Winter Is a Perfect Time To Write New Patterns

Fresh designs

The winter to spring season has always been my best time to write new patterns. I get a lot done once the garden has been put to bed and there are generally fewer distractions than in the warmer months.

I get a chance to play with Harry.  He’s not at all keen to spend more than a half hour outside in the cold.  Being stuck inside also gives me time to consider which pattern ideas I’d like to pursue.

So far this winter I’ve been working on two patterns

The new Organizer Duo has simplified my morning make-up routine by keeping all my pots and tubes and brushes handy so I can quickly put on my best face each morning. And when I travel I just zip it up and go! This pattern is now available in paper and in pdf format for your convenience.

There’s also a new pattern to herald spring – but more on that below.

Twilight Quilters Guild

The cold weather months are also a great time to travel to guilds and stores to host day-long bag making workshops and to present my trunk show.

This past week I was invited to the Twilight Quilters Guild in Simcoe, Ontario for an evening meeting where I presented my Developing the Designer in You trunk show. This guild was established in 1994, making it 24 years old, and it meets at the Old Windham Church.

With the help of my husband Rob we quickly had the pop-up shop ready for arriving guild member’s shopping pleasure. The Twilight guild has about 60 perky members who are excited to talk about and look at all things quilty. My trunk show has a good many quilts and oodles of bags, and I always pass the bags into the crowd, so everybody gets a hands-on experience.

Cold sunrise

We spent the night in Simcoe and in the morning we decided to head over to Port Dover for breakfast. Port Dover is about ½ hour from Simcoe on the north shore of Lake Erie.

Have you ever literally had the feeling that your nose is about to freeze right off? That’s how cold it was out near the ice at Port Dover. Free fishing days were coming up a week later for Family Day – don’t ask me how anybody could keep warm long enough to enjoy ice fishing in February at Port Dover or nearby Long Point!

We were in something of a hurry to have breakfast and return home and found a delightful bakery on the main street where we had a quick bite.

And finally, the next new pattern

The morning of the trunk show I had been working on one of my new patterns, a bag. I had managed to finish the prototype and decided to take it along to the guild trunk show for an informal unveiling.

Not having a name for it, I asked the group what they thought about a name. ‘Call it the Norfolk Bag’, said one member. Norfolk is the County that Simcoe is situated in. So, here, for the first time is the Norfolk Bag, its name courtesy of the Twilight Quilters Guild!