What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

OH MY --- someone mentioned in the comments about Mary Ellen's book -- "It's OK if you sit on my quilt." Indeed, there were NO quilt police for her! Mary Ellen was quite the spitfire - I heard that from the shop owner where I used to hang out. And definitely, there were no quilt police in Mary Ellen's life. It's a great book. All three of her books that I have (well, technically, now two) are amazing. The amount of detail, flexibility, and freedom she gives is refreshing. 

We need NEW books like that. Books that give you ...

Alright - Mother Nature! We've had enough! I turned the heat off yesterday morning, but I had to turn it back on later in the day. It never got above 10 degrees Celsius, and it's just cold with the wind. I see the temperature will go up later today, and the sun will come out, which will help. With all the rain, clouds, and wind, those low temps are cold! 

While it was a day for errands in the car, I also managed to start the appliqué. I got the stars done for both blocks. 

Progress on the appliqué ...

OH -- there were a few comments about husbands cooking -- to be clear, mine took over cooking before the pandemic, and like Tammy's, he is constantly saying, "Oh, this is very good." While not implying that his cooking is better than mine, there are just subtle comments. Or, maybe I'm reading too much into the comment. However, he has recently gotten a more demanding job, and while he still works from home, he often doesn't have time to cook, or he finishes work at 8 PM and then decides to cook -- I'm on my way to bed ...

OK --- I'm sitting here with tears streaming down my face, and I can't help it. They are tears of joy, but still. And even when I got ahold of myself and then came back to edit, these pictures still bring tears to my eyes. 

I just had a quick peek at Facebook before I started writing, and I spotted this post. I knew my nephew, who recently got his pilot's license and bought a small plane, wanted to fly from Winnipeg to visit with my parents in North Battleford. It's about 840 km. 

When I talked ...

 I blinked and it is May now. We had one summery day amid all the coolness and it is still flirting with overnight frosts. These Daffodils always open too soon and, in their shady spot, don't get to really shine like they should which is a shame. I should move them and the bunch behind there that didn't get to open at all this year.

Learn how to make a simple no-sew banner with a star applique that’s quick, easy, and perfect for decorating your space. This is one of those projects you can put together in no time—no sewing machine needed.

If you’ve got fabric scraps sitting around and want a fast project that still looks put together, this is a great option. It’s especially fun for holidays, seasonal decorating, or adding a little handmade touch to a room without committing to a full sewing project.

The star applique gives the banner a bit of extra personality, while the no-sew ...

It's early spring which I think in some ways is the saddest and ugliest time of the year here. There is not a single hint yet of all the glorious green to come and I've been out there looking. But more about that at the bottom of this post.

Sewing progress first... I worked on my appliqued Quarter Dresdens and finished the March reds. It will be nice to move on to pinks, the RSC April colour.

 Here is one of the Mother trees near our laneway featuring in a photo taken Wednesday. 

The male Cardinal is even more beautiful this far into what should be spring. He may be the showiest bird we have in Canada especially against a winter landscape.

And I'm so happy the Barred Owls have returned to Jim's nesting box in Indianna. They were ...

We were plunged back into Christmasy looking winter on Saturday. It was beautiful outside in my woods.

This Wednesday morning is cool, windchill making it -18C but the sun is shining so another very pretty wintry looking day. But staying this cool means no melting today.

I've been trying to choose which of my quilt tops to get to ...

I can tell by the window's light when it's time to get up in the mornings. By 6:30 there is a certain brightness creeping in that tells me it's time to start the day. How wonderful to be able to start my days by the light rather than alarm clocks. I am always thankful to be retired.

I got to a thrift store recently and had quite a good poke about. One of the things in my header photo was a real find. I'd commented before that sometimes I think things in those stores are ...

Learn how to sew a quilted table runner using the quilt-as-you-go technique and a simple applique design. If you like projects that come together quickly and don’t require wrestling a full quilt through your sewing machine, this one is a fun option to try.

Quilt-as-you-go is one of those techniques that makes you wonder why you didn’t try it sooner. Instead of making the entire quilt top and quilting it later, you quilt each section as you sew it.

That means smaller pieces to handle, less bulk under your machine, and you can actually see the project coming ...

Back in 2016, just over ten years ago, I wrote this post called 5 Healthy Things I'm Doing.  I reread it recently and was happy to find I'm still doing those things most of the time. Though the oil pulling has fallen by the wayside, I've added a couple of other healthy habits. I'm so grateful I am still able to do these things. Who knows what tomorrow may bring!

My unofficial words for this year are keep moving. They've been in my mind all my adult life so it's not special for 2026 ...

We had sun in spurts yesterday but today we are back to a white world out there both sky and landscape. It has continued to snow a lot- small flakes but they add up. The saying at home was "small snow, big snow" and when the snowflakes were large...."big snow, small snow". This has been a winter of small snow building up. The dogs love it all of course. I'm so happy that having obedient Petey, who comes when called, join us has meant Ned stays close too and no longer needs to be on a leash. This ...

I saw a little kit at the quilt shop the other day, and it made me giggle. I just had to have it! I did add one extra fabric to it, since I used the included binding fabric for corded piping and so needed something else for the binding. This took just a few hours […]

 The French Knot is a basic embroidery stitch that many people struggle to perfect. I recently did a short video on how to make a French Knot.

I was up early and out the door to refill the bird feeders. I've added a third this winter as it's turning into an especially cold one. Wind chill then was -35C ( up from the -39C low overnight) and wind in strong gusts made it most uncomfortable. That cold makes it such a relief to be out of it and back into the warmth of the house. But there are drifts over the front steps so I'll be back out there soon to shovel which will warm me up. 

I always feel lucky to get a glimpse ...