Those Winter Blues

Birds of a feather...

Just when I thought we were nearing the end… it’s baaack! The cold, the wind, the snow, and the blues/grays of winter have all returned full force on the Canadian prairies, presenting us with the season we all thought had eased up on us this year. “Hah! fooled you!”, says Mother Nature with a little Mona Lisa smile on her lips. In all honesty, until now we had gotten off easy this winter but talk about going out with a bang.

Snuggle together!

We’ve almost run out of bird seed for the feeders once again, but look at how grateful they are, all gathered together for warmth and sustenance. Even the littlest winter birds were fooled into thinking that spring was just around the corner, as they had begun checking out various birdhouses around the yard for nesting possibilities. Now they’ve hunkered down waiting for it to pass. Me, too!

I’ve been utilizing a few strategies to combat those Winter Blues, with some more successful than others. I thought I’d share some with you today, in the hopes of brightening your winter days.

Bake some banana bread

Tip #1 – Spending the morning baking something delicious always cheers me up (it makes everyone in the household happy too) and so I’ve been experimenting with new and old recipes. This week I added fresh blueberries to my old standby banana bread recipe and it turned out extra moist and tasty, with an entire loaf disappearing the very first day! I’ve also gotten into the habit of making my own bread at least once/twice a week and have gotten to the point where I have developed a lovely multigrain loaf that is no fat, low sugar, and absolutely yummy with a thick and crunchy crust.

A bouquet from a friend

Tip #2 – Buy some fresh flowers or a small flowering houseplant as a treat to yourself. It’s amazing how much joy this small act does to chase those midwinter doldrums away. My favourite springtime flowering plant is the hyacinth bulb you can purchase at most grocery stores. As soon as they begin blooming they smell heavenly, and if you save them for after the frost is gone, you can plant them in the garden and they’ll pop up every spring. I have a little collection of them in one flower bed, and I keep adding a few new bulbs to it each year.

Hawaii Pineapple Blossom Wedding Quilt

Tip #3 – Keep on quilting! Work with bright, beautiful, and colourful fabrics that make your heart sing. There’s definitely something extra special about sewing a wedding quilt that is difficult to put into words, but it’s even more wonderful when that quilt is for your eldest son’s upcoming marriage. My firstborn (and the last to get married) turned 38 this year and has been with his beautiful partner for over ten years. At Christmastime they announced their decision to finally tie the knot this summer and I’ve been working on their wedding quilt ever since. I did agonize for a while over what style of quilt to make for them and finally chose Bonnie Hunter’s Pineapple Blossom pattern in a palette of happy yellows, gray, and black for a modern, slightly masculine quilt, reflecting both personalities and their mutual love of Hawaii. Since my son’s birthday is this month, I decided to make this quilt my monthly piecing priority and I’ve been going at it pretty hard and steady to complete 72 blocks by mid month, in the hopes of having the entire top complete by the end of March. I started the month with just 35 blocks done, and as of today, I have only ten blocks left to do and envision myself sewing rows together by next week. I plan to sew a classic border to the quilt, bringing it up to a generous queen size, and I found the perfect fabric for border and binding at my closest local shop, Veronica’s Sewing in Kindersley.  Living a fairly remote, rural life, I tend not to get out to shop many local quilt stores but usually go online to dependable favourite shops for backings and stash building. My biggest ‘in person’ shopping adventures happen at the annual Red Deer quilt show where there are vendors that I have come to rely on and just cannot resist. There is something magical about getting up close and personal with new fabrics and notions that online shopping will never replace :o)

The weather predictions look promising for early next week and I have my fingers crossed that it will warm up enough for me to walk over to the studio, and perhaps get some longarming done (finally). There are deadlines to meet before this month is over and for some odd reason, time seems to be speeding ahead of me more than it usually does. But staying busy truly helps to beat back those winter blues.

Keep watching next week for updates on the wedding quilt and some other special projects I’ve been working on.

As always, happy stitching, carol