From Wasaga Beach you can see the Blue Mountains where I live. Photo from Expedia
Fellow Quilters,
Spring is in full swing – I saw my first 2 robins yesterday 😊 – and beach days are just around the corner. Hubby and I live on a ski hill (not beachy at all!) but the world’s longest fresh-water beach is a mere 15 minutes away. On Georgian Bay, Wasaga Beach is almost 9 miles (14km) long, with a lovely gentle shoreline perfect for families with young children. This iconic beach welcomes over one million visitors annually. Perhaps you’ve been one of them! Do you have a favorite beach? I’ve listed my top picks below.
“Beach” is the theme for April’s Quilt Block Mania, and I had fun designing a block that is perfect for a beach tote, beachy placemats if you live in a beach community, or perhaps a fun wall-hanging.
My Scooping Sand block for the April Quilt Block Mania blog tour
Here is my Scooping Sand block. What’s a beach day without a pail and shovel to build a sandcastle?!? You can download the free pattern here.
Twenty other designers participated in QBM this month and there are some terrific blocks. I was surprised how many used a rainbow color palette. You can find links to their free blocks here:
Sun Block Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Beach Ball by Patchwork Breeze
Ocean Sunset
Beach Reading by Inquiring Quilter
Follow Me Fish
Sand Castle by Appliques Quilts and More
Beach Umbrella by Inflorescence Designs
Beach Hut by QuiltFabrication
Scooping Sand by Patti’s Patchwork
Snowy Owl
Beach Bum Bear by Colette Belt Designs
Scrappy Starfish by Sewistry
Seashell by Slightly Biased Quilts
Crab by Tourmaline Thyme Quilts
Sea Lion by Emerald Falls Quilts
Seaside Horizon by Cristy Fincher
Sunshiny Days Block by Craftapalooza Designs
Buoy by Oh Kaye Quilting
Hubby and I have travelled to some pretty awesome areas of the world and experienced some spectacular beaches. Some of my faves are:
Siesta Key in Sarasota FL USA – the white sand is so fine and powdery.
Ninety Mile beach in Ahipara NZ, on the western shore of the top of the north island. It is actually a highway but only when the tide is out.
Byron Bay on Australia’s Gold Coast. Watch the strong surf and the undertow!
Waikiki Beach in Honolulu HI USA – famous! Hawaii has so many lovely beaches, including Lahaina.
Langkawi Beach in Malaysia – beautiful, and the entry into the water is gentle (no shelf)
Philipsburg St. Maarten – lovely white sand. Truth be told, most of the Caribbean islands have great beaches.
Beaches of the South Pacific, including Tahiti, Bora Bora and Fiji
Mexican beaches including Cozumel and Acapulco
One of the best beach days ever in the Conflict Islands
What about you? Please post a comment below telling me about your favorite beach – I might need to add it to my bucket list.
Speaking of comments, time is running out to enter the giveaway for a scrumptious pack of 10” squares of Margo by FIGO Fabrics. Head on over to my March 26th blog post to participate – the deadline is April 6th.
Speaking of time running out, there are just a handful of spaces left in Watergirl Quilt Co’s Alaskan Quilting cruise September 8th -15th. Top-of-the-line Bernina sewing machines are provided for the classes – choose 4 of the 12 fun tip-filled classes taught by yours truly, host extraordinaire Michelle and the entertaining Paul Leger. Class selection starts shortly, so reserve your spot now for the best selection on your preferred picks.
Cheers,
Patti
pattispatchwork-blog.com 