Fellow Quilters,
As I write this, I am looking out at a seemingly endless deep blue sea while sailing from French Polynesia to the Cook Islands. The depth of color is indicative of the ocean’s depth – 5500m or 3 1/2 miles. It contrasts sharply with the pale clear blue of the sky, dotted with puffy white clouds. Interestingly, it is the same blue sky that I often see on glorious summer days at home and it has me recalling camping trips to the lake.
It is this that inspired me to design this month’s block for the Quilt Block Mania blog tour organized by Carolina at Always Expect Moore. The theme is camping, and it brought back memories of paddling across the lake to pitch our tent on a suitable camp site. If there was chance of attracting bears with our food supplies, the food was bundled up from an overhanging tree branch and suspended out of reach of any furry friends.
For my Canoe Lake block I used the lakeside colorway of my Canoe Lake collection for Banyan Batiks. The preprinted 9” lake-scene block is perfect for the block center, framed with a narrow border.
My free Canoe Lake block for the November Quilt Block Mania blog tour
Around the perimeter there are lots of small Bear’s Paws footprints – time to hoist our cache of food out of baby bear’s reach! You can find the free pattern for my Canoe Lake block here. You can also find the free blocks by the other participating bloggers at the links below.
Bug Jar Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Tent for Two by QuiltFabrication
Forest Tree by Scrapdash
Canoe Lady by Sugar Sand Quilt Co.
Campfire Nights Block by Belle of Seams Sew Me
Gone Fishing by Paleofish Designs
Canoe Lake by Patti’s Patchwork
Vintage Camper by Inquiring Quilter
Sleeping Bags by Appliques Quilts and More
Camp Sign at Patchwork Breeze
Blooming Meadow Quilt Block
S’mores by Quiltblox
Marshmallows by Inflorescence
Billy Tea by Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Compass by Blue Bear Quilts
Scout Badge by BoBerry Design Co.
Looking for honey by Martha Jane Creations
Night Camper by Jessica of Blue Sky Modern Craft
I spent a few moments playing with my Canoe Lake block in Electric Quilt and came up with a couple of quilt designs.
Option #1 is 44” square with 9 blocks and has more small Bear’s Paw blocks in the pieced cornerstones. That baby bear gets around!
A 44″ square quilt with more 1 1/2″ Bear’s Paw blocks in the cornerstones
Option #2 is 58” x 73” with 12 blocks and has mama-bear-sized blocks in the cornerstones.
A 12-block version with twice-as-wide sashing is 58″ x 73″
What about you? Do you like camping? If so, tent or trailer? Or do you prefer the pampered elegance of a cruise? It is a treat to have someone else make my bed, prepare my gourmet meals AND wash the dishes while I go to the evening show. If you’d like to treat yourself to a lovely 11-day Panama quilting cruise just after the holiday rush, please consider joining me and the K&A Quilt Studio team January 4-15, 2023. With 4 days of quilting and 6 ports of call in the sunny Caribbean, it’s a delightful way to escape the January blah’s and enjoy some quilting therapy with your quilting besties or some new-found friends. Contact Kate at K&A Quilt Studio or click here for further details to start 2023 with a splash! Apparently the depth of the Caribbean Sea is much shallower than the Pacific Ocean, resulting in an incredible turquoise color.
If you’ve made it this far you deserve a chance at a prize. Please leave a comment below telling me your favorite type of vacay for a chance to win a fat ¼ pack of Banyan Batiks. All comments received by midnight November 7 are eligible for the draw.
Cheers,
Patti
pattispatchwork-blog.com 
I love camping , usually in a tent but they all have their good points. When I go in a trailer I am spending time with family , so that’s nice. I also enjoy a cruise and all the food choices lol.
I’ve spent many a night in a tent, but as I have gotten older I prefer indoors. A cabin on the Lake, sitting on the deck, or out kayaking is what I enjoy now.
I enjoy a vacation with plenty of outdoor activities like kayaking and hiking but I haven’t really done camping. A bed and a hot shower in a hotel room or cabin is more my speed. Your block is very pretty, thanks so much!
this is gorgeous. thanks for sharing.
A sunny warm Caribbean beach vacation is on my list of favourite vacays!! Can’t wait until March! Long gone are my tenting on the hard ground in Algonquin Park days haha!
I’ll take the camping as long as there is water and I can get my kayak there as well😀
Hi Patti,
In our younger years our family travelling was via camping, in Canada, from coast to coast. We had no specific agenda, we just travelled west one year and east the next. We met each day as it happened, stopped and explored whatever we came upon,… bears, mountain goats, waterfalls, fields of wheat, rock hunting, beaches, museums, picnics, local events and camping sites. We even ended up in a welcoming Newfoundland backyard one night. We were ‘on the road’ for 3-4 weeks, each time, with our 2 little kids.
We graduated to a popup camper and every summer planned another wee adventure, sometime to a specific province, area of interest, or provincial park, but our biggest adventure occurred upon our retirement.
We planned a 24 day camping tour of the USA, highlighting the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, the Corn Palace, Salt Lake City, Tetons, and at least another dozen great, not to be missed spots…. we moved every day, enjoying the wildlife, the scenery, the historical locations, in awe of the grand silence of the open vast spaces, marveling at the mesas….it was awesome!
Then came the grandchildren and repeat…..camping… a week every summer, somewhere in Ontario. Camping develops their curiosity with freedom to find out about and enjoy nature. Now one of our daughters continues the summer tradition, camping in a tent somewhere in Ontario, with whichever child is available or too young to stay at home. And Grandma and Grandpa almost always drop by for a visit.
Did I say that we also have a cottage? And we have camped there too, in what is now known as the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, which abuts our lake. Accessible entry is by canoe only and it IS truly a wildlands!
Patti, you really hit a chord with this post and I just couldn’t keep all the memories from spilling out! Camping is amazing!
Best wishes for your new line of fabric. Pam
Pam, thanks for sharing your memories and family traditions – delightful!
Any place beside the water where I can relax and dream up new ideas for quilts is my ideal vacation.
My favourite vacay is one where I am hand appliquéing by the beach or pool in some warm Caribbean country. I’ve completed many quilt blocks that way!
Used to love camping in our camper. Now older and the body doesn’t bend the way it used to, so now love cruising. Nothing better than unpacking once and seeing different sights and no cooking or cleaning! Love the block, now I know what to do with leftover fabric from the quilt along!
My favourite vacation is a camping trip with trees, rock and lakes all around. I would prefer a tenting experience but those days are passed and now those vacations are in a travel trailer. Even though I am vacationing in a trailer, the day is spent outside hiking, fishing, cooking, reading and sewing, with the evening concluded with a campfire.
Our family loves to camp at National Parks. We have had lots of enjoyable memories from those trips. Our last trip was to Yellowstone and to the Grand Tetons.
Anything in nature, but I do like my flush toilets at night vs camping! We drove out east to Cape Breton & PEI this year and loved it. Lots of hikes and seaside spots. We arrived back home just 2 weeks before Fiona hit the area hard, so especially thankful we got there first.
*The words in your blog had me drooling for a soft, quiet canoe ride along aqua blue waters… NO!
We get the complete opposite. You are very good at pulling us in with your words. Now we have to imagine a story for this dark canoe I say returning to base, on and on. *Thanks for this intriguing block. *Where can I find the pre-printed center block? Robin
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*The words in your blog had me drooling for a soft, quiet canoe ride along aqua blue waters… NO!
We get the complete opposite. You are very good at pulling us in with your words. Now we have to imagine a story for this dark canoe I say returning to base, on and on. *Thanks for this intriguing block. *Where can I find the pre-printed center block? *My favorite type of vacation would be 2 fold. In the beginning we would be somewhere historic with buildings that can share their history.after 4-5days of that at my age now I then want to stay at a 5* hotel/spa for 4 days. Then see one last big thing and go home 1st class. I did lots of camping from my Scouting years thru my sons Scouting years and more. I even have a bear story from the Smokie Mtns. We all loved to hike, which took place in forests. My boys have walked the beginning + the end of the Appalachian Trail (they skipped a lot of the middle:) ). Now I’ve worn your eyes out I’ll stop and look for your fabric.
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Just finished a cruise to Bermuda. Exceptional turquoise blue ocean.