This time last year I was writing my list for the Chookshed Challenge — ten projects I planned to work on through the year. They could be works in progress, UFOs, or even new starts. And right from the beginning… well, things didn’t quite go to plan. Let’s have a look at how that unfolded.
I did exactly that — three little ornaments stitched and tucked away. A good, confident beginning.
February was to work on an adopted project. I pulled it out, had a play, and very quickly realised it wasn’t for me. So I repackaged the whole thing and passed it on. Hopefully someone out there has turned that collection of fabrics into something lovely.
March was meant to be the month I quilted the Papaver Pizzazz top. I loaded it onto the frame… and it’s still there. Unfinished. I hadn’t realised it had been that long. I really should take another look at it — or pull it off the frame and get something else moving.
First: make a scrappy quilt top. Done.
Second: take my Down in the Garden stitcheries to Baradine and make progress. Which I did, completing one block and making progress on a second. I even kept working on those blocks after we got home.
May was supposed to be ruler work — practising what I’d learned in a class. I did do some… but not until June.
Which brings us to June, where the Chookshed Challenge was (again) to make progress on the Down in the Garden stitcheries. And I did. Those blocks got a surprising amount of attention this year, considering everything else that fell by the wayside.
By July, I rewrote my challenge list… and then abandoned the whole idea altogether.
So what did I do in 2025?
Let’s take a look.
January
I started the year by preparing all of my Down in the Garden blocks, knowing they’d be coming with me to Scrub Stitching. I made a small amount of progress on a Winter Fairy cross stitch project. I also quilted and bound my Windswept quilt top. And I tried — with varying success — to sew or crochet for 15 minutes each morning, either before work or before the day properly began.
February
A very productive month. I quilted and bound the Blue Lanterns EPP top, put together two scrappy quilt tops, and even pulled out some orphan blocks to create a third. I made my swap gift for Scrub Stitchin’, did a little work on Celestial Stars EPP, and kept up my 15‑minute morning crochet ritual.
March
A milestone month. I completed the embroidery on the tablecloth my beautiful Mum began when she was just 11 years old. After all these years, it’s finally finished — I kept my promise to her. I also worked on scrappy hexies and continued trying to keep up with my 15‑minute mornings.
April
Scrub Stitchin’ month. I took my Down in the Garden stitcheries and made progress on two blocks. I also worked on my Celestial Stars EPP project — more pieces were added after we got home. A cosy scrappy crochet blanket grew under my hook, and the hexies kept me company too.
May
This month was all about heirlooms. With Mum’s tablecloth completed, I turned my attention to the other pieces I’d inherited. Gran’s doilies became pretty angels, giving them new life. I also adopted a partially stitched cross‑stitched bumblebee — about a third done — and got stuck in straight away.
The bumblebee was finished, and I returned to my Down in the Garden blocks, making more progress there. A quiet, steady month of stitching.
July
The knitting needles came out. I finished a scarf that had been lingering since last year, made progress on the latest scrappy crochet blanket, and knitted another scarf — this one for donation.
August
More knitting. A second donation scarf, and another scarf to gift. The scrappy crochet blanket grew a little more too.
September
The sock journey began. I cast on Voirrey’s boots and kept going. I also completed the scrappy crochet blanket — a satisfying finish.
October
October was mostly about failing to knit a sock. My high after completing Voirrey’s boots didn’t last long — the sock journey brought me right back down to earth. I did, however, make some progress on the mohair sweater I’d started earlier, so the month wasn’t a total loss.
November
The sock disaster continued. Eventually I saw the light and gave up. I turned my attention to knitted washcloths instead. That didn’t go smoothly either, but I got there in the end.
November also saw the return of my sewing needles. I pulled out my neglected Christmas ornaments and finished them — just in time to catch the last international post. And the hexies came back into play.
December
A return to the sewing machine. I pulled out Christmas fabrics and used offcuts and scraps on paper foundations to make Christmas pot holders for my club Secret Santa, and placemats for the children to use for Christmas lunch.
My last finish of the year was a cross‑stitched cat for Tony — though I accidentally dated it 2023.
So as you can see, 2025 was a mixed bag.
The Chookshed Challenge was abandoned, the “15 minutes a day” was more miss than hit, and the great sock‑knitting adventure was… well, a learning experience. But there were highs too — lovely ones. The bumblebee was completed, the kitty cat was stitched, the ornaments were finished and posted in time, and somehow, in the middle of everything, a few quilt tops and two fully completed quilts made their way into the world.
So no Chookshed Challenge for me in 2026. Instead, there’ll be a simple list of works in progress that may or may not get a visit, depending on how the year unfolds. And alongside that, a very short list of must‑do projects — the ones that matter most, the ones I really want to see finished.
A gentler approach. A realistic one. And hopefully, a joyful one.
If you’ve made it to the end of this epic saga, congratulations — you deserve a cuppa and maybe a lie‑down. It’s been a year of triumphs, tangles, abandoned plans, surprise finishes, and the occasional creative meltdown, but somehow it all stitched itself into something worth celebrating. Here’s to 2026, whatever shape it decides to take.
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