There is another sew-along going on that I wasn’t going to join, but as you can see in the photo above, my willpower did not prevail.
This is the Riley Blake Challenge for 2026. Every year, RB hosts a free block challenge/sew-along featuring blocks from their house designers. These blocks tend to be more challenging than many other popular sew-alongs.
The block on the upper right wasn’t too bad, but my goodness, the other three were not for sissies. Actually, an intermediate quilter would probably enjoy this sew-along. They call it a Block Challenge for a reason, right?
That block on the lower right, Ribbon Star by Fran Gulick, had me on my toes, I tell you. Lots of intersections where you can’t even be off by a thread or the design is spoiled.
I’ve come down with a wretched cold and spent the day up in my sewing room. These four blocks are what I have to show for my day, besides a waste basket full of tissues. The fabric collection is one I have been hoarding since 2017, Farmer’s Daughter by Vanessa Goertzen of Lella Boutique. I am trying to find more greens that coordinate with the collection, and I took a chance and emailed her today to ask if she had any suggestions. She replied immediately, which shows what a nice person she is. Unfortunately, there isn’t much out there, so I will probably stick to what I have from the line.
I am feeling pretty blah and haven’t spent much time on my computer, so I didn’t get to my blog comments yesterday. It looks like you chatted amongst yourselves, though, so I am glad the community is apparently thriving with or without me!
5 Responses
You did so well despite being under the weather! I’m afraid I’d wimp out & crawl under a quilt on the couch instead of doing something productive. I love the Ribbon Star block but it does look pretty ‘technical’! I hope you feel better soon & don’t over-do this weekend!
Hope you are feeling better today. Colds are miserable – such a good way to cheer yourself up with sewing though. The star with the stripes looks very effective! Coming on nicely even if you didn’t intend on doing the challenge.
Nicole,
I am impressed with what you accomplished while being under the weather! I hope your cold is short-lived. My head cold lasted ten days and I didn’t get any sewing done!
Love your blocks and can see they are complicated. Maybe sew the easy blocks while your head is muddled and you’re blowing your nose frequently.
Hope you’re quickly over this misery and will try our go-to cold med Thera-Flu. They have a cold med formula. We like the lemon power that you dilute with hot water. So soothing and it really helps. It’s OTC, too.
Hugs!
damn. even when you’re sick you found the energy to sew. I commend you! I’ve been miserable with allergies. I did get some sewing time yesterday. I hope you feel better soon.