eQuilter Blog

Hello to my quilter friends in Winnipeg!
Can't wait to see you at the reception Monday night!

Some of my fellow Polar Bear Tour travelers will join me, so we can have a mingling and comparing of notes, between American and Canadian quilters.

Sunday Oct 19 at 1 pm I will be giving a presentation on International Quilt Trends to the Manitoba Prairie Quilters guild in Winnipeg, at a location near the airport. (My flight home is right after the meeting.)

Next week my group of intrepid travelers will join me on my Polar Bear Tour in Churchill on the shores of Lake Hudson, where the boreal forest meets the tundra. I'll be taking as many photos as I can, but also interested to learn about the rapid changes in the permafrost and arctic environment, and how it is affecting all of the wildlife there.

The Arctic Circle starts at 66.5 degrees latitude, and Churchill is at 58.7 degrees. Churchill is not quite technically within the Arctic Circle, but it has an unusually frigid climate for that latitude, which allows for the type of environment that attracts the polar bears.

So on Monday I will fly about 2 hours north from Denver to Winnipeg, and on Wednesday I will take a charter plane with my group, on almost 3 hours north to Churchill. This community is very remote and it is not easy to get there, especially in the grip of winter. (Late November is when the town freezes over and shuts down, except for the 700 year-round locals and native First Nation citizens.)

You meet some very special people in a place like Churchill, and they have some really good stories about encounters with the bears. In late Fall when the bears stroll through town, waiting for the ice to freeze so they can go hunt seals, they are REALLY hungry because they haven't eaten since last Spring! Hence the bears sometimes will break into a house and clean out the pantry. They will come through the door, the windows, any way they can….if they smell food.

So the local residents have come up with the "Churchill Welcome Mat". It is a 3-foot square piece of plywood with nails pounded through in a grid, about 1 1/2" apart, all pointing up. These "welcome mats" are placed in front of every door and every window, so the bears can't stand up and look inside, and burst into the home. No kidding.

Our hotel is in the center area of town that is patrolled by wildlife rangers constantly, to scare away the bears who wander into town. You can see my photos from last year here. Hopefully I'll get a chance to work on my Curling skills too!

Here in Colorado, we love our mountains, our blue skies and pine forests, and our abundant wildlife. Deer, elk, moose, bears and mountain lions are present in our National Park, and often on the fringes of our town Boulder.

Yesterday I took my mom up in the mountains to see the turning leaves of the golden aspen trees, and just before we left Estes Park, we were delighted to have a herd of elk cross right in front of us on the road.

This handsome fellow was following his herd, uttering the bugling sound of the fall rut. I was very close, but with my telephoto lens I was even closer, so I captured this portrait of a magnificent bull elk as he was bugling.

We carry a variety of fabrics for fellow wildlife lovers, so whether you love North Woods wildlife, woodland creatures, or wild birds, you will find your favorite animals when you search for their names.

Part of being a true Coloradoan is the love of the outdoors, and a hike in the woods on a crisp sunny autumn day is one of the pleasures of living in a Rocky Mountain state. I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of our rugged wilderness and the beautiful wildlife that wanders our mountain ranges.