What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

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 ...

Below is Brian Stauffer's "Winds of Change", a marvelous painting for The New Yorker cover on October 13. I wondered if this could be worked into a design for a quilt or embroidered piece. I do like curlicues. And I also wondered about what he meant by featuring these two things together. The noisy leaf blower and the beautiful design of nature. What do you think he's telling us?

Yesterday was another day not at the sewing machine.  It was time to figure out where to put the house plants and set up plant lights that I decided to get this year.  I did get some more work done on the hexies though so will show that first – I planned on stitching that […]

It was supposed to be hot yesterday I thought they had said near 90 I was surprised that it was 82 for the high and a nice breeze on the front porch – I spent more time sitting and reading outside than I had in a couple weeks.  The current author I am reading free […]

OOH -- I forgot to mention that my second toenail fell off at the gym on Monday. Why am I telling you that? My foot feels a whole lot better now that the toenail is gone and the new one is growing nicely. I also don't have to be so careful that the nail would get caught and ripped off. Let nature do its thing, and all is good! It appears that it takes about a month for the new nail to push out the old one. 

I overheard the ladies discussing ticks in this area the other day. When ...

 Richard Scarry books were a favourite of my children and then the grandsons. So many things on every page to point to and talk about. We had to make a rule with younger daughter, Beth, that she couldn't choose one of Richard's books for a night time read in bed book. She was the one so reluctant to give up on the day and she still makes the most of her busy days starting with a very early morning run.  

We had geese flying overhead yesterday and turkeys trotting through though not in a cute little red car ...

 Hello again and thanks so much for stopping by. I heard the Barred Owls hooting early morning around 4 am and stayed awake till they finished about half an hour later. Then I slept in till 9, so late for me that Tony woke up enough to ask if I was alright.  

Last fall I watched a wonderful moment...an adult male Cardinal was feeding two young ones in the big fir in the back yard. It took a long time to get this photo and I never did capture a good photo of the three. But here are the ...

Well, there is no doubt fall is coming and it's set in a little early here. Single digits overnight for the last week but everyone is saying how welcome this is. I don't think there's ever been such gladness to have summer over. 

Meanwhile, Tony calls this little guy below my trained squirrel or my very smart squirrel that has trained me. He appears on the back deck most days and, of course, I give him a handful of sunflower seeds. When he first appeared here, he was skinny and ragged looking. Now he appears to be ...

All quiet just now here at the Wooden House. Morning chores all done including the best and most important one- a big walk about with Ned and Petey. Heavy rain showers are forecast for most of the rest of the day which are much welcomed. It felt marvelous outside in the much cooler temperatures. Even the dogs were friskier. Ned especially doesn't like heat which may have something to do with his very dark brown coat. 

Here is a side view of the overgrown Hydrangeas outside my sewing room windows with Petey taking his morning sniffs. These bushes are ...

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 ...

Happy August Peeps! Way back in May (where has the time gone?) I participated in Mastering Color Confidence on C&T Publishing’s CreativeSpark Online Learning platform. Christine Barnes, Joen Wolfrom and I were hosted by the fabulous Amy Barret-Daffin to talk about the new book and also talk about one of our favorite subjects: color. This… Continue reading Let Your Quilts Sing

I found a string of kindle unlimited books in a series where most of them are available for the audio version too so I can read on the kindle when I want or sync it to the phone and listen – The books are in the Eve Ronin series by Lee Goldberg.  I read the […]

 *I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Minotaur Books for my honest review.*A group of 4 ladies have an overnight (or a weekend) at a remote and secluded island that they have been visiting for years. And they aren't seen again. Ten years later, a group of women are invited to a Bachelorette Party on a secluded island resort in the same area.Tessa is a

Oh shoot --- I woke up at some point in the night, and then I couldn't get back to sleep. I had not closed the blinds, and there were lights across the way. I was a bit hungry, although I'm not sure why. So I resolved both issues, but by then I was wide awake! I read for a bit, and well, I slept in this morning. Hence, the blog is much later than usual. 

It was hilarious when I finally woke up. I looked at my watch - 9:00 AM. WHAT? I never sleep in that late. Oh ...

 I was just getting used to it being June and now it is July. I feel like I've been very busy. Tony had his drivers' license renewal which, being over 80, meant he had to go to the office and do the testing which he aced. I find it odd they don't check how your feet or any reflexes are. Shouldn't that be as important as knowing how to draw a clock face to include 10 past 10. However, I've read seniors still have the least accidents of all age groups, so maybe it's all ...

 This is beautiful ground cover if you need such in your garden. I find the name an unfortunate one for something so pretty...Lungwort. All the colours at once...purples, pinks and violets but tiny so easily missed. I also note they do okay in the shade here.

I am so excited to share that I have a new book coming out later this year! Modern Scrap Quilts will be out with Stash Publications in November!

This book was originally supposed to be mostly a pattern book, but I realized I had a lot to say about scraps in the negative space, so it has ended up being a bit of a follow-up to my first book, The Quilter’s Negative Space Handbook. That means that in addition to the patterns, there are lots of ideas to help you design your own quilts—and help use up some ...

June is a month of new starts of all sorts!

The robins on the front veranda have started their family. I had the step ladder ready and waited till they were over on the far lawn to grab a quick shot of their nest. Two things that impress me about robins...their nest is always a thing of beauty in construction...so strong I've seen them last many winters and the other thing is the rich, gorgeous colour of the eggs they lay. Crayola makes a crayon that is robin's egg blue and the famous Tiffany's trademarked ...