Home is Where the Heart Is

Fellow Quilters,

As I write this blog post (late Monday night so that it can post bright and early Tuesday morning), it is snowing big white fluffy flakes.  We have full-on winter right now – it has been one of the coldest and snowiest (is that a word?!?  See below for snow trivia) winters in years.  This past week, we had one day with 12” of fresh powder on some of the runs on the ski hill.

How I want to snowboard

I have not snowboarded in that much snow before and, by the time I tried one of these runs, there were lots of tracks from other skiers.  I realized that I had met my match, and I can’t believe that I’m saying that it was too much snow for me. 

How I actually look in deep powder snow

I got stuck, my board was buried, and it took me an extra 15 minutes (it felt like an eternity) to get out of my predicament and to the bottom of the run.  Apparently, my sweet spot for powder is 6-8” – deep enough to float but not too deep to manage turns.  Thankfully there were several runs with this lesser amount, and I was able to find enough to enjoy a few hours of winter bliss.

My fellow quilt guild members do not share my enthusiasm for snow.  Snow days become Sew days.  They would much rather be indoors busily creating in their sewing space or sitting by a toasty fire with some hand work.  Which brings me to this month’s Quilt Block Mania – the theme is “House”.  Since Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, I designed a heart-warming block called Home Sweet Home based on the classic log cabin but with a heart in the center where a red square typically is placed.

My Home Sweet Home block

You can download the pattern here.

This block is easier to construct than you might think – I found a clever way to make the chimney section that doesn’t require any templates – yay!  When I tested my block, I didn’t have 3 shades of tan/brown so I substituted them with pink/plum.  I like it!

This got me thinking about using this block for a scrap quilt, changing out the “log” colors of each block.  Here is my Neighborhood 41” x 53” lap quilt – so fun!

My Neighborhood lap quilt with differently-colored houses

There are 15 other house blocks in this month’s blog tour.  You can find the links here:

Dutch Row Houses by Carolina Moore
Modern House by Crafty Staci
Attic Windows by Scrapdash
Birdhouse by Patchwork Breeze
Home Sweet Home by Patti’s Patchwork
Gnome Home by QuiltFabrication
House Around the Block
Santa’s Candy Shop by Inquiring Quilter
Beacon by Robin Kinley Designs Etc
Castle by Memory Barn Studio
Outhouse by Patchwork River Quilting
School House Quilt Block by Quilting Room with Mel
Ranch House by Emerald Falls Quilts
Gingerbread House by Appliques Quilts and More
Carpenter Nutcracker by Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts
Hill House by A Piece of Quiet Quilts

It would be super fun to switch out one of my Home Sweet Home blocks with the Outhouse block by Kayla of Patchwork River Quilting – it has a tree in it too!  Of course, the Home Sweet Home block would also make a great toss cushion or tote bag panel.

So, back to the “snowiest” word.  Yes, apparently it is a word, and can be used by the Andes Mountains (snowiest place on earth, with an average snowfall of almost 2000”), Japan (snowiest country in the world, followed by Canada) and Aomori, Japan (snowiest city in the world, with an average snowfall of 312”).  Amazingly, all that snow melts in time for Cherry Blossom season in April.  If experiencing this spectacle is on your bucket list (it’s on mine), my friend Michelle of Watergirl Quilt Co is taking a group of quilters on a Japan cruise next April 9 – 21, 2026 during the cherry blossom season.  Even I’ll be ready for Spring by then!

Cheers,

Patti