Fellow Quilters,

Happy March!  It is said that March either comes in like a lamb and out like a lion, or the other way around.  How was it for you?  I’m a little worried because we had some lovely sunny warm-ish weather, so I am fully expecting the end of the month to be nasty – in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a late season snowstorm.  It’s been that kind of winter, with record snowfalls and cold weather.  It’s been challenging to stay warm enough when I’m out snowboarding – I have heated insoles for my boots but nothing for my mitts.

My handmade sheared beaver fur mitt inserts

Upon the recommendation of a friend, I sourced some beaver fur scraps (apparently beaver fur is the warmest fur) and made some sheared fur inserts for my mitts – what do you think?!?  They’re not quite as warm as heated mitts but they’re environmentally friendly and they feel so cozy.

It’s also been great weather for oven-cooked meals such as roasts and stews.  I recently made one of my favorite meals – bacon/spinach-stuffed pork roast – so delicious!

The bacon/spinach stuffed rolled pork roast recipe from “A Taste of Napa Valley”

This recipe is in my “A Taste of Napa Valley” quilt book, along with a dozen other family-favorite recipes, each one paired with a quilt and wine from the Napa region.  For the month of March, you can use the special code BOOK at checkout to receive 30% off the price of this book at Patti’s Patchwork.  I keep my copy in with my recipe books!

Big news!  I’ve been super-busy these past few weeks finishing up 2 new patterns for Saddle Up, my new fabric collection for Banyan Batiks!

Saddle Up is shipping to stores this month and I couldn’t be happier.  This pretty batik collection is the perfect blend of soft denim blues, warm toasted brick and light golden hues of sunrise/sunset.  The large focus fabric showcases cowgirls and rodeo riders and is ideal for fussy-cutting or borders.

Coordinates include a bandanna motif in several shades, a tonal text print with all things country, a print with the quintessential country cowgirl accessories, and tossed tonal horseshoes as a must-have blender.  This fabric collection speaks to my country heart, not to mention coordinates with several pairs of my boots 😊.  When I began to design quilts with it, I was so pleased to see how well the fabrics played together to create a range of light-to-dark.  This works particularly well in my PC347 Home on the Range pattern featuring split log cabin blocks – a log cabin block really depends on that light-to-dark shift for effect, and these fabrics delivered the required values.

PC347 Home on the Range pattern

This pattern includes 4 sizes from lap to queen with 3 different block layouts.

My new PC346 Blooming Lone Star pattern also showcases how well the fabrics in the collection work together to create a harmonious shift of values in a classic lone star.

PC346 Blooming Lone Star pattern

The star is softened with the addition of heart-shaped flowers that are a breeze when made with batiks (no needle-turn required) – simply fuse and stitch ⅛” from outer edges.  This pattern includes 3 sizes from wall to queen.

This fabric collection has me thinking of the bright sunny days of summer, which leads me to… this month’s Quilt Block Mania theme of “weather”.  Because Hubby and I live beside a ski hill, we get our fair share of severe weather.  Clouds come over the hill and dump on our side, with heavy downpours and some quite spectacular thunderstorms.  In fact, we are more likely to get a storm than to have a gentle all-day rain.  The clear blue sky will suddenly turn an ominous dark greenish-gray, signalling an impending storm.  The air will be quite still until the wind quickly picks up, whipping tree branches into a frenzy.  When the storm finally hits, the lightning and thunder are simultaneous, causing the lights to flicker.  Sheets of rain blow sideways, buckets of water pummel the garden as the eavestroughs/gutters overflow.  And then, just like that, the rain subsides, the sky brightens and the birds start chirping again.  I tried to replicate this fantastical event in my Thunder & Lightning block.

My Thunder & Lightning block

It took some doing to figure out how to create the zigzag of the lightning through the 3 bands of sky color!  I hope you like it.  You can download the Thunder & Lightning block here.

Twelve other designers are participating this month and you can find the links to their blocks below:

Clouds in the Sky by Carolina Moore
Sunny Days Quilt Block by Scrapdash
Umbrella by Inquiring Quilter
Tornado by Memory Barn Studio
Rainy Day by QuiltFabrication
Dresden Plate Rainbow by Quilted Diary
Sunrise By Tamarinis
Lightning Strike by Studio B
Thunder & Lightning by Patti’s Patchwork
Cloud w/raindrops by Appliques Quilts and More
Rainbow Stripes
Sunny Lanes
Sunny Delight by Flowerdog & Co

What’s coming up?  I’m travelling to the Halton Quilt Guild this Thursday March 5 for a trunk show on Alternate Gridwork, then to the Niagara Modern Guild on March 12 & 13 for a lecture and Garden Blooms workshop.  On March 19^th I’ll be presenting a trunk show at the Grimsby Quilt Guild, and then the Sewcial Stitchers on March 28 for a Skill-building Sampler workshop.  Whew!

Have you been to A Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge TN?  It’s a feast for the eyes!  There is a huge quilt show, with row upon row of vendor booths and 4 days of workshops from world-class teachers including Jacqueline DeJonge, Nancy Mahoney, Susan Edmonson and yours truly.  This year’s event takes place June 8 – 11 and registration opens March 9 at 10am sharp.  The facility is ideal for classes, and many sell out quickly.

That’s all for now.  Have fun with the weather-themed blocks, watch for Saddle Up coming to a quilt shop near you, and grab a copy of A Taste of Napa Valley while the BOOK discount is in effect.

Chat soon,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

How have you been?  This past month has been – um – interesting for many of us in eastern Canada and the northern US as nasty storms and unusually cold weather passed through.  Did you, like me, go into hibernating mode?  I feel like we need to check in on each other to make sure we’re all doing okay.  I normally don’t mind the cold – after all, I live on a ski hill where snow-laden trees create a winter wonderland.  I snapped this photo 2 weeks ago of a unique icicle suspended from my roofline on an overhanging snowdrift – nature is wonderous!  However, even I have admitted defeat to the bone-chilling, wind-biting cold.  I’ve ordered some beaver fur inserts for my mitts in lieu of battery-operated heated mitts (more environmentally friendly).  I’ll let you know next month how well they work!

Last month I teased you with a hint of some exciting news this month and… it’s not quite ready ☹.  It’s still a few days away from being completed so please pop in next month to see what the excitement is all about.

One of the reasons it’s not ready yet is that I had a LOT of unexpected work in January, including 2 new patterns (more on those below) and lots of kit orders to ship.  You’ve been busy planning your upcoming projects, including making Winter Solstice and Misted Pines quilts – I’ve been cutting, packing and shipping lots of kits, with many trips to my corner mailbox. (Cue the segue…)

As it happens, the theme for this month’s Quilt Block Mania is mail.  What better way to represent this theme than with the classic corner mailbox?  Surprisingly, my Stash is meagre and does not contain much red so I chose the classic dark blue of USPS for the test sample of my Corner Mailbox block.  You can download the Corner Mailbox pattern here.

Canadian mailboxes are red, as are the mailboxes of many countries (including the iconic British Post boxes).  A quick google search revealed standard colors of blue, red, yellow, gold, green and white.  I chose 4 of those colors for this funky 12-block lap quilt.

You can find the free patterns for the other 8 participating pattern designers at these links:

Heart Stamp by Carolina Moore
Love Letters by Scrapdash
Love Letter by Inquiring Quilter
Postage Scale by Appliques Quilts and More
Love Stamp by QuiltFabrication
Postage Stamp Sampler by The Quilted Diary
Special Delivery from Studio B
Corner Mailbox by Patti’s Patchwork
First Class Mail
Mailbox by Due North Handmade

I had fun driving around my town snapping some photos of our mailboxes.  My mailbox is part of a super-mailbox at the end of my street – each household has its own locked cubby (that sometimes freezes shut in this cold weather!) which holds up to 2 weeks of mail.  Parcels can be retrieved from the larger cubbies with a key left in the recipient’s cubby – simply deposit the larger-cubby key in the mail slot after removing your parcel. This system works surprisingly well.

When I have kits to ship, I must take them to town and drop them in the community SLB (street letter box).  Mailboxes are notorious for being the target of graffiti and Canada Post has devised a brilliant solution – if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.  Their SLB’s are attractively decorated with a graffiti-inspired wrap showcasing postal code motifs.  The result?  These boxes are now very rarely targeted, are instantly recognizable and look nice.

So what else have I been working on?  Two new patterns, including Farmhouse Sampler, a hexie sampler quilt in throw and queen-size featuring Northcott’s new Farmhouse Sampler collection.  I’ll be doing a series of YouTube how-to videos next month so grab a pattern and some fabric and let’s get our hexie on 😊.  If red, blue and cream aren’t to your taste, pretty Spring florals work equally well – I’m using Heather Bailey’s Local Honey in these blocks.  You can find the pattern here.

Fat ¼ Focus also made it to the Done pile.  This one is perfect for fat ¼’s of bodacious oversized prints (I used Anna Maria Textiles new Overdressed and Allegory).  Let the fabrics take center stage!  You can find Fat ¼ Focus here.

I’ve also been working on my guild’s Block-of-the-Month program using my upcoming Saddle Up fabric collection for Banyan Batiks – it ships next month and I’m loving it 😊.  Here are some of my blocks.  In fact, I might have a giveaway for Saddle Up next month so be sure to subscribe if you’re not already on the list.

Chat soon,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

We are closing in on the end of 2025 and, for many of us, heading into a busy few weeks – holiday shopping, parties/get-togethers with colleagues, family and friends, cooking/baking and, because we’re quilters, finishing up those handmade gifts.  Why does it almost always take several hours longer to complete them than we think it will?!?

Last Christmas was the first one without my Mom, so somewhat more somber than most.  This year, when I do my Christmas baking of our can’t-do-without shared favorite recipes, I will recall the many fond memories of baking together side by side in her kitchen or mine.  It brings a smile to my face!

Both of my local quilt guilds have special events for December, as do many other guilds.  We have a classic potluck – bring your favorite sweet or savory dish to share with your quilting circle of friends, for they are another “family” in our lives.  Quilting/stitching friends are the best, don’t you agree?  On a recent extended cruise, I met up regularly with a terrific group of creatives as we stitched our way through the sea days of our cruise.

The stitchery meet-up group on the Zaandam

Kay’s darling paper-pieced door quilt

During our time together, I completed my first stitchery project as we shared many laughs and chitchat.

My first attempt at Sue Spargo creative stitchery

During the holidays we often make a date with our extended family.  For years Hubby and I hosted a pre-Christmas dinner for my dad’s family (one year we had 43 people!), and then for my mom’s family.  When my kids were young, Christmas was spent at the family cottage and we played a round-robin game of Court Whist on New Year’s Eve to pass the time until midnight.  As our kids got older, we travelled to our skiing friends’ cabin and rang in the New Year with them.  We continue this tradition now – good friends, good food, good times 😊 Wherever we are, the tv is almost always tuned to a channel filming New York City’s Times Square for the official countdown.  We watch in anticipation as the ball drops, signalling the end of one year and the beginning of a fresh new year.  A few weeks ago, I visited the site of this renowned landmark – can you spot the ball?

The theme for this month’s Quilt Block Mania blog tour is New Years Sparkle, and I considered capturing this icon in a quilt block but – alas – 2 other designers beat me to it (their blocks are great!).  So, I put on my thinking cap and came up with a cap (ha-ha) and a flute of champagne (of course!) for my Cheers to New Years block.  You can find the pattern here.

My Cheers to New Years block

This is a fun one with a bit of embellishment for the cap’s tassel – choose some sparkly ribbon for a festive touch.

Just for fun, I made 3 blocks (one is mirror-image) and added 1” sashing and borders for a quick wall-hanging.

A 3-block wall quilt 15″ x 41″

You can find the links to the other 14 blocks below, including those “ball drop” blocks:

Sparkle Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Ball Drop by Crafty Staci
New Year, New Quilt by Scrapdash
Cheers to New Years
Fireworks by QuiltFabrication
Christmas Crackers by Inquiring Quilter
All Dressed Up by Memory Barn Studio
Lover’s Lane by Sarah Marcina
Bayberry Candle by Emerald Falls Quilts
Father Time Nutcracker by Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts
Rising Star Block by Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio
Ball Drop by Stitching Across the Globe
Wishing on a Star Quilt Block by Ashli Montgomery
Happy New Year Words
New Year’s Mask by Appliques Quilts and More

On page 2 of the Cheers to New Years block pattern I’ve included a yummy easy-as-pie recipe to make and share with some special people in your life.  It’s one of my go-to recipes!  Enjoy!

May your holiday season be filled with joy and peace.  From my home to yours, Merry Christmas!

Patti

PS.  While in Bloomingdales, I spotted this quilt in a menswear display – how cool is that?!?

A display at Bloomingdale’s

Fellow Quilters,

When I was a kid, my parents enrolled my siblings and me in local house league sports.  During the summer, that sport was baseball or the somewhat easier softball.  I had a brief stint as a pitcher but was usually relegated to outfield where, quite honestly, I was more comfortable.  It was a terrific neighborhood sport, organized by members of our community, with most kids participating.  We made new friends and learned the value of working as a team.

By the time I went to university in Toronto, the city had a Major League baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays.  My classmates and I attended as many September and October games of the “boys of summer” as we could fit into our hectic schedules.  The stadium had a very large bleacher section and tickets for the “cheap seats” were less than $5.  How fun to watch an evening game when the stadium lights shone brightly on the grass-green field!  Sometimes we would splurge and buy the quintessential ballpark dinner of a hotdog and a beer as we shared in the excitement of bases-loaded grand slams.  The occasional ball even made it as far as our section!

In its brief 48-year history, the Toronto Blue Jays have made it to the World Series 3 times.  The first time was 33 years ago and they repeated the feat the following year when I was pregnant with Son #2.  I watched Toronto’s Series-winning game from a bar stool in my hotel in Houston – no beer for me that day!  Their 3^rd trip to the top was this season, last week in fact, after a 32-year hiatus.  Baseball fever spread all across Canada for the Jays, Canada’s only major league team.  Well, I’m sad to say that this latest trip to the World Series was not as successful as the first two – they truly gave it their best effort, taking the Dodgers to 7 games and losing the final game in extra innings ☹.  Congratulations to the Dodgers and hats off to my favorite team, the Blue Jays, for taking baseball fans along on their thrilling ride to the top.  I raise a glass (of beer, naturally!) to both teams.

To celebrate this Fall classic, I have a super-fun quilt block for you.  The theme of this month’s Quilt Block Mania blog tour is Dinner.  Because I had baseball fever last week when I was working on my design, I captured this in my Ballpark Dinner block.

Ballpark Dinner by Patti’s Patchwork for the November 2025 Quilt Block Mania

Yes, it’s a mustard-decorated hotdog!  If ketchup is your preferred condiment, feel free to substitute the yellow with red.  Here is the link to the pattern.  Yum!

You can check out the other dinner-themed blocks from my block-designing colleagues at these links:

Plate full of Love by Carolina Moore
Dinner Plate by Crafty Staci
Honey Butter Quilt Block by Ashli Montgomery
Mashed potatoes by Scrapdash
Ballpark Dinne
Warm Glow by QuiltFabrication
Dresden Turkey by Inquiring Quilter
Milk Bottle by Memory Barn Studio
Woven Hearts by Sarah Marcina
Texas Barbecue by Emerald Falls Quilts
Vase of Flowers by Due North Handmade
Dinner Themed Quilt Blocks
Pumpkin Pie Slice by Appliques Quilts and More

Did you play team sports as a kid?  By the time by sons began playing team sports, soccer had replaced baseball as the popular house league sport in our town.  Do you play team sports now?  I have a slightly older friend who played women’s baseball until just recently and loved it.  Please share your thoughts/experience – leave a comment below by November 12 and I’ll select one entry to receive a fat ¼ bundle.  You might inspire me to try something new or retry something old 😊

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

I missed you last month ☹.  I truly enjoy creating my monthly blog posts – they are a chance to connect with you and perhaps share some of the happenings in my world.  As many of you know, I participate in Carolina Moore’s Quilt Block Mania monthly blog tour and have done so since its inception August 2020. The monthly deadlines allow me to exercise my “design” muscle and they force me to post regularly.

The theme last month was Farming and I had a terrific block already designed.  Chaos quickly ensued when my laptop stopped working!  Black screen.  Wouldn’t power on.  Apparently, the mother board died.  Panic set in – I had several patterns that were written but not saved to a hard drive ☹.  The August block was one of them.  Fortunately, my laptop was fixable and – even better news – the tech guy was able to retrieve my unsaved files, but not in time for QBM.  A month later, my laptop is working once again and I’m now back on track for the September Quilt Block Mania.

I think it’s rather fitting that the theme this month is Technology, particularly after my laptop incident.  My laptop and I are joined at the hip.  We spend several hours together most days.  I couldn’t do what I do without it, whether it’s running my online Patti’s Patchwork shop, designing quilts, writing patterns, preparing documents, connecting with friends over Zoom and more.  The only thing more connected to me is my phone, and I know I’m not alone here.  Our phones are not longer just phones – no, they are powerful handheld computers capable of and used for so many functions in our everyday world. We are more likely to use our phone as a camera, and we have hundreds, if not thousands, of photos on our phones. We use our phones for maps and directions, for emails, checking the weather or news, as an alarm clock, for banking, boarding flights, hailing an Uber, listening to music, paying for purchases, identifying things – the list goes on. Many of these functions require something that we often take for granted – an internet or wifi signal.  Imagine a month or even a week without internet.  Hubby and I travel regularly, sometimes at sea, where connectivity is achieved only via satellite, at a cost of upwards of $30 per day.  I’ve been researching other options and hear-tell there’s an app called Gig-sky.  If you’ve tried it, I’d like to hear your feedback on it (please pop me an email or leave a comment below).

So, speaking of wifi, here’s my I’m Connected!

I’m Connected! block by Patti’s Patchwork

Block for Quilt Block Mania.  If you haven’t tried curves before, I encourage you to give this block a whirl, starting with the outer curves.  I’ve included some curvy tips in the pattern.  This block also has very unique cutting instructions – instead of cutting out all the templates individually, you’ll simply print the “template” pages, tape them together, and cut them from 12½” squares of blue or background fabric.

Print the pattern pages and tape them together to make the easy-cutting templates

It’s much faster 😊  How cool is that!?!

…then cut along the lines to make the arc pieces. So easy!

The other 14 participating bloggers this month have also come up with some fun blocks.  Check them out here:

Lightbulb Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Sewing Machine by Crafty Staci
Microchip Quilt Block by Patchwork Breeze
Chain Link Quilt Block by Scrapdash
I’m connected! by Patti’s Patchwork
Paperclips by QuiltFabrication
Stand Mixer by Inquiring Quilter
Network Bars
Valley Square by Sarah Marcina
Handheld Calculator by Emerald Falls Quilts
Digital Nutcracker
Word. (Books on a shelf)
Windmill by Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio
by Appliques Quilts and More
Cog Wheel by Flowerdog&Co
Fencing the Future Quilt Block by Ashli Montgomery

I’m hoping to connect with local quilters later this month at the Simcoe County Quilt, Rug & Artisan Fair September 19-21 in Midhurst, ON – it should be a great show.  If you’re in the area, please stop in.

And of course, I’ll be connecting with you again next month for another round of Quilt Block Mania with more newsy tidbits and musings.  Take care 😊

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Yet another busy year is flying by.  Here we are in July already and I haven’t yet had my annual trek to the local garden center for herbs and a splash of “annual” color for my flower beds.  I’m hoping to get there next week – fingers crossed that they still have some basil in stock.

What has kept me from my gardening, you ask?  Travelling!  With Hubby to far-away places, to quilt shows, and to guilds and shops for trunk shows and teaching.

Puffin Island in Reykjavik Iceland

Hubby and I recently travelled to Iceland (which is green and lovely, and has lots of puffins 😊),

Very cold (it was -20C with the windchill on May 25th) Qaqortoq Greenland

Greenland (which is NOT green – not a tree in sight, and lots of icebergs) and Newfoundland (delightfully charming – Canada’s easternmost province, with the occasional iceberg).

Lots of icebergs sailing away from Greenland

While strolling along the main drag in St. John’s NL, I stumbled upon a most fabulous quilt shop – East Coast Quilt Co. – and of course had to have a photo with the giant patchwork whale.

East Coast Quilt Co’s patchwork whale

I presented a trunk show and Borders workshop to the Kemptville Quilt Guild in eastern Ontario, then the Common Threads Quilt Guild in Ottawa before teaching 2 days of classes at Watergirl Quilt Co. and greeting the Quilt Tours International bus tour on their Quilt Canada/Quebec City tour.

The happy students in my Garden Blooms workshop at Watergirl Quilt Co

Speaking of Quilt Canada, I was there too – were you?!?  I helped hang the quilts, volunteered in the Youth Challenge area, took 2 inspiring wool applique/embellishment classes from Sharon Fisher, went to the dinner trunk show event (excellent!), did a 1-hour demonstration in Northcott’s booth to an enthusiastic crowd of quilters, then shopped till my wallet was empty.

My haul from the tempting merchant mall

Anna Maria Parry and I with my Garden Blooms quilt made with her fabrics

It was a busy show, with gorgeous quilts, many enticing booths and so many familiar faces!  Thanks to everyone who stopped to say hi.  Reconnecting with fellow quilters is one of my favorite things about quilt shows.  It fills my creative soul!

I’ve also been hard at work finishing up a plethora of new patterns.  PC322 Twinkle features The Christmas Mouse flannel collection and showcases the darling 7” squares and border stripe.

PC333 Making Tracks features the stunning Tundra Crossing collection.  The bear paw borders challenged my design/pattern drafting skills (I love a good challenge) and you get the benefit of not having to do the math for this intriguing quilt.  It would be equally suitable for any bear panel.

Anna Maria Textiles’ first batch of collections is starting to ship to stores, along with 3 of my patterns featuring these delicious fabrics.  PC330 Garden Blooms is a fat ¼ friendly pattern with fun 3-dimensional centers in the flower blocks. I taught this pattern as a class at Watergirl Quilt Co last month, and the students nailed those centers!

I fell in love with the printed diamond fabric from the Shooting Star collection and showcased it in PC331 Diamond Daze. This vertical strip quilt is surprisingly quick to piece.  Any large-scale fabric could be substituted for the diamond print.

Stretching my modern creative muscle, I created PC332 Synergy, a fat ¼ pattern that utilizes the colorway fat ¼ packs of Anna Maria’s first release under her new AMT brand. How fun to see these contemporary fabrics updating a classic Melon Patch design!  Because curves can be intimidating for some quilters, I recorded a how-to video for this pattern and the link is included in the pattern.

I’ve also been busy with this month’s Quilt Block Mania design 😊.  The theme this month is Style and Fashion.  Hmmm… because the current pattern that I’m finishing up has some New York Beauty blocks, I took my inspo from this and designed my The Met Gala block.  This block has it all – it has some paper-piecing, some curved piecing and a touch of applique.  So, when you first look at the block it doesn’t look anything like a gala – I get that.  But wait – put several blocks together in an on-point layout and the magic happens!  Ballgowns appear!  You can use the same color for all the ballgowns, or use a different color for each one, choosing a lighter and darker pair of shades for each one. The upper portion of the gown is created by corners from adjacent blocks, so you’ll want to use a design wall and add the bodice portions to the gowns after the rest of the block is completed.  You can download the The Met Gala block pattern here.

You’ll find the 14 other participating pattern designers’ blocks at these links:

Lipstick quilt block by Carolina Moore
Lips by Crafty Staci
Buckeye Beauty Quilt Block
The Met Gala
Stiletto by QuiltFabrication
Calla Lily by Inquiring Quilter
Fingernail Polish by Memory Barn Studio
Broken Dishes & Mary Kay by Sarah Marcina
Texas Boots by Emerald Falls Quilts
Photographer Nutcracker
Words by Patchwork Breeze
Party Dress by A Piece of Quiet Quilts
Stylin’ by Appliques Quilts and More
New York Gorgeous by Dragonfly’s Quilting Design Studio
Sun Hat by Stitching Across the Globe

Stay tuned for 2 more AMT patterns coming in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

How’s your month going so far?  Spring is in the air (finally!) for those of us in Northern climates.  Hubby and I have been travelling through Belgium (Hubby is a war history buff so this was a bucket-list trip for him), and it has been unseasonably warm, with beautiful sunny “sit-on-a-patio-with-a-beer” days.

Belgium and its people have been delightful.  We have dutifully tried most things that Belgium is known for:

Frites (don’t call them French fries) – quite good, although my personal favourites are still the ones on Holland America Lines’ poolside Dive In burger bar.

Chocolate – really, really good!  Need I say more?!?

Beer – I am not a lover of beer (it’s too bitter) – I might drink 6 or 7 per year.  However…when in Rome, do as the Romans do.  We went to a beer museum and I dutifully sampled a couple of the 1600 beers brewed in Belgium.  To my utmost surprise, I liked them.  In fact, I found quite a few very tasty non-hoppy beers.  I am now a fan of Belgium beer.

Waffles – I steered clear of the ones I saw (too touristy) because, with all the yummy beer (and chocolate) I’ve been consuming, my pants were becoming too snug☹.

Bicycles – cyclists rule the road!  There are cycling paths on almost every road and the cyclists have the right of way so you’d best stay out of their way.  Even the UberEats delivery people use bicycles.

Cemeteries and WWI memorials – while travelling through the region surrounding Ypres, we visited several meticulously-maintained cemeteries and memorials for or dedicated to the soldiers of other countries who valiantly fought to liberate Belgium from the oppressive rule of Hitler, a leader who believed he had the right to freely take land beyond Germany’s borders.  We visited Hill 60, an area captured by Canadian troops as the Allied Forces pushed back.

Unknown tombstones at Tyn Cot Cemetery

We solemnly toured Tyn Cot, the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the world, viewing row upon row of tombstones recognizing unknown soldiers of the Great War.

We stopped by the Brooding Soldier monument, which inspired John MacCray’s In Flanders Fields poem.

In Flanders Fields by John MacCrae

At 8pm, we stood in silence with well over 1000 people to witness the daily ritual of Last Post at Menin Gate – so incredibly moving.

Last Post at Menin Gate in Ypres

This event has taken place every day for the past 100 years. Menin Gate is a massive stone arch inscribed with literally thousands of names of fallen soldiers who have no grave.

We also toured the museum at Passchendaele, to see the horrors of life for the tens of thousands of soldiers who fought in the swamp-like trenches there for more than 3 years.

The trenches in Passchedaele, the Western Front in WWI

Walking through these trenches was surreal – unlike in 1917, when it constantly rained, for my visit the sun shone brightly, and the air was filled with cheerful birdsong.

As you may know, Northcott designs a Stonehenge fabric collection each year in support of Quilts of Valo(u)r.  I was privileged to design the pattern – PC327 Maple Medley – for this year’s Oh Canada collection, and I will be teaching this project at Watergirl Quilt Co. in Prescott ON June 11.

Maple Medley PC327

If you’d like to join me to make this eye-catching QOV-sized quilt, contact the crew at WQC for details.  We’ll be covering 2 different methods for making the maple leaf blocks as well as top tips for working with panels.

So, back to those cheerful birds I heard in the trenches.  They prompted me to design my

My Daylight Flight block for May’s Quilt Block Mania

Daylight Flight block for this month’s Quilt Block Mania (the theme is “up in the air”).  Daylight Flight is the classic Birds in the Air block with the added twist of a sun.  After hearing the Last Post at Menin Gate, I thought about the sky at different times during the day or night, and came up with this fun runner depicting morning, mid-day, sunset and midnight.

My 4-block runner depicting sunrise, mid-day, sunset and midnight

Today’s trivia:  We generally don’t see birds flying at night, however migratory birds prefer to travel at night while predators are sleeping.

There are 16 other pattern designers playing along in this month’s Quilt Block Mania. You can find their free block patterns at these links:

Pig with wings by Carolina Moore
Dragonfly by Crafty Staci
Kite with tail
Daylight Flight by Patti’s Patchwork
Hot Air Balloon by QuiltFabrication
Pancakes by Inquiring Quilter
Feeding Time by Robin Kinley Designs Etc
Contrails by Memory Barn Studio
Scrappy Birds by Katie Mae Quilts
Propeller by Patchwork River Quilting
Pinwheels and Northern Lights by The Quilted Diary
Space Rocket by Emerald Falls Quilts
Pilot Nutcracker
Flying Birds by Patchwork Breeze
Raven’s Flight by A Piece of Quiet Quilts
Butterfly by Appliques Quilts and More
Night Sky by Studio B

Last month I shared my Bollenstreek tulip block for QBM.  The crew at Watergirl Quilt Co. liked it so much that they twisted my arm into teaching it as a 3-4 block runner ½-day class on June 12.

Join me June 12th to make this cheery runner

Contact Watergirl to sign up for this fun class.  I was able to see the fields of tulips up close last week – stunning!

Cycling through the tulip farms in Bollenstreek NL

Last but not least, I have a new pattern in the Patti’s Patchwork shop – PC325 Freeze Frame is made with Northcott’s First Snow collection, shipping shortly.  The pattern features a lengthwise panel and an allover scenic and includes 3 sizes from throw to queen.  The attractive bonus wall quilt pattern is super easy.

That’s all for now – we’ll chat soon 😊

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Have you heard the expression “in like a lion, out like a lamb?”  It generally refers to the month of March, which can have wildly swinging temperatures and erratic weather.  I don’t recall specifically what the beginning of March was like, but I can certainly attest to the end of March going out like a lion this year!  Much of our area had hours of heavy rain, followed by even more hours of freezing rain.  The temperatures rose (heavy rain for hours again) but not before ice-laden trees snapped under the burden and thousands of homes were left without electricity. For the few hours that we were without power, we ran an extension cord from our neighbor’s generator to our almost continuously-running sump pump to prevent our basement (a.k.a. my sewing space) from flooding.  Many of our neighbors still have no electricity, as crews work around the clock to repair downed lines.

My local quilt guild has cancelled 3 in-person meetings this winter.  I am hopeful that this week’s meeting will be a go – we all need the connectivity that an in-person meeting brings.   The forecast is for Spring-like temps – yay!

Hubby and I strolled through our neighborhood yesterday surveying the ice storm damage and noticed some early-season bulbs sprouting in a few gardens – a sure sign that Spring is finally on the way.  Shy snowdrops and crocuses appear first, followed by sunny daffodils, frilly hyacinths and cheery tulips.  This sight inspired me to design a bright colorful block for this month’s Quilt Block Mania blog tour.  The theme is “Garden” and my Bollenstreek block has 4 common bursting-with-Spring shades of tulips radiating out from pencil-thin “leaves”.

Bollenstreek block by Patti’s Patchwork for Quilt Block Mania April

It goes together quickly and would be lovely in a 3-block Spring table runner or a pretty lap quilt.

A 40″ x 14″ 3-block runner

A cheery 46″ x 59″ 12-block lap quilt

You can download the Bollenstreek pattern here.

While you’re at it, why not check out the other 17 bloggers’ blocks and links as well, including another tulip-themed one by Studio B:

Garden Bunny by Carolina Moore
Garden Basket by Crafty Staci
Creating a Quilt Garden
Bollenstreek by Patti’s Patchwork
Wheelbarrow Blooms by QuiltFabrication
Spring Has Sprung
Oriental Lily by Inquiring Quilter
Watering Day by Robin Kinley Designs Etc.
Mushroom by Memory Barn Studio
Ladybug by Patchwork River Quilting
Gardening Days by The Quilted Diary
Texas Bluebonnets by Emerald Falls Quilts
Gardening Nutcracker by Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts
Seed Packet by Patchwork Breeze
Garden Fences by A Piece of Quiet Quilts
Watering Can with Flowers by Appliques Quilts and More
Evening Primrose by Wild Plum Lane
Spinning Tulips by Studio B

So, what is Bollenstreek, you ask?  Let me tell you 😊 (If you’ve been there, you already know 😉)  It is Dutch for “flower-bulb region”.  The Netherlands is world-renowned for their flower bulbs, particularly tulips.  From late March through mid-May, millions of bulbs burst into bloom, creating a rainbow of magnificent color across a patchwork landscape.  I have longed to see this spectacle, and this year Hubby and I are venturing to the Netherlands to take in this incredible sight.  We have rented bicycles for a day trip though the Keukenhof flower park.  Needless to say, I can hardly wait.  Stay tuned for pics!

Canadians have a special fondness for tulips.  You see, for the past 70+ years, the Netherlands has sent 10,000 tulip bulbs to Canada annually, a tradition that began as a gift of thanks from the Dutch Royal Family and the Dutch Bulb Growers Association after Canadian troops helped liberate the Netherlands during World War II.

Maple Medley PC327

Speaking of WWII, I have a new Quilts of Valour pattern – Maple Medley PC327 is now available.

It features a gorgeous Autumn-inspired tree panel and includes 4 sizes from lap through queen, including a QOV-sized throw.

Coastal Collage PC321 works well with any scenic or larger-scale print

Fresh off the press are 4 other new patterns:  Coastal Collage PC321 features Atlantic Coast’s scenic prints and coordinates and is perfect for a beach picnic blanket.

This is a super pattern for any larger-scale scenic or pillow-panel-type block.

Cowboy Blues PC326 has a barn-raising setting with a unique pieced border

Trip Around the Rodeo PC326 features the fussy-cuttable larger-scale prints in Northcott’s Cowboy Blues collection.  This fun quilt has a unique pieced border, and the pattern includes 4 sizes.

Placemat Pizzazz PC324 is a clever way to use placemats in a quilt

It’s never too early to start Fall/Halloween projects (better done than late!).  Placemat Pizzazz PC324 shows a clever way to use placemats in a quilt that’ll be done in a flash.  This pattern uses Patrick Lose’s Hip, Hip, Halloween collection and includes 5 sizes from bed-runner to queen.

Autumn Blaze PC323 is a popular pattern with 3 design options for a lap or throw-sized quilt

The stunning Autumn Breeze collection is showcased in Autumn Blaze PC323.  Pattern includes 3 design options for lap to throw-sized quilts.  Choose either a light-background version or dark-background version (or both!).  These richly colored fabrics have just started shipping to shops.

A stitched sample of my upcoming Garden Blooms PC330 pattern

I have several more patterns to finish up before my tulip-time trip, including this pretty Garden Blooms one that I pieced at a retreat a few weeks ago.  I’ll be teaching this project at Watergirl Quilt Co in Prescott, ON June 12^th and sign-ups are available through the shop.

Michelle with her lovely Seven Treasures sashiko lap quilt top

Lastly, Watergirl Quilt Co. owner Michelle finished her Seven Treasures quilt top from my class on a Hawaiian quilting cruise a couple years ago.  Doesn’t it look terrific?!?  I have just 3 kits left in stock (I sold 2 last week).

Wishing you a joyful day,

Patti

Fellow Quilters,

Button Drop wall/topper quilt

I had the opportunity to attend QuiltCon in Phoenix AZ a week or so ago – what fun!  I and several colleagues staffed the FIGO and neighboring Anna Maria Textiles booths for 4 busy days, chatting with modern quilters from around the globe.  I ran the giveaway “Button Drop” game, where participants tried their luck at winning a selection of FIGO fat ¼’s or coordinated scrap packets.  Our Button Drop board featured a backdrop of the new Stash tonal collection, and I designed a free pattern to replicate this board – all Modern Quilt Guild members receive a digital goodie bag containing the link to the pattern.  If you’re an MQG member, it’s in the email sent out last week.

Pop Sugar BonBons using Heather Bailey’s new blender

Some attendees purchased an MQG swag tote bag that contained, along other things, a chip (charm) pack of designer Heather Bailey’s new blender program for FIGO – Pop Sugar is a fun fresh cheery blender with 30 tasty shades.  I designed a fun wall/topper quilt to use this 30-pack of 5” squares – Pop Sugar BonBons is a 43” square project that positively pops with color!  You can download the free pattern from FIGO’s website here.  I love playing with Heather’s luscious collections – I haven’t met one that I didn’t swoon over.  Her newest one, Full Bloom, is shipping in May and I can’t wait!

I had the pleasure of (finally) meeting the iconic Anna Maria Parry, the mastermind behind Anna Maria Textiles, Northcott’s newest division.  Anna Maria’s fabrics are so outside of my comfort zone.  Despite that, I have pushed myself to design with them and have been thrilled with the results.  Watch for some new patterns featuring AMT coming out in the next few months.  I attended her engaging and informative lecture at the show and am now inspired to take a fresh look at the next batch of collections.

Anna Maria Parry of AMT in her booth at QuiltCon

I made a couple of AMT outfits for QuiltCon, including a jewel-toned buffalo-check wrap skirt and also a top that I wore for my photo with Anna Maria.

It was lovely to get to know my colleagues, some of whom I hadn’t met before, over drinks each night after the show.  The beverage of choice was cocktails and the variety was impressive – everything from fruity concoctions to inventive ways with whiskey.  And each evening, once the drinks were in hand, we clinked glasses in an age-old cheer.

I was reminded of these times when the call for this month’s Quilt Block Mania came out.  The theme is fancy drinks, and since I was late to the party (haha) so to speak, I missed the chance to do martini.  Instead I chose to depict an overhead view of Old Fashioned glasses in a cheer.  An Old Fashioned glass, or rock glass, is a short wide tumbler with a heavy base.  It is typically used for Old Fashions, Manhattans, Negronis and Sazeracs, or any cocktail being served “on the rocks”.  The trend these days is to use one oversized ice cube to keep the cocktail chilled instead of several smaller ones.

My On the Rocks block features 4 classic cocktails with large ice cubes – red for Boulevardier, gold for Old Fashioned, amber for Manhattan and light brown for Sazerac.  The cubes and beverages are appliqued on, as is the gray bias glass rim, made from narrow bias.

My On the Rocks block for QBM – cocktail glasses with large ice cubes

A close-up

I thought this could be a fun table runner for your favorite mixologist, changing up the colors of the drinks to suit the taste of the recipient.

A 3-block On the Rocks table runner for your favorite mixologist

The light gray circles are either clear liquor or empty glasses 😊.  Each ice cube is a lighter shade of the beverage surrounding it, which reminded me of one of the theme exhibits at QuiltCon – American Patchwork sponsored a transparency category.  Choosing the correct color for the ice cube is critical to achieving this transparency.

What is your social beverage of choice?  Which colors would you use for your beverages?  My cruise roomie Cathy likes Earl Grey, code for Pinot Grigio wine.  I prefer a Rob Roy, although lately Hubby has been making me tasty Crab-apple martinis made with crab-apple syrup from our tree – yum😊 (he is a closet mixologist).  Perhaps one of the other 16 blocks in this month’s QBM blog tour is more to your taste.  You can get links to them here:

Tropical Drink by Carolina Moore of Always Expect Moore
Pink Lemonade by Crafty Staci
Mardi Gras Hurricanes
Milkshake by Patchwork Breeze
On the Rocks by Patti’s Patchwork
Coco Loco by QuiltFabrication
Hot Coffee To Go
Christmas Cocktail by Inquiring Quilter
Sip Happens by Robin Kinley Designs Etc.
Unicorn Lemonade by Memory Barn Studio
Friendly Mule by Patchwork River Quilting
Margarita by Emerald Falls Quilts
Bartending Nutcracker by Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts
Raspberry Lemonade
Mod Martini by A Piece of Quiet Quilts
Pina Colada by Appliques Quilts and More
Lemon Drop by Studio B

Last month I forgot to mention that my Frame It throw-size quilt is featured in the Winter 2025 issue of Quiltmaker magazine, on newsstands now (or get it online here).

My Frame It quilt featured in Winter 2025 Quiltmaker magazine, available now

I used my Outdoor Adventures fabric collection for Banyan Batiks for this easy project.  It is terrific for any large-scale coordinated collection to show them off.

I also want to mention some new patterns in the Patti’s Patchwork shop:

The gorgeous Boho Blooms fabric collection inspired my PC320 Boho Starburst – pattern includes wall, throw and king sizes.

PC320 Boho Starburst

The to-die-for stripe in the collection also inspired PC319 Crescendo, an easy bargello pattern that needs only 2 fabrics plus binding – sizes include throw, queen and king.

PC319 Crescendo is an easier-than-most bargello

I used Northcott’s Eagle Pass, with its breath-taking panel, in PC318 Soar! – pattern includes throw, twin/double and queen. 

PC318 Soar! works beautifully with so many panel collections

This is a great pattern for any panel-based collection.

Calling all sports fans!  Make a cozy quilt for game-watching using PC328 Team Spirit.  The pattern includes a full alphabet along with appliques for various sports.

PC328 Team Spirit includes many options

Make a lap quilt or upsize it to twin with the addition of a border.

I also dropped the new Stonehenge Celtic Roots collection into my popular PC233 Solstice Star design and love this color option.

PC233 Solstice Star done up in the new Stonehenge Celtic Roots collection

I’m madly finishing up the next batch so stay tuned for more quilty goodness.

Speaking of quilty goodness, I’m doing a virtual trunk show for the Glendale Quilt Guild (Glendale CA) on March 13^th.  I’m teaching free-motion quilting and binding on March 14/15 at Watergirl Quilt Co in Prescott ON, then doing a panels trunk show.  On March 24, I’m talking about Alternate Gridwork at the Gwillimbury Quilt Guild, then doing a trunk show and circles workshop March 26/27 at the Niagara Heritage Quilt Guild.  Please come and say hi if you’ll be at these events.

That’s all for now, see you soon 😊

Patti