Let's Meet Up IRL! / Beauties Pageant 320

Nine years ago, I attended my first QuiltCon, in Savannah. At that point, I had been blogging for almost three years, and I took the opportunity to meet up with other bloggers for meals, conversation, and late-night ice cream. 

I can’t express how much fun I had spending time with those women in real life. After a few days of classes and walking the quilt show, I returned back to Massachusetts reinvigorated by our real-life adventures together.

I am planning on being at QuiltCon and other events in the first half of 2026. If you are going to Raleigh later this month or live in New England, I would love to meet you. Here are some places we could see each other ...

 

QuiltCon

I attend every QuiltCon I can swing logistically, and QuiltCon Raleigh 2026 is no exception. If you’ll be there, let me know. I'd love to be on the lookout for you and put a real, live face to a name.

I’ll also be signing copies of Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts in three vendor booths: Camberville Threads, French Fry Quilt Co., and Twin Essential Shop. I'll be sure to post the schedule here and on Instagram once it's finalized. If you’re roaming the vendor hall at QuiltCon at those times, be sure to stop by for a quick hug!

Love Boldly was displayed at QuiltCon 2020.

 

New England Quilt Expo

Since the end of MQX in Manchester, NH, a new show—the New England Quilt Expo—has sprouted up. I will be teaching Five-Star Experience from my book, Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts, on Friday, April 10, at this year’s event. 

If you’ll be attending the show and want to talk jelly rolls, this class is for you. The workshop will be a fun, no-stress, three-hour event. More details and registration can be found here.

Five-Star Experience can be sewn as a generous throw quilt or baby quilt.

 

Springtime Events

I have more fun planned for this spring. Amy Friend and I will be teaming up for an afternoon in her studio in West Newbury, MA. I also have some trunk shows on the books. I will be sure to share all the details once they are finalized!

 

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Had to Be You Pattern Release / Beauties Pageant 319

I’m pleased to announce that Had to Be You is available for your seasonal sewing! This pattern comes in four sizes, from child to queen, and is the perfect venue to showcase your stash or scraps.

I do consider this design a Valentine, perfect for gifting. I imagine sewing it up for a family member or friend, although (ahem!) I made this one for myself.  

My favorite part of this pattern is that there are two block designs. In some blocks, the hearts are arranged from big to small. In others, they’re arranged from small to big. The discrepancy is subtle, but the result is undeniable: The two-block layout produces a satisfying sense of movement! 

You can pick up the Had to Be You PDF at a discount—$10—through the weekend. After that, it will be available at the full $13 price tag. 

Printed copies are forthcoming (after I take a tiny vacation). Wholesale orders are open now—email me at frombolttobeauty [at] gmail [dot] com for more information. 

 

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

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Attack of the WIPs! / Beauties Pageant 318

It sounds like the horror movie playing at the local cineplex: Attack of the WIPs! And to be honest, there are moments it feels like a horror movie, too.

Don’t get me wrong: I am a finisher. To keep things interesting, I like to have many projects going at once—a dozen works for me—but I almost always get around to finishing them. Some projects are put down because the two of us have hit an impasse. Others take a backseat to higher-priority projects. 

Because we’re in the early weeks of 2026 and the new year is a traditional time to take stock, I pulled a few WIPs out of my closet ...

Now Showing in Theater 1: I Heart Rainbows

Back in November, my guild held its fall retreat, and I took a bunch of WIPs. On one hand, this seemed like punishment. After all, I was in the middle of the New Hampshire woods for two solid days with projects that had plagued me for months (or years!). It was a good decision, though. Although I wasn’t working with exciting, new-to-me fabrics and patterns, I enjoyed dopamine hit after dopamine hit as I moved multiple projects toward the finish line. 

I Heart Rainbows is one of those projects. Here it is—all I need to do is add the top and bottom borders, and I’ll have a complete flimsy!

I Heart Rainbows is a generously sized throw from my book, Not-Your-Typical Jelly Roll Quilts. In this instance, I sewed 16 blocks (the original pattern calls for 15) to make two quilts: the smaller throw pictured here as well as a baby quilt. 

The fabric is Lucky Bugs, and Benartex sent it to me after I met the collection’s designer, Irene of Sugaridoo, at H+H Americas. I love how the sweet prints read as solids, playing to my more modern aesthetic. I will post more pics when this project is quilted and bound!

Now Showing in Theater 2: Little Man 

Longtime readers may recognize Little Man. It’s a pattern from Camille Roskelley’s book Simplify, and I’ve made it many, many times. (See all the versions here!) The fabric requirements are easily met by my stash, and the pattern creates an interesting, not-too-small baby quilt. It’s a good go-to quilt when I need one to gift ASAP.

Longtime readers may also not be surprised that I cut this quilt as I was working on its twin, which I gifted a year ago. That is how my brain insists on working: If I am going to cut and sew one smallish project, I might as well cut a second while I’m at it. The problem is, Michelle’s brain, that you then have to find the time to sew and quilt and bind that second project!

Now Showing in Theater 3: Cozy Cottages

There’s a trend among these quilts: It’s the Michelle-likes-quilting-books trend. I do love a good quilting book. In a world where standalone patterns cost $13 or more, a book is worth the $25 or $30 price tag if it contains at least three patterns I’d consider making.

Cheryl Brickey’s Just One Charm Pack Quilts falls into that category. Both it and its sucessor, Just Two Charm Pack Quilts, have a bunch of smaller child- and throw-size projects that I will make over the years. 

Here is Cozy Cottages, from Just One Charm Pack Quilts. It’s another WIP that needs a top and bottom border to make it a complete flimsy. I’m going to get to it soon—promise! And it’s another project that has a near-identical twin, because I again fell victim to the if-I’m-going-to-cut-one-project-I-might-as-well-cut-two trap.

I plan on quilting all three of these projects myself. Maybe I’ll get them between my Disney trip at the end of January and QuiltCon in February? Alas, that's probably wishful thinking. I suspect March 2026 will be my month of quilting on my domestic!

How are things on the WIP front in your sewing room? Are you screening a romance, a comedy, or a horror film?! 

 

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The pageant rules are simple:

• Post your finish in the linky tool. (No links to your own giveaway or linky, please!)
• Point your readers back here with a text link or use the button above.
• Visit and comment on other participants’ finishes.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter