Getting ready for Junk Journal July

On Earth Day this past April, I made a junk journal in anticipation for Junk Journal July 2026—which is about to start in a few days. (It feels good to be ahead of the game this time!)

Junk Journal July 2026 prompts.

In the past, I followed the prompts from @MegJournals but I think she stepped away from hosting the JJJ Challenges a year or so ago. So for this summer’s Junk Journal Challenge, I decided to “ask the box” for various creative prompts to curate my own prompt list. 

For anyone that is new to the Junk Journal Challenge and wants to play along with me, I made the prompts practical and easily interpreted. For folks in the US, I intentionally chose the prompt, “patriotic,” for July 4—which should allow for numerous options for a journal page.

What is the Junk Journal Challenge?

Junk Journal July is a fun, creativity challenge that goes from July 1 through July 31. The junk journal encourages recycling and repurposing found materials and supplies [aka “junk”] such as junk mail, paper bags, envelopes, brochures, and other ephemera. 

My new junk journal for Junk Journal July 2026.

My junk journal is an 8” x 8” format with seven signatures (including the front and back covers) that is coptic bound. The pages/signatures are [mostly] from the recycle bin—old sales brochures, catalog pages, packaging paper, brown paper bags, envelopes from the mail… with a couple of sheets of pristine mixed media and watercolor papers.

Inside pages of my new junk journal.

Paper scraps, images, text, fabric bits, and other ephemera are then combined with a myriad of art supplies and drawing/painting utensils to interpret a daily prompt—or to just fill up a page in the journal for fun with no regard to the prompt. The Junk Journal Challenge is similar to the 100 Day Project in that it gets you in the habit of doing something creative on a regular basis.

There are No Rules!

There are no rules and there are no judges. You can use the prompts for inspiration or do your own thing. Sometimes my journal entry is one page, but it can also be a page spread (two pages). Sometimes I combine two prompts in a single entry. There are no rules, just play! You’re doing it right if you’re having fun.

Two pages from my Junk Journal January 2025.

The junk journal is also a vehicle for trying out different techniques or new art supplies with no expectations. Found something intriguing at the art supply store? Did you come across an interesting technique tutorial online? Bought a few new paints or markers on sale? This is your opportunity to give them a test drive.

A two-page spread from Junk Journal July 2025.

Prepping for a month of Junk Journaling

With the start of July in just a few short days, here are a few warm-up exercises that get me excited to start a new junk journal and into the journaling groove:

• research quotes or poems related to the prompts. This can provide a direction in which to respond to a prompt and a source for hand lettering. 

• gather paper scraps and ephemera and tuck them into envelopes or boxes for collage fodder. 

• fussy-cut images and/or words from calendars, junk mail, catalogs, etc. for collage fodder. 

• pull out your paints and brushes and paint backgrounds on the journal pages. An interesting/colorful page is more approachable than a daunting blank white page. 

• pull out those new art supplies you’ve been curious to try. 

• replenish the supply of glue sticks.

The junk journal work table.

My 7th junk journal

The junk journal for July 2026 will be my 7th junk journal. I’ve done both the Junk Journal Challenge in January and in July the past few years and they have all been fun. This Challenge helps me be accountable and devote time to my art practice.

It’s time to get messy and have some journaling fun again.

2021 Stitching Success Tracker and My Year in Review

2021 has come to an end and my Stitching Success Tracker was 100% colored in—meaning I did some kind of stitching, patchwork, quilting or related fiber art each and every day in 2021. Some days could be as little as a few embroidery stitches on a sampler or basting one 3/4" hexagon to the free-motion quilting marathon for this year's guild Challenge entry. 

December 31, 2021: Stitching Success Tracker.

I'm feeling good about the projects that were completed this year—some new, some unexpected and a few that were languishing in the UFO pile for quite some time (4 decades for one of them). The photo montages below tell about my year in fabrics and stitching.

Online Challenges keep me motivated

Motivation throughout the year was provided by several online Challenges I participated in. The 100 Day Project (I did two different practices), September Textile Love, 100 Days 100 Blocks, the Dropcloth Picnic Sampler stitch-along, Make Nine 2021 and a Quilting Success Bingo game issued by my local quilt guild.

Online Challenges: The 100 Day Project, Picnic Sampler stitch along, 100 Days 100 Blocks,
September Textile Love and Quilting Bingo

One of the successes from the September Textile Love Challenge was documenting a garment I'd made in 2015. The prompt was "repurpose" and my Tablecloth Jacket was the epitome of upcycling and repurposing. I'm glad to have this special garment documented.

Useful items for family, friends and community

The practical side of me likes to make things that someone not only appreciates, but uses. I made several sets of pillowcases for family and friends, charity quilts and kitty quilts for our pack of tuxedo kitties.

Pillow cases and charity quilts.

Shop samples serve as inspiration to others

For my job as a fabric strategist and sales representative, I support my clients by providing ideas, projects and patterns that can be made with the fabrics I rep. Surprisingly, I made six quilts showcasing one of my favorite fabric lines, M&S Textiles Australia. 

Quilts and projects made with fabrics from M&S Textiles Australia.

I collaborated with a few longarm quilters to get some of these finishind and they are traveling around to quilt shops and independent sewing centers helping to inspire quilters, sewers and makers.

My Guild Challenge entry

A two-year project that I'm quite proud of is my entry for the 2020-21 Choo Choo Quilters Guild Challenge. The turn-out for the Challenge was exceptional and my quilt, "Alone Together," got the first place ribbon. One of the principles of a guild Challenge is to push oneself and try new things. I did and was very pleased with the results. My experiments and discoveries are documented here.

"Alone Together"
My entry in the 2020-21 Choo Choo Quilters Guild Challenge.

I was also on the hosting committee for the Challenge and made the four award ribbons for the winning entries.

Guild Challenge ribbons.

Guild Challenge ribbons (backs).

Garments

It must have been the year for my Australia fabrics because two of my makes—my Kangaroo Nine Lives top and my new Berwick St. tunic—were made from this fabric line (top photos).

Garment highlights from 2021.

The bottom two garments were both made during a Shakerag workshop. The Porcupine shirt was shibori dyed this year (a Make Nine project) and the Tablecloth Jacket was made in 2015 (a response to one of the prompts of the September Textile Love challenge this year).

A UFO quilt was finished!

My final Make Nine finish for the year was a UFO [unfinishing object] string quilt than spanned two centuries. It was happily gifted for Christmas.

"All Together Now" completed December 2021.

Small projects are big successes

Small projects are very satisfying to me. The time investment can be less or more than a bigger project. You never know. Three of these were made in response to the Make Nine challenge, the zipper pouch was a gift for a friend who retired, and the exposed spine artist book was from a workshop I took this year with Doug Baulos. The fabric twine was a new technique I learned and it was rewarding to find a use for skinny fabric scraps and trimmings.

Top row: needle book, fabric twine, crochet cat bed.
Bottom row: boro and rag drawstring bag, artist book, zipper pouch.

All and all, I think 2021 was a productive and well-documented year.

Good night, and Happy New Year.

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For those that asked about the Stitching Success Tracker and where to get this cool, creative project management tool, here is my original blog post and where I found this calendar.