Chatterbox Quilts News for August 2026

Welcome to the August Chatterbox Quilts’ newsletter!

I often think of August as the last month of summer but I’m not ready for fall quite yet! I always start my days with exercising and, during the warmer months, I like to exercise on my deck. It gets my body moving and the fresh air (unless there’s smoke that day 💨) helps to get me in the right mental state for the rest of the day. I’m hoping that there are still warm days ahead because so I don’t have to give up my “deck time”.

What happened this month

You might’ve joined me in the Wrangle Your Scraps 2026 challenge this month. If you did, I hope that it helped you to get your fabric scraps in order so they’re ready to be used in a new quilt project. It’s a lot of work up front but saves so much time later on.

In The Quilter’s Way membership, members are continuing to work on the Leslie’s Album quilt. It’s the perfect project to perfect raw edge appliqué and experiment with different appliqué finishes. I’m still undecided as to how I want to finish my appliqués – maybe I’ll try a technique I haven’t used before!

In personal projects, I’ve been working on some hand embroidery blocks for a quilt project. I traced my designs from Wendi Gratz’s How to Embroider Almost Anything book onto Golden Threads Quilting Paper and then embroidered the designs. The paper tears away easily and these blocks will soon be ready for their places in the quilt.

I’ve almost finished the first of two baby quilts. 🍼 Now that all of the blocks are stitched together, it’s time to select fabric for a border and backing fabric. I might have to actually buy fabric for the backing as I prefer to use flannel and I don’t think I have “baby appropriate” flannel in my stash. Oh dear, a trip to the quilt store 😉.

I’ve been very busy this month booking ZOOM presentations for fall 2026 and spring 2027 and am booked for January and February and most of March 2027. If you belong to a guild and are looking for a presentation, please contact me at help@chatterboxquilts.com. I have a variety of presentations that I do and you can find more details here.

Tip/Recommended Tools

While not exactly a quilting tool, it’s something that I love in my studio. I have lots of candles and I’ll be you do too! I love to light them for their ambiance and scent but I hesitate to do that in my studio – I don’t want to set my fabrics on fire 🔥! Instead I’ve found this candle warmer lamp. It heats up your candles using the included light bulb so you only have the scent and not the flame. It has a timer so you can select your desired time – 2, 4 or 8 hours – set it and forget it. No longer have to worry about forgetting to blow out the candle – it will automatically turn off at the set time. It adjusts to accommodate all different heights and widths of candles and comes in different metals and shade styles (I chose the black with the clear shade). Pretty and efficient – gotta love it!

YouTube Videos

Here are the new videos released in August for your viewing and learning pleasure (just click on the picture).

Coming Soon

Once I finish at least one of those baby quilts, I have some filming to do for my Old Sewing Machines by Chatterbox Quilts YouTube channel (are you a subscriber yet?). I’ll be diving deeper into the features of some of the machines in my collection, so if you have suggestions on topics you’d like to see covered with these machines, please hit reply and let me know.

*Note: I use affiliate links in my emails and, if you click on a link, I will receive a small amount of compensation when you purchase an item. It doesn’t cost you anything extra but does help me to continue to create helpful content for you.

Take care,

Kim

P.S. If you watch my Chatterbox Quilts’ YouTube videos and want to support the channel, become a Patchwork Pals’ member and enjoy the perks of being a member. Click here for all the details and become a member today! 😀