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Welcome to Debbie Shore's Block of the Month Quilt 2026

Quick Links: What you'll need Project steps

Welcome to the 2026 Block of the Month – ‘All Creatures Great and Small’

We’ve called this year’s Block of the Month quilt ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ as the 44 x 60in (112 x 152.5cm) quilt features a number of appliqué and pieced blocks, all relating to animals, birds and insects. There are eleven blocks and two borders in total, so the two puppy dog blocks will come under the same month to allow the project to be completed within the year.

The pieced blocks include a variation on Bear’s Paw, the Crow’s Foot block and a pretty block called Honey Bee, all surrounding the larger Twisted Cats block – and who’s spotted the pesky mouse trying to escape from the cats? The two outer borders inevitably include Flying Geese, and there’s a herd of elephants, one of which seems to have lost its way!

Where can I use it?

It's hoped the quilt will be loved by both kids and adults and could be used on a single bed, as a throw or a wall hanging. And don’t forget that you can use any of the blocks for other projects too:
• The Rooster and Highland Cow blocks would look great on their own displayed in a picture frame or attached to a canvas.
• The Twisted Cats block would look amazing as a stand-alone wall hanging.
• The elephant border could be made into a small nursery quilt in its own right, with sashing between the six 6in (15.25cm) blocks and framed with a patterned border.
• Who wouldn’t love a quilt full of Scottie dogs, all with different coloured bows?
• And watch this space for some additional projects made with some of the BOTM blocks from all our quilts coming up through the year!

Techniques to expect:

• Hand and machine appliqué
• Half and quarter square triangles (made in several different ways)
• Flying Geese (again, made in different ways)
• Courthouse Steps
• Square Within a Square
• Dresden
• English paper piecing
• Foundation paper piecing
• Crazy patchwork
• 1in (2.5cm) square grid piecing

There’s also a small amount of hand embroidery:
- Chainstitch
- French knots

As before, my daughter Kym and I have put together a fabric bundle for this quilt at debbieshoresewing.com, available for you to buy right now. There is limited stock, so grab a bundle while you can! The fabric bundle includes all the fabrics for the quilt top.

TIPS:

• Read through all instructions for each block before you start to sew.
• It’s a personal choice whether you wash your fabrics before you start – we didn’t.
• When cutting out, be conservative with your fabric. Keep all fabric scraps as you will be able to use these in subsequent blocks.
• Stitch with an accurate ¼in (5mm) seam allowance throughout, unless otherwise stated.
• Stitch all seams with the right sides of fabric facing, unless otherwise stated.
• Before pressing seams, set the seam first by running a hot iron along the length of your stitching. This helps the stitches to sink into the fabric and will encourage the seams to press flat.
• Generally, seams should be pressed towards the darker fabric. However, in some cases, to avoid bulk, it is necessary to press seams open or towards the lighter fabric. If you prefer to press all seams open, that’s fine.
• Be aware that in some instances the fabric edges will be on the diagonal, so try not to stretch the fabric – a light spray of starch may help to stabilize those edges.
• When cutting fabric, the size indicates the width of the piece first, followed by the length (unless otherwise stated).
• A square ruler is a useful piece of equipment to help square up your blocks. However, if you don’t have one, you could cut a square of paper or card to the size of your block (or individual unit), draw diagonal lines through all four corners and use this as a template. The 45° lines should cross in the centre of your block and dissect the four corners.
• Chain piecing is a useful technique when piecing together multiple segments (often identical units within a block) one after another, in a long chain with a continuous stitch. Just join one pair of pieces and then the next – there’s no need to cut the thread between stitching each segment – and simply continue to run a few stitches between each unit. Don’t worry, it won’t harm your machine, and it will save you time and thread. Cut the units apart at the end of the run. For some guidance, take a look at my video.

The first block will be out January 3rd 2026. I'll link all the blocks below as they come out, so you can always find them when you need them!

Block 1: Honey Bee
Block 2: EPP Butterfly
Block 3: Highland Cow
Block 4: Crow’s Foot
Block 5: Courthouse Bird
Block 6: Twisted Cats
Block 7: Grazing Hexie Sheep
Block 8 & 13: Puppy Dogs
Block 9: Elephant Border
Block 10: Bear’s Paw
Block 11: Rooster
Block 12: Flying Geese