Dancing into 2026

Carly Mul • December 29, 2025

 

 The last days of the year are always a time to reflect on the old year and to prepare for a new year.

This past year was a little bit of a mixed bag for me. It started with a serious illness for Jan, my husband, and since you do these things together in a marriage, my daily activities got impacted as well. I had to say no to an invitation for a group exhibition, as my time was so limited. I was already happy I didn't have to cancel Daytona  and I will never forget the careful steps Jan took on this trip.  I loved teaching in Daytona and I am still very sorry that it was my first and last time with AQS. We had to cancel our trip to Africa, but instead made a lot of use of our RV and discovered wonderful places close to home.

In hindsight it was a relative short and intense period of time and we are extremely grateful for the extra time as  - for now - Jan appears to be back to health. I thank many of you for your kind support. Although we never had experienced such a scary situation before, the illness became a special time in our marriage, resulting in my quilt "In Health and in sickness".

In fabric it was an exciting year, much more exciting than I could ever imagine. My book Freestyle Color Collage quilting came out and has been well received. I did a lot of guild talks and classes, taught at shops and national shows. A special surprise was getting taped for the Quiltshow with Alex Anderson and Ricky Times (it will get aired on 6/28/2026). And I got a trip to memory lane  with my booth in Houston, which has already lead to more classes in the next few years all over the country. I love meeting and chatting with so many of you and my book was a great reason to have a (one-time) booth.  Thank you! By now we know that the words in my blog about Houston Market were true. Festival has been moved to an earlier date and I hope to become part again of the 2026 faculty with multiple classes.


In between all this, www.collagefabric.com was the distraction for the bad and the passion for the good. The "business" has grown tremendously, but in a nice way. I expect that to continue in 2026 as the airing of the tv show will be an incredible marketing opportunity. Together we are carving out something special: a place dedicated to help quilters find small fabric cuts. My goal is not to become a big quiltshop (again). My goal is to be a special corner for the little ones, the small cuts, so to say, and I want to do it all by myself without employees. It will stay small and personal by choice.


In a quiltshop, little pieces are called scraps and a scrapbag is a considered a  group of leftovers and a bunch of cuts. I don't consider little pieces leftovers. I treasure them as my main fabrics and I sort them by color, style, collection etc. I make big pieces small on purpose!  Our quilts are not scrap quilts. We make collage quilts, big difference!

 I make the builders that I love to create for everyone interested and don't need to think about getting paid for labor any longer. It makes me happy to do this!

 Family comes really first but there hasn't been a single order cancelled because I needed to ask for some extra time to ship. Of course, most orders go out immediately, but like two weeks ago when Jan and I were babysitting our two granddaughters in Denver  I got the best customers in no rush at all. Thank you!


For 2026 I will continue more of the same. I don't know what the year will bring, but some plans are exciting: looking forward teaching in The Netherlands, in Hampton, VA and at Emptyspools Seminars in CA. There are now only 2 spots left for a 5 day class in collage quilting. Already I have been asked to return in 2027! I also hope to have time in my studio to create more quilts myself and I hope  Jan and I can do some RV travel again to exciting places. We are planning a visit to Death Valley in March and spending the entire month of June in Oregon!

The last month of the year is also always filled with talk about the "color of the year". While all paint companies went to darker, nature inspired colors, Pantone chose "Cloud dancer" as the color for 2026. Cloud Dancer is a white fabric with gray and beige undertones.  Or as someone said: it is the color of every builder and collage dorm.

Respectfully, like many, I am not thrilled with this choice. It totally doesn't follow the trends in interior design and fashion. Sure, there is some white as an accent color, but white is not back and certainly not as a main player. This color is too light! It would be rather strange to even think this because we just left white behind us. Not many will go back to what was up to 2022!  Also, last year Pantone  had chosen chocolate mousse as the color of the year.  Trends don't make those abrupt switches.... they go slowly. From that dark brown, which was an excellent choice, to off white is just too much of a swing and unrealistic. Benjamin Moore has selected a very dark brown, Silhouette, as its color of the year. They can't be both right.

Many times, Pantone had a "wrong" choice or maybe I should say, we read it wrongly. It is not so much about the color itself as well as the message that the choice of color sends. Here too, Pantone missed the boat.  This off white is not a clean new canvas. Wallpaper is back, maximalism is the trend, we are hungry for color, cool and cold is not what we are looking for.

Pantone states we need some organising in our life? Are we too busy with non-essential things? Do we need more calmness and a break from digital overload?  Is that how we should read this color choice?   How would Cloud Dancer provide this? I don't know either. It seems to me they didn't want to make a choice. It is a neutral. It is a neutral that can go with anything. Is anything the trend? No. The only positive message of Cloud Dancer is that we can't do things by ourselves. We need company. Cloud Dancer is screaming  for other colors.  It is a lonely color. It needs company, help.

Now the palettes that Pantone chose to go with Cloud Dancer are much, much better. On its website you can find some trendy color combinations that include Could Dancer, but just as a side color.

In all, I would disregard the choice and go with any or all the colors of every other company working with color has chosen for our inspiration  and let Pantone dance by itself on its cloud that is so far away from most of us to be relevant.


Hope you can look back on 2025 with gratitude in your heart and optimism for 2026!