Reading 1820 Blogs Daily!


July 10, 2026
Three Corner Thursday from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. As usual, it was a full day yesterday. The bird feeders were empty and there were flowers to water. There were a few more blueberries to pick, but first, I took a walk around to see how things were growing.

The lavender is just about bloomed out, but it is still crawling with bumblebees.


This next one is blooming thyme.


This calla lily might take over as the most watched thing in the garden. It’s putting up yet another shoot. It sure seems as if it has plans to bloom this year.


The first petals ...

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Three Corner Thursday from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. As usual, it was a full day yesterday. The bird feeders were empty and there were flowers to water. There were a few more blueberries to pick, but first, I took a walk around to see how things were growing.

The lavender is just about bloomed out, but it is still crawling with bumblebees.


This next one is blooming thyme.


This calla lily might take over as the most watched thing in the garden. It’s putting up yet another shoot. It sure seems as if it has plans to bloom this year.


The first petals ...

read more
July 8, 2026
Math is Hard from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was good to get back to my sewing yesterday, even if I was determined to do most everything wrong. The only thing I was able to do right yesterday was to stitch my way across the “[L]ove" portion of my embroidery piece.


From there, I had to decide whether I wanted to move to the left or else down. I opted for down since I can continue stitching the border all the way around. It hardly matters, but it made more sense in the moment to continue around clockwise rather than back and forth ...

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Math is Hard from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was good to get back to my sewing yesterday, even if I was determined to do most everything wrong. The only thing I was able to do right yesterday was to stitch my way across the “[L]ove" portion of my embroidery piece.


From there, I had to decide whether I wanted to move to the left or else down. I opted for down since I can continue stitching the border all the way around. It hardly matters, but it made more sense in the moment to continue around clockwise rather than back and forth ...

read more
July 7, 2026
A Feel Good Day from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was another no-sewing day, but it was a good day just the same. Matthew and I met up to walk the Eastbank Esplanade in downtown Portland. The weather was perfect. It was also a day for testing out the capabilities of my new camera, starting with the morning's sunrise.

Matthew and I walked this same route back in April. It’s a distance of just under four miles. Back then, I took a lot more pictures of the landscape, the bridges, and some of the buildings. The pictures from yesterday's walk were mostly ...

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A Feel Good Day from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was another no-sewing day, but it was a good day just the same. Matthew and I met up to walk the Eastbank Esplanade in downtown Portland. The weather was perfect. It was also a day for testing out the capabilities of my new camera, starting with the morning's sunrise.

Matthew and I walked this same route back in April. It’s a distance of just under four miles. Back then, I took a lot more pictures of the landscape, the bridges, and some of the buildings. The pictures from yesterday's walk were mostly ...

read more
July 6, 2026
Picture Perfect from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was kind of a mish-mash of a day. Things seemed out of order, and not everything was accomplished. It hardly matters. My calendar is flexible. 

The only sewing I did yesterday was slow sewing. I finished the upper right corner section, and now I’ve moved my hoop down to capture the “LOVE” section.


The bird feeders were empty, and I wanted to check on the vegetable garden. My sun-dappled cat was already lounging outside when I made my way to the garden.


Since I wasn’t going to get another chance to hoe the ...

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Picture Perfect from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was kind of a mish-mash of a day. Things seemed out of order, and not everything was accomplished. It hardly matters. My calendar is flexible. 

The only sewing I did yesterday was slow sewing. I finished the upper right corner section, and now I’ve moved my hoop down to capture the “LOVE” section.


The bird feeders were empty, and I wanted to check on the vegetable garden. My sun-dappled cat was already lounging outside when I made my way to the garden.


Since I wasn’t going to get another chance to hoe the ...

read more
July 5, 2026
Pitty Party from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. Hopefully, nobody lost any fingers in yesterday's Fourth of July festivities. True story:  My brother once tried to put out a Roman candle by sticking it into the sand. Just one problem: He had the burning end in his hand and stuck the unlit end in the sand. Meanwhile, the thing shot a fireball right into the palm of his hand. It was a serious injury that had his hand out of commission for quite some time. So...hopefully, none of you did anything like that yesterday. 

We had a quiet day. No plans, and ...

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Pitty Party from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. Hopefully, nobody lost any fingers in yesterday's Fourth of July festivities. True story:  My brother once tried to put out a Roman candle by sticking it into the sand. Just one problem: He had the burning end in his hand and stuck the unlit end in the sand. Meanwhile, the thing shot a fireball right into the palm of his hand. It was a serious injury that had his hand out of commission for quite some time. So...hopefully, none of you did anything like that yesterday. 

We had a quiet day. No plans, and ...

read more
July 4, 2026
halfway through… from Count it *all* JOY!

How is it July already?!
But here it is, four days in, celebrating Independence Day, here in the good ol’ USA! Weather permitting, we (as in me and the Merkel crew) plan on taking the boat out for an afternoon of swimming and an evening of fireworks on the lake. Boom!

I’ve done some fun things this year. After signing on to be the 2nd VP of Programs for my guild, I decided it wasn’t as bad as I’d worried it would be. In fact, I really enjoyed getting speakers, managing programs, and writing blurbs for the ...

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Cherry Pickers from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. And so it begins. The cherries are ready to become pie filling or else cherries in simple syrup. We'll start with pie filling today. Here's how we harvest cherries at the Three Cats Ranch. 


My job was to sit in the tractor seat and raise the bucket up and down. It can also be tipped up and down, giving Mike a level and flat surface on which to stand. It’s safer than using a ladder by a long shot.


After I while I hopped off the tractor and picked whatever I could reach ...

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Cherry Pickers from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. And so it begins. The cherries are ready to become pie filling or else cherries in simple syrup. We'll start with pie filling today. Here's how we harvest cherries at the Three Cats Ranch. 


My job was to sit in the tractor seat and raise the bucket up and down. It can also be tipped up and down, giving Mike a level and flat surface on which to stand. It’s safer than using a ladder by a long shot.


After I while I hopped off the tractor and picked whatever I could reach ...

read more
July 2, 2026
Halloween and Cats free patterns from Pieced Brain

Halloween and Cats free patterns

Download these Halloween and Cats free patterns now, get the fabrics, and make two beautiful quilts for your home!

Meow Neighborhood Quilt – click here to download the pattern

By now, you must have all your summer quilts done, so here are two projects for Halloween. I designed them for the whimsical collection Cat House by Mayo Moreno for Henry Glass Fabrics. Toadstools galore!

The first one is Meow Neighborhood. It measures 52″ x 60″ and features a super-cute panel surrounded by my favorite prints from the collection. Bugs, brooms, candy corn, funny pumpkins, and leaves – all depicted with gorgeous colors ...

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Heartbreak Cake from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was a mixed bag of a day. Some things went as expected, and others...not so much. It was time to fill the bird feeders. In summer, that seems to be my most important job. While I was out, I marveled at the flowers on the purple hydrangea.


When I've been outside the past couple of days, I've noted with alarm a few cherry pits lying on the ground. After seeing a crow fly off with one a few days ago, I suspect crows are the culprits. It doesn't matter, though. I ...

read more
Heartbreak Cake from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was a mixed bag of a day. Some things went as expected, and others...not so much. It was time to fill the bird feeders. In summer, that seems to be my most important job. While I was out, I marveled at the flowers on the purple hydrangea.


When I've been outside the past couple of days, I've noted with alarm a few cherry pits lying on the ground. After seeing a crow fly off with one a few days ago, I suspect crows are the culprits. It doesn't matter, though. I ...

read more
July 1, 2026
Overcoming Inertia from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. My day was a little mixed up yesterday. There was a pedicure scheduled around lunch time, and so the hours I could work with came both before and after. The garden got a good hoeing, and there was some time after that to work on my quilting. I quilted two more blocks on Ruth's Legacy, and then finished the third after I got home.


It’s going pretty well, and I’m happy with that filler motif I’m using. Here’s a little peek at the back.


Now, I’ve turned the quilt upside-down ...

read more
Overcoming Inertia from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. My day was a little mixed up yesterday. There was a pedicure scheduled around lunch time, and so the hours I could work with came both before and after. The garden got a good hoeing, and there was some time after that to work on my quilting. I quilted two more blocks on Ruth's Legacy, and then finished the third after I got home.


It’s going pretty well, and I’m happy with that filler motif I’m using. Here’s a little peek at the back.


Now, I’ve turned the quilt upside-down ...

read more
June 30, 2026
A Little Sewing from ... Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was a rather unproductive day yesterday. A lot of my morning was spent sitting on the couch. My treadmill and Bow-flex workouts have been completely abandoned over the past month. I tried unsuccessfully to talk myself into a Bow-flex workout yesterday morning. Even when I speak sternly to myself, it’s hard to overcome my level of stubbornness. After more than 50 years of cat ownership, it’s completely understandable that I would adopt their attitudes in my daily life. 

Instead, the bird feeders needed filling, and I wanted to check on the vegetable garden ...

read more
A Little Sewing from Cat Patches

Good morning, my friends. It was a rather unproductive day yesterday. A lot of my morning was spent sitting on the couch. My treadmill and Bow-flex workouts have been completely abandoned over the past month. I tried unsuccessfully to talk myself into a Bow-flex workout yesterday morning. Even when I speak sternly to myself, it’s hard to overcome my level of stubbornness. After more than 50 years of cat ownership, it’s completely understandable that I would adopt their attitudes in my daily life. 

Instead, the bird feeders needed filling, and I wanted to check on the vegetable garden ...

read more