine: 4.25 hours
• total bobbins [Premo-Soft 50 wt polyester thread, matte finish]: 6

Total: 19.25 hrs = 3.85 hrs/quilt

Repurposing is finding a better plan! Make Nine finish #4

Another UFO [unfinished object] has found a new purpose! And I’m using it to fulfill my UFO prompt for Make Nine 2026.

A repurposed UFO turned into a functional storage roll for double pointed knitting needles.

While straightening up my studio, I uncovered a partially finished placemat from a few years ago. It was going to be a store sample (showcasing a collection from Art Gallery Fabrics) but I never really loved the look of this patchwork—the pieces felt a bit too small and fussy for a placemat—and it wasn’t an enjoyable project for me to make. Because of my mitten knitting charity project, however, this UFO turned out to be perfect for something else. 

The unfinished placemat and additional fabric pieces
gathered to create a new holder for knitting needles.

Knitting mittens in the round has resulted in frequent use of double pointed knitting needles [dpns]. 

I often use double point needles [dps] for knitting mittens in the round.

The old leather pouch that kept them had reached the end of its life, cracking and shedding flakes every time I picked it up. I needed a better storage solution. 

New needle holder (left) and previous worn-out needle holder (right).

Repurposing a placemat UFO

Why not repurpose the unfinished placemat into a knitting needle holder??? One UFO would be brought to the finish line and I’d have new storage for my knitting needles. Win-win! 

Auditioning thread for the pocket stitching. 
Straight pins mark the position for the stitching.

The unfinished placemat was already quilted—which made the project so much quicker to complete! I combined it with other fabric bits that I found while organizing: an orphan quilt block with colorful Australian aboriginal fabrics [M&S Textiles USA], and a fabric sample from a past surface design workshop. Fabrics for the binding and the pocket’s lining were added to the mix.

Creating the pocket for the needle holder.

The placemat was trimmed, the pocket attached, and machine stitching created sections in the pocket for sets of dpns. The binding was attached on three sides. Because of the patchwork on the former placemat, it was easy to follow seam lines to create the pocket sections. I think this remake was meant to be!

This UFO was an easy repurposed project and now I have a reminder of two favorite fabric lines, and a workshop sample has found its way into a project. All good memories. 

A binding was attached on three sides.

Repurposing UFOs: finding a better plan

This needle roll is actually the second UFO I've repurposed this year. Earlier, I took a patchwork piece that was originally intended for a tote bag, cut it, and added additional fabrics to make a cat quilt for the animal center. In both cases, letting go of the original plan helped each project become something useful and more meaningful… as well as finished!

A new needle roll for my double point needles and two hand-knit pairs of mittens.

The placemat will never become what it was originally intended to be, but as a needle roll it will get far more use. Repurposing these unfinished projects has been a good reminder that finishing doesn't always mean following the original pattern or plan—it can mean finding an even better one. 

Make Nine 2026, 4th finish

This project is my fourth Make Nine finish—fulfilling the UFO prompt.

Make Nine 2026 “UFO” prompt.

Here is my Make Nine tracker as of the end of May.

Make Nine 2026 tracker, May 2026.

 

Mittens fulfill my Make Nine “yarn” prompt this year

This year’s Make Nine “yarn” prompt has turned into something much bigger than I expected. What began as an idea to use up leftover yarn has become an ongoing mitten-knitting project slated for a winter charity donation. My initial goal was to knit 12 pair—one pair a month. As of this blog post, however, I’ve completed 16 pairs! To say this has been addictive is an understatement. 

A variety of knitted mittens using stash yarns.

Pattern construction approaches for knitting mittens

One of the unexpected parts of this project has been discovering the variety of construction approaches to knitting mittens: 

• knit flat, 
• knit in-the-round, 
• knit just the thumb flat, 
• the afterthought thumb, 
• thumb gussets, 
• elf thumbs, 
• no-gap thumbs, 
• various ribbing patterns for the cuff, 
• stripes in the round, and 
• infinite formulas for decreasing at the top.

These are a few of the outcomes.

“Basic Four-needle Mittens,” knit in the round.

“Knit Flat Kid Mittens” pattern.

“Margot Mittens” with an after-thought thumb.

“Elf Fit Mittens” pattern.

The “StopGap Mittens” pattern with added color changes.

I’ve explored many mitten patterns found on Ravelry and even though the finished mittens look similar, the pattern instructions have been varied and quite interesting to follow. Each pattern is indeed like a map for a treasure hunt. 

By working the various construction techniques, I’ve gotten more proficient at: 

• joining in the round 
• knitting in the round with two circular needles (vs knitting with a set of double points) 
• picking up stitches (for thumbs and thumb gussets) 
• left and right leaning decreases
• learning tips for changing yarn colors. 

Every pair has exposed me to something new! 

Working with leftovers from the stash 

The mittens are mostly children’s and young adult sizes which make them suitable to working with leftovers and small yardage amounts. 

“Margot Mittens” (left) with colorwork, “Toddler Baby Mittens” (right).

Using a mix of stash yarns, orphan balls from the sale bin, and leftovers from a yarn swap also makes every pair unique and different. Some mittens are bright and playful, while others are simple and practical. The latest pair I just finished used a self-patterning yarn that created its own design as I knitted—making the process especially fun to watch unfold. 

Design, color placement, and “yarn chicken”

Determining pleasing color placement—based on available quantities of leftover yarns—has been challenging. Working from leftovers means I’ve also played plenty of “yarn chicken.” More than once I’ve watched a yarn skein dwindle and wonder if I’ll have enough to make it to the second mitten’s bind-off. 

The “No Gap” mitten pattern with colorwork.

A few pairs have come down to unrolling the remaining yarn to find the half-way mark and then rewinding into two separate yarn butterflies. So far, I’ve managed to avoid running out completely, but there have definitely been moments of “running on fumes…” hoping I didn’t run short. 

Running down to the last few yards of a self-patterning yarn.
“Basic Four-Needle Mittens”

It’s satisfying turning bits of yarn from the bottom of a basket into something useful. Small skeins that are too little for a whole project become colorful cuffs, stripes, or contrasting thumbs. 

“Mittens for All” (left) and “Crayon Striped Mittens” (right).

Mittens offer wonderful and imaginative opportunities that are adaptable to small amounts of yarn! I’ve even taken pairs of fingerless mitts, unraveled the bind-off edge and added closed mitten tops and thumbs.

Unraveling the bind-off edge of fingerless mitts to convert them into full mittens.

Converting fingerless mitts into full mittens.

A Make Nine 2026 “yarn” prompt

My Make Nine “Yarn” prompt has become part stash-busting, part technique practice, part design, and part opportunity to contribute to the community. 

Make Nine 2026 tracker, May 22, 2026.

One versus many

Charity knitting also changes the rhythm of making. Instead of focusing on a single large project, I can quickly finish a pair of mittens and then imagine someone wearing them on a cold morning. That sense of purpose keeps me reaching for my needles more frequently. 

Make Nine 2026 “yarn” prompt.

I still have more yarn to use and more mitten variations to try, so this project is far from finished. For now, though, sixteen pair feels like a great accomplishment for the mid-point of the year… and I’m counting this project as fulfilling my Make Nine “yarn” prompt.

 

The 100 Day Stitch Book, my second Make Nine finish

There’s a particular satisfaction that comes not from speed, but from endurance—consistently staying with something day after day—until productivity culminates at 100 days and results in a soft, textured fabric book. That’s what finishing the 100 Day Stitch Book feels like. 

100 Day Stitch Book 2026

This is the second year I’ve participated in The 100 Day Stitch Book project, hosted by Ann Wood. (It’s becoming an annual thing for me!) I used a different collection of fabric scraps this year and also incorporated the yarn thrums from my 2025 crocheted Taos Wrap that I had collected in an ORT jar. [ORT = Odd Random Threads.] 

I also remembered the lessons I learned from assembling last year’s book—like creating front and back covers as part of the 20 book pages, stitching a title, date and author on them, and making these pages slightly larger to accommodate the book’s spine. 

Back cover page with my initials.

This year’s book also holds more weight—as a tragic incident that happened in the U.S. during the making of this book was interpreted in stitch on one of the pages. 

The practice of using what’s on hand 

Per Ann’s guidelines for the Stitch Book, the page compositions are made entirely from remnants—fabric scraps too small for other projects, bits of patchwork trimmed from previous makes, and my addition of the yarn tails from my crocheted wrap. 

Appliquéd fabric scraps, embroidery stitches, couched yarns.

The materials dictate the process: improvisational, intuitive, and mindful. I used several embroidery stitches—some of my go-to favorites, and some referenced from books and previous projects. Working the yarn bits into the compositions was my challenge this year. The yarns were couched, giving more dimension to the page compositions. Every page was a different adventure. 

Couched yarn thrums with French knots.

Couched yarn scraps and crocheted medallions stitched to the page.

The back sides of the pages are interesting, too. However, they can no longer be seen once the signatures and book are assembled. 

Back side of pages.

Back side of pages.

Back side of pages.

Back side of pages.

Marking time 

One engaging aspect of a 100 day project is how it becomes a record—not just of creative exploration, but of life as it unfolds. 

There is one page in this book that I will never look at casually. 

On January 24, 2026, I stitched in response to the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, who was shot by federal Border Patrol and ICE agents in Minneapolis, MN during an immigration enforcement protest. 

January 24, 2026, “Enough!”

I remember hearing the news—how shocking, unnerving, and heavy it felt. How unimaginably difficult to comprehend and process. I abandoned the current page I was working on that weekend and began stitching in response to that horrific event. Stitching that day wasn’t about technique or composition, it was about bearing witness. 

This page is not quiet. 

It stands out among all the other pages because it holds that moment: confusion, grief, anger, and a need to respond in protest through fabric and stitch. 

Left page is the back side of “Enough!”

One of the valuable things about slow stitching (and other art forms) is that it creates space to unleash feelings, to mark time, to work through confusing, frustrating, or sad times. It allows for a kind of reflection or response to the events of the day. 

Hand stitching the openings of the signatures.

The focus of the 100 Day Project: process 

As with all of my past 100 Day Projects, it’s about process and practice more than the end result. This stitch book is a continuation… an on-going promise to my art practice. 

Five signatures ready for the book assembly.

Make Nine 2026: fulfilling the Slow Stitching prompt

The 100 Day Stitch Book 2026 marks the second finish for my Make Nine 2026 list, fulfilling the Slow Stitching prompt.

Make Nine 2026 tracker, April 24, 2026.

I’m pleased with the result of this stitch book and look forward to making more fabric books soon.

“Slow Stitching” prompt from Make Nine 2026 tracker.

100 Day Stitch Book 2026