What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

With a blizzard ongoing here in Wisconsin, and a Kona Storm in Hawaii, it’s a good time to focus on color for a bit.

On many (most) of the patterns I produce, both custom and for the internet, I suggest colorways that folks can purchase from a single manufacturer. Exceptions are when colors need to be very close to the same hue and value. An ombre fabric can often provide the subtle shadings (for example, in a wedding gown) to give the suggestion of curves and shadows. In rare cases, you can have fabric custom dyed. In the case ...

It seems to be all about the weather here in the winter months. Saturday,when I went out with the dogs, the temperature was this with a wind chill of -34C. 

I've been really busy. Well, what seems to be busy for us. Daily chores and lots of shovelling too. There for a few days it kept snowing every day, all day. We ran the snowmobile over the trails to flatten them for our walks. I've been taking the dogs down to our frozen pond for playing ball and they've been loving that. I get to do my little run about as well, safely, on a flat snow covered surface for now. The weather will change it soon enough. Update, it has. Milder temperatures and pouring rain for ...

The lone rabbit is still hanging around. I glanced out the kitchen window and ears caught my eye amongst the old vegetation.

 This is an Eastern Cottontail and he will stay mostly brown/grey all winter. I wish he would move on into the forest but there are so many places to provide sheltar for him here; I understand why he wants to stay ...

Well, it's November, a harder month it seems and more than a few steps closer to winter here in Ontario. We had a week of heavy rain which I think the earth needed but there were driving winds with it and so cold. It's freezing overnight regularly now here in the Ottawa valley. 

But I'm very thankful those rains have restored our little pond. It is very muddy looking from all the downpours. It will be interesting next spring if I hear the sound of peepers and frogs, etc. because we keep wondering where did they go ...

Here is officially the very last wild rose of 2025 and what a strong little beauty it is. 

 I received a bouquet of flowers recently and it had the cutest autumn gnome in it. Are gnomes still popular? I guess they are.

And here is the wall as of this morning. This is ...

 Walking the dogs just out the basement door and starting on the nearest trail, I spied something amongst the big old oak trees.  So here is another of my Can you see it? photos.

Maybe now?

It had been rainy but we seem to be back into a dry spell with no rain in the foreseeable future. Very cool overnights. Day times it's been changeable- I think that's the word to describe the weather- one minute dark and cloudy and the next a little sunshine. There have been two frost warnings so far with one night recording 0.6 C so the season is easing in. A pretty sign of such is the fall Aster like flowers are in bloom. What a pretty shade of lavender.

These three 8″ x 8″ bears are great for incorporating into a child’s quilt, a table runner, or used as a repeat for a larger project. The three are all different patterns emphasizing the different head shapes that make these bears distinctive. They are meant to be pieced using the folded Freezer paper technique, but other methods work well too. The patterns are simple enough to be weekend.

The pattern comes as a PDF download for you to print, small enough to print on one sheet of paper. Click here for the $8.92 pattern. You can pay with ...

I got up at 6 this morning and went right out in the garden by myself which has so many rewards. (But left two pouting dogs to do so.) Instead I had my shears with me on this walkabout and did a little snipping here and there. I disturbed three turkeys who I think must have overnighted somewhere nearby. I sat by the pond and reminded my body how important it is to relax. It is hard for me to sit and do nothing...by the pond like that early morning is the closest I can come. But even then ...