GnomeAngel's Bookish Quilt Club 2026

Welcome to 2026! This year I want to get back to my hobbies and the joy that they bring. To help me with that I’ve decided to set myself a challenge to make a quilt that combines my two hobby loves: reading and patchwork.

I’m going to make my own bookish quilt inspired by my reading choices throughout the year.

I know I’m not alone in loving these two hobbies and I just know that there’s others of you out there that would love the structure of a yearlong challenge but don’t know where to begin, so I’ve made a start for you.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Every month I’ve provided 2 reading prompts + 3 patchwork prompts.

You choose: 1-2 Reading prompts and 1-3 patchwork prompts.

For example, you could choose 1 reading prompt + 2 patchwork prompts.

You can choose to do as much or as little as you like. It’s completely up to you – no judgement, no pressure.

You then customise the prompts to suit your situation.

There’s no right or wrong way to use the prompts. It’s reading and patchwork your way.

WHAT ARE THE PROMPTS?

I’ve listed the prompts out for you below. If you sign up to the newsletter (👆) I’ll send you the prompts in a handy PDF so you can download them and print them.

MONTH	READING PROMPT	FABRIC PROMPT	TECHNIQUE PROMPT	COLOUR PROMPT
JANUARY	First book in a series OR Summer Loving	Nautical / Aquatic	Traditional Piecing	Pink
FEBURARY	Contains romance OR Read with a friend	Makes You Smile	Fussy Cutting	Red
MARCH	Contains animals OR Set prior to 1900s	Oldest Fabric in Stash	Strip Piecing	Green
APRIL	Autumnal vibes OR Has humour or pun in the title	Seasonal Theme	Stitch & Flip	Aqua / Teal
MAY	Mother(s) OR Botanical theme	Favourite Fabric Designer	Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP)	Grey
JUNE	A cozy read OR An “overdone” trope	Floral / Botanical	Over 12″	Black
JULY	Set in space OR Colourful cover	All in a Collection	Seamless Pattern Matching	Blue
AUGUST	Part of a trilogy OR Winter / snow / arctic setting	Low Volume	Improv Fabric Slab	White
SEPTEMBER	A “classic” or retelling OR Set in the future	Most Hoarded	Square-in-Square	Brown
OCTOBER	Thriller, mystery or horror genre OR Adapted into a movie	Selvedge	Selvedge FPP	Orange
NOVEMBER	Contains a hobby OR A genre blend	Stripes	Triangles	Purple
DECEMBER	Vacation read OR Holiday-themed book	Gifted Fabrics	Under 6″	Yellow

PROMPTS EXPLAINED

Reading Prompts

PROMPT	DESCRIPTION
First book in a series	The book is the first released, or first in the canon, of a series with 2 or more in it.
Summer loving	A large portion of the book is set during summer(s).
Contains romance	The book contains romance, either as the main plot or as a compliment to the plot.
Read with a friend	Read the same book as a friend, whether at the same time or if it’s a book your friend recommended or gave you.
Contains animals	The book contains animals. Whether written from an animal’s perspective, main character has an animal companion, set in a zoo, main character is a vet, etc.
Set prior to 1900s	Book is set in a world that dates before the 1900s. E.g. Victorian England, Vikings, etc.
Autumnal vibes	A large portion of the book is set during autumn(s).
Has humour or pun in the title	You, and/or others, find something about the title amusing or makes you smile.
Mother(s)	The book contains a mother or mother-type figure, whether as the main character, plot device or support character.
Botanical theme	The book has a botanical theme. Can be set in a garden, main character is a gardener/florist/works at a garden centre/has power that is linked to the earth, can be set in a world that is defined by its botanical abundance.
A cozy read	A comforting, low-stakes subgenre (like cozy mysteries, fantasy or romance) that offers a warm escape, focusing on charming settings, close-knit communities, relatable characters and satisfying, feel-good resolutions while deliberately avoiding graphic violence, explicit content or heavy themes. Can also be a book you’ve read before that makes you happy to read again.
An “overdone” trope	The book contains a plot device, theme or character type that has been featured in many books within this genre. E.g. “The butler did it” in a murder mystery.
Set in space	A large portion of the book is set in space.
Colourful cover	The cover of the book is either colourful or contains bright colours. (It’s totally up to you to decide what’s “colourful”!)
Part of a trilogy	The book is part of a trilogy. Can be the first, middle or last book.
Winter / snow / arctic setting	A large portion of the book is set in a cold climate.
A “classic” or a retelling	A classic book is a work of literature that has endured over time and remains relevant and resonant for new generations beyond its original context. E.g. “Pride and Prejudice”, “1984”, “Lord of the Rings”, etc. A retelling is a new literary work that reinterprets a well-known classic story (like a fairy tale, myth or old novel) by changing elements like setting, characters, perspective or genre while keeping the core recognizable to the original. E.g. “Cinderella”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “King Arthur”, etc.
Set in the future	A large portion of the book is set past 31 December 2026.
Thriller, Mystery or Horror read	Read a book from the thriller, mystery or horror genre. It can be a cozy version of these genres.
Adapted into a movie	Read a book that’s been adapted into a movie. (I call this the “book was better” category!)
Contains a hobby	Book contains references to a hobby/hobbies. E.g. Hobby baker that opens a bakery, a quilter, a fisherman, a reader, etc.
A genre blend	The book blends two genres, i.e. sci-fi horror, romantic thriller, romantic comedy.
Vacation Read	A light read – i.e. not one that will make you cry.
Holiday-themed book	A large portion of the book is set during a holiday season, either fictional or existing.

Fabric Prompts

PROMPT	DESCRIPTION
Nautical / Aquatic	Anything that has something to do with water. E.g. fish, boats, sailors, mermaids, kraken, pirates, pipes, lures, tackle, beach, shells, seaweed, etc.
Makes You Smile	Anything that makes you smile, whether it’s the print, the fact that someone gave it to you, that you got it on holiday, that it’s your favourite designer, it’s “inappropriate”.
Oldest Fabric in Stash	Go stash diving and find the oldest fabric you’ve got!
Seasonal Theme	Pick your season: summer, autumn, winter or spring. Or maybe go for a holiday season: Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s, etc.
Favourite Fabric Designer	Any fabric that was designed by one of your favourite fabric designers.
Floral / Botanical	Flowers – big bold florals or little, small ditzy florals. Anything with a botanical vibe.
All in a Collection	Use only fabrics that were part of the same collection, must use a minimum of 2 prints in your block.
Low Volume	Anything where the background is significantly lighter than the print.
Most Hoarded	Time to cut into the “good stuff”. You know what I’m talking about!
Selvedge	Time to use that selvedge! Whether it’s actual selvedge or you want to use Ruby Star’s selvedge collection it’s up to you.
Stripes	Anything with stripes – any width, any thickness, any style – just has to be a stripe.
Gifted Fabrics	Use a fabric that was either given to you, that you’ve shared with someone else, that you picked up in a destash, was in an event gift bag, won it in a giveaway, etc.

Technique Prompts

Tutorials and a block design will be provided for all these techniques – make sure you’re signed up to the newsletter (👆) to get them sent straight to your inbox. You can use your own patterns, patterns you’ve purchased or mix and match.

PROMPT	DESCRIPTION
Traditional Piecing	We’ll cut and sew a traditional patchwork block.
Fussy Cutting	Deliberately and carefully cutting specific motifs, images or sections from a patterned fabric to showcase them intentionally in the final project.
Strip Piecing	A patchwork technique where you cut longer strips of fabric, sew them together and then cut them down to make smaller pieced sections.
Stitch & Flip	A patchwork technique where you use squares and/or rectangles to create triangles by stitching diagonally across a corner then flipping the excess fabric open to form a new shape.
Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP)	A precise patchwork technique where you stitch fabric onto a printed paper pattern (foundation), using the lines as guides.
Over 12″	The finished block size is equal to or greater than 12” x 12”.
Seamless Pattern Matching	A fussy cutting technique where you cut and sew two pieces of the same print, in different colourways, to create the illusion of the print being split by colour.
Improv Fabric Slab	A style of textile art where the traditional technique of sewing small pieces of fabric together to form a larger design is performed spontaneously, without a predefined pattern, specific measurements or strict rules.
Square-in-Square	The “square in a square” in patchwork is a foundational quilt block unit where a central square or diamond of fabric is surrounded by triangles to form a larger square.
Selvedge FPP	We’re going to make our own fabric using fabric selvedge and the foundation paper piecing technique.
Triangles	Let’s play with triangles! Half square and flying geese.
Under 6″	The finished block size is equal to or less than 6” x 6”.

You may be wondering…

No. The idea is to choose a minimum of one a month and complete 12 in a year.

Not officially, however I will be sharing a free block pattern with tutorial each month to help you cross off your patchwork prompt so you can either sew along with me or use another pattern and work with it. (Or you might want to design your own pattern!) Each month I’ll provide inspiration for you and then you can choose what you’ll do.

No. It’s totally up to you how you want to do this. You can shop from your stash and shelves, use a library, swap with friends, support a local business. Whatever you’d like.

That’s cool, just substitute it for a prompt you do like. This is just a framework – it’s your creative time do what works for you!

No. The idea is to choose one a month and complete 12 in a year.
However, if you know you’re going to be traveling in December, you might want to skip that month and only read 11 books in the year. Or, you might know that you read a book every 2 months, so you pick a prompt every second month. Or you might want to read 24+ books in a year so you’ll read every prompt. Or you’re super smart (and cheeky) and you pick a both that crosses off both prompts per month. It’s up to you!

No. You can read an eBook or listen to an audiobook or do a mixture of both. It’s up to you.

No. The goal is to get you reading and sewing so it would be great if you could use 12 books and/or blocks. But again, it’s up to you. This is supposed to be fun not forced labour.

Super simple, super flexible and totally a reflection of YOU! If you’d like to play along simply pop your details in the form below and I’ll send you everything you need to get started!