Living Greenland

Have a lovely Thanksgiving Day!

I’ve been sitting here for the last three days thinking about whether I would write a blog about my home country’s holiday of “Thanksgiving.” I haven’t really celebrated it here in Greenland. It’s hard to really cook the way I love to cook for the holiday because there are thousands of miles between us and our American family. The other problem is the fact that I cannot get access to products I generally used for this special holiday. Out of all the holidays out there I have loved this one the most. I love the holiday because of how much I enjoy making a huge spread of food that we grazed on for three or four days.

The look on my children’s face was what made it even more special. I knew they would enjoy what was put before them and they knew they would get to enjoy it for more than one day too. I miss those days of cooking and we all sitting down for the main meal and then spending all weekend coming and going from the kitchen with small plates of food while watching movies.

I would start cooking three days before the fourth Thursday of November. First day was spent making an Italian Cream Cake, Cherry Pie, 2 – Pumpkin Pies, cheesecake, and if I had the time I would make Chocolate Chip cookies. On the second day I would make potato salad, deviled eggs, homemade Mac-N-Cheese. I would go ahead and pre-prep a 6 pound chicken by seasoning it and making the cavity ready for stuffing for the next day.

On the Third day I would get up at 4:00am to put the chicken in the oven after having stuffed it. Go back to bed for a couple of hours and then get back up to prep a smoked ham with pineapple rings all over it for closed head baking. Then more work would begin. While the hen was still cooking I would go ahead and prep and boil chicken thighs for giblet gravy along with prepping broccoli for creating a broccoli casserole from. I had an assembly line going on with the oven. Pull finished hen out, put in ham. Pull out finished ham, put in Mac-N-Cheese in. Pull out finished Mac-N-Cheese and place the Broccoli casserole in for baking. While the last item was baking I would start making the gravy for the stuffing. I usually had all the food on the table by around 2:00pm or a little sooner depending on how things went. I would not be to hungry when I sat down to eat because of all the food tasting I did but I still enjoyed it. The kids faces of contentment was well worth all the hard work I put in with making the food for them.

I do miss those days a lot as I have already said but now I’m going to dive into what I really wanted to write about. I’ve been giving some thought to what I have to be thankful for. Life has been a roller coaster since a year before Covid brought the entire world to its knees. I haven’t really written about it and how it has affected my life in general. I hadn’t given it any thought up until now. Generally speaking life has been good. I really cannot complain about it a whole lot but that doesn’t mean things hadn’t gone on. I feel like Covid has changed so much about our world in so many ways. I also feel like our world has become grumpier and meaner. I honestly don’t recognize my home country anymore. I love my country but I do not love what I see is going on. I was raised to be a polite person. I raised my children to be polite and show kindness even when it wasn’t being given to them. Our world lacks kindness. It lacks understanding and it lacks being civil towards fellow human beings when they don’t agree with them.

I realize that I am digressing here but it helps me sometimes to write about things that bother me so that I can make sense of it or at least put it out of my mind after having given some thought to it. Covid has made me leery of getting around people. It’s sad that people who are sick won’t stay home until they are are past the point of where they can spread their illness. I see this a lot on airplanes when I fly. Generally I don’t see it as often on long flights but I definitely do on short haul flights. This is usually where I catch something usually and end up three to five days home bound wherever I’m staying at. My immune system has never been all that strong to begin with due to the aggressive nature of my asthma. Greenland has really had it easy relative to the spreading of covid. Many did what it took to keep it from spreading. That in itself has been a blessing.

The company my “Heart Light” works for has seen challenges as well especially with some of it’s ships. The ship that Nikolaj works on has seen more than it’s share of issues starting out with covid finding its way onboard infecting half the crew while not infecting the rest but that was because the ship was sailed to Nuuk so that the everyone could be quarantined in a hotel. Then there was engine trouble and then to add insult to injury, a big trawler from the private sector crashed into my husband’s ship. This happened in January of this year.

When Nikolaj called me to tell me what had happened, it really upset me a lot. I know as a wife of a sailor, accidents can happen. Sailors can get hurt in so many ways while hauling gear or putting gear in the water. Most don’t get hurt on their ships because safe precautions are mandatory and followed. But never in a million years would I have ever thought another big ship would crash into my husbands ship. The blessing out of all of that is that no one was hurt on board! Everyone was where they needed to be when it happened which saved lives. Sometimes timing does that. It prevents something that could have been way worse. Things have finally started to get more settled again and I am so thankful for that.

I have a lot to be thankful for. This country that I live in is so beautiful! It has brought me peace and healing. I have come to love it as much as I love my home country. I have adapted to this way of life here and it has been nice to live at at a slower pace. This country is rich in culture. I didn’t understand what culture was until I moved here and now I have a deeper understanding of it. It’s sad that there is no culture to be had from either side of my family though. I wish there was one thing I could share culturally about my family but there just isn’t anything.

Back in June I finally decided to pull the trigger and start uploading and posting video’s about Greenland while creating videos about my journey into quilting. It has been exhilarating while being scary at the same time. I didn’t start with a goal for my YouTube channel. I didn’t start out with a goal for my blog as well. What I did want to do over time is to get all my photographs, video’s and writings up where they are so that I have a legacy I can leave for my children and grandchildren. That might not be culture but it will be something that they all will have that can be passed to the next generation. There are over 11,000 photographs on my Flickr web page and now I have a blog to write in and YouTube share more of myself and what I love at the same time.

I didn’t think the channel would do as well as it’s doing in such a short amount of time. The channel hit its first milestone three weeks ago by making it to 1,000 subscriptions. Then two days ago it made it’s second milestone of partial monetization. It’s not that far from the 3^rd milestone as well. The thing is, I cannot take the credit for all of this happening!

My channel has grown because of all those out there that has started supporting it, sharing it, subscribing to it and viewing it. It’s because of all of you that my channel is growing like it is. Yes, I’m creating videos and learning how to go live and learning how to make good videos but that is half of what has to happen to be successful. Viewers watching them are what is making it progress in a positive way. This has been such a blessing and I am so thankful for where it’s going and where it started from. The quilting community is such a lovely group! They are so supportive, understanding, kind and patient. All these traits are how a channel has a chance to grow. Thank you so much to all of you who have been supportive of every step I’ve taken to get where the channel is at right now.

So I am wishing all of you in my home country Happy Thanksgiving!! We all have so much to be thankful for. Never take anything for granted because it can disappear in a matter of a day. I’ll be thinking of all of you as you enjoy sitting down with family to consume a nice long feast day! Remember to savor the food. Enjoy it for it’s taste and luxuriate in that!

Please remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel as well as view videos. Don’t forget to comment to this blog below and like as well. The more viewers I have the more likely others will stumble across it and read as well.

Touch the Mind, Kiss the Heart, Embrace the Soul, Live, Laugh, Love & Dream!
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Friendship Quilt Block

Don’t forget to like and subscribe. Help my (Greenland Quilter) channel grow. Thank you so much to all who have currently been supporting my channel. It feels good to know so many have my back right now as I learn how to navigate making a good channel that people will enjoy. Now to the meat of the blog. (Stay tuned for a recorded Tutorial as well as another live for sewing.)

Below is some information on how to make the Friendship Block. Keep in mind this isn’t exactly a pattern. It’s more of a suggestion on how to do it based on how I made it.

I opened a 20-piece fat quarter bundle of batiks. I’m going to use 18 of the 20. I might change my mind and use less or I might add the two back. I will see how that goes as I’m progressing with the construction of it. I will share updates as I continue making it as well. I will add the updates at the bottom of this blog post so keep your link so that when I announce an update, you can come and have a look.

Onward to some information:
Choose your fabric or precuts.

I made 3” finished HST using HST paper. I cut 3 1/2” squares for the center. Now if you want to use the same size, here is the information you will need if you’re doing it
from precuts or yards.

For those who will make HST from fabric or precuts, cut the fabric into 3 7/8” squares. You will need two per HST. Draw lines on the back of one that is a 1/4” from the center line on both sides. Sew down the ¼ lines on both sides of the center line. You will need 8 HSTs and one square for each block.

You will need to also cut squares for the center of the star. I made 3 1/2″ ones for the center of my star.

The next thing you will do is align the HSTs around the single square. See graphic.
Once you have it all lined up properly you will sew two at a time together from each row. You can do it vertically or horizontally. Just make sure you press and place it back into your alignment so that you don’t accidentally turn an HST the wrong
way.

The next thing you will need to do is decide how many blocks you want to run horizontally per row. You can determine this by measuring your unfinished block. Then you would have to account for what size it will be in as a finish block. Take the numbers of the finished block times how many blocks you intend to make on each row. That will give you an estimation of how wide and long your quilt will be. Or you can do what I’m doing and just go with the flow and measure it when you’ve reached the number of blocks per row that you’re happy with. Also, make sure those corner HST are butted up against each other. If that is not happening, then your HST was turned in the wrong direction.

I hope this gives you enough information to get started. As stated above, I will be working on the video tutorial as well as setting up my next YouTube live to do some sewing together while you watch or sew along with me. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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“Plants Are My Super Power”

The blog is about the first time blooming of my Hoya. The blossoms are so perfect and pristine. They almost look like they are made from wax. It also has a nice cent to it. Some of the pods still hasn't opened but I'm sure the rest will soon. Nature creates such beautiful perfect things.

This blog is about the first time blooming of my Hoya plant. Nature makes such beautiful perfect things. The blossoms look like they are made from wax. The blog is about how I became involved with growing plants as well.

NOTE: I have written things that some may find uncomfortable. I cannot help that since so much is tied to those things and it is part of what has made me who I am. To leave out this would be like lying. Also, if you have the time, please subscribe and like. It will help my blog grow. 🙂 🙂

There are a few people who have known me for at least 75% of my life. If you asked them to say one thing about me what would it be? Kathy has a green thumb. That would be a true statement too. It’s my superpower. When I was eleven our parents took us to Georgia to see my dad’s sister. It was the only time I had met her. In that very short time as an eleven-year-old, the first thing I noticed was all her beautiful plants and she had a beautiful afghan on her sofa. All I remember saying is, “I sure wish I could grow those kinds of plants and also learn how to crochet.” My Auntie Lena sat down and showed me some basic crocheted stitches and made sure I could do them. She gave me a ball of yarn and a crochet hook. I still have that crochet hook to this day. The hook has been in my possession for 50 years!

The other thing she did was take me outside to see her plants. She took some clippings from a really colorful coleus, put the stems in a wet paper towel, and then that was put into a bag so that it could stay moist. She told me how to plant them when I got home. I planted them and nurtured them and that was when I realized I loved plants. Before I knew it, the number of ornamental plants had grown in numbers, We were living in Christmas Florida then so when my parents decided to sell their place and move us to North Florida, I literally shoved as many potted plants as I could get away with into the U-Haul truck after all our belongings had been loaded.

I couldn’t leave them. I loved them so much and they brought me such peace and happiness. Growing plants because an escape that helped me cope with all the bad things that were going on in my life during my adolescent – and teenage years. We moved to North Florida and from there my plant growing grew even larger.

When I was fourteen I had a part-time job working at a cactus nursery. I learned so much from the owner of that nursery. I learned about all different types of cactus and we had a neighbor who was going to Lake City Community College to study Landscape Design. He had seen my plant collection outside in our yard and that is when he started mentoring me too. Before I knew it, I had around 300 different species of plants & cactus. One day my father being the mean ass that he was decided to come out and inform me that I had a week to get rid of every last one of them. He told me that I loved my plants more than God, and our family and that I was to give them up. If I didn’t he would burn them all.

I felt like something inside me was dying as I gave them away to people who I knew loved them. My father literally squashed something I was good at in a matter of days and he didn’t care that he had caused more damage that day than a lot of what he had already done.

About a year later the man across the street who had been mentoring me, teaching me all I could soak up about plants even though I wasn’t allowed any plants, came to our house. He spoke to my parents and he told them that I was gifted and he couldn’t understand why I wasn’t allowed to have them. He told my parents he had graduated from the program and he wanted to give me one plant to remember him by. He asked my father to allow that one plant. Strangely enough, my dad told him okay.

When we moved to a different house, I still had that one plant. It was a ponytail. I ended up with more plants again and for whatever reason my father allowed me to have a greenhouse in the backyard and that was where I kept a fairly good-sized collection by the time I graduated from high school. I practically lived in it, (not really) but I spent a lot of time out there tending to them, and talking to them. It was such a place to escape reality for a while.

I had decided I wanted to go to college and sign up for the Landscape Design course that was offered out there. That didn’t sit well with my dad. No girl should be in that type of program especially because of the religion our parents made us a part of. He was really making it hard to continue to live under their roof as an almost 19-year-old. The greenhouse kept me there but one day I realized I couldn’t continue to live in the atmosphere that I was living in. I tried to take what plants I could and had to leave the rest. They all died in a hard freeze during the late winter when I had left. I still had that ONE plant given to me. I had taken it with me. (Pony Tail) I had the Ponytail up until 12 years ago when I moved to Greenland. It was 38 years old when I gave it to a friend who lived in South Florida.

A lot of things happened after I left home that got in the way of trying to get a degree in Landscape Design. I eventually earned an Associate of Arts Degree in Landscape Technology along with an Associate of Arts degree in Fine Arts. I wanted to continue to a four-year degree but again life got in the way with things happening beyond my control.

I’ve been through a lot over the years but my love of plants has not stopped. Even though I live in Greenland, I still have plants. I don’t have the numbers I had in Florida but what I do have I’m so very thankful for. I wrote about all this today because the one Hoya I have left that hadn’t died while I was stuck in California last year has finally produced a peduncle that now has a cluster of very tiny blossoms. They are so beautiful! I’m so happy to see this has happened. I decided to write about this, only it seems I got off to a strange start in my writing by talking about my childhood and how I came about being a Master Gardener. So down below there is going to be some salty writing about why humans find the need to change what nature creates so beautifully.

Look at the picture of the Hoya blossom. Look how perfect it is! Nature gives us such beautiful plants and animals and sunsets and icebergs and many other things and yet humans find the need to turn them into something else. Why? Are humans that superficial?

Okay, be forewarned because now the writing is going to go down a different path and subject.

I think I have to write about this because there are many less plant-savvy people out there in our world. Not by any fault of their own.

The last couple of times I went home to see my adult children and their children I noticed in Walmart, Home Depot, and Lowe’s that the cactus they were selling had what looked like flowers on them! I have also seen them in Denmark and now here in Greenland.

The flowers are fake, the the producers who grow and sell the cactus injure the cactus with this method of hoping that their decorations will help sell the cactus faster or sell more of it! I’ve also seen cactus totally covered in paint.

First off injuring a cactus is bad enough. But to put those out on the market to sell to unsuspecting people who don’t realize that those injuries could cause rot on the cactus. So basically the cactus are being sold as if they are disposable! There is no fine print on the label stating “This cactus might die due to wounds inflicted by humans who are stupid enough to put the fake crap on them in order to sell them for a higher price and more of them!

It’s ridiculous that we as humans can’t be satisfied with what nature gives us without primping them up to make them more ideal for the human eye. Eye Candy!

I would not spend one penny on any of the cactus just for that reason because why would I want to pay a high price for a cactus that has been compromised? Why do people buy them like this? Do they not understand that it’s fake?

I bought what I thought was a Bird of Paradise plant in Flower. I didn’t think to touch the flower when I bought it. I had that damn plant an entire year and I kept thinking, how it is possible for it to bloom for months on end while the plant hardly grew at all. One day I decided I would look at the root ball so I was trying to be careful not to damage the flower when I turned the plant upside down to remove the pot. The damn flower fell out and that is when I discovered it was a freaking FAKE!!!

It would be nice if none of us spent money on what is done to these plants in order to sell them. The producers are ripping people off!

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Cotton Cuts “Carnival Mystery” Hot Air Balloon

The Fall Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery 2023 has started! I am so excited about being a part of the 2023 Fall Cotton Cuts Fall Mystery QAL called “Carnival”. I chose two colorways. The first one is Bomb Pop (Large) and Hot Air Balloon (Large). Something to make a note of on your calendar is the upcoming 2024 Spring PMQ (Puzzle Mystery QAL). Sign ups will begin on December 1, 2023. Clue 1 will begin shipping on February 1^st 2024.

While you are reading this or right afterwards could you please tell me where you are viewing from and ask any questions you might have about the Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery program. Also, to help my blog and channel “Greenland Quilter,” could you like and subscribe please? It will really help my new channel and blog get out on the algorithms that post our sites. I can use all the help that I can get! I thank you ahead of time and I appreciate so much that you took the time to read and view both my blog and my YouTube Channel “Greenland Quilter.”

I chose Bomb Pop for its colors as well as the whole colorway is batiks. I love batiks! The fabric colors are from Hoffman Fabrics Bali Batiks and Dots. I will be creating a separate blog. I’m also participating in a YouTube collaboration with Sean from “The Guy Who Sews.” We are going to have a lot of fun sewing together live while viewers watch. If you’re a Carnival detective, stay tuned for October 14th, 2023 starting at 8:00 am EST for our live sewing of Clue 3 of Carnival.

My second choice is Hot Air Balloon. I decided to sign up for one that is a bit outside of my usual color and comfort zone. I think I made a wise choice. The colors are really nice and I think it’s going to make a beautiful quilt. Hot Air Balloon colorway is from “Fairfield by Whistler Studios for Windham Fabrics.” I will be making blogs for this colorway.

Cotton Cuts Carnival Hot Air Balloon colorway brochure

Cotton Cuts Carnival Tips and Tricks brochure

So I’m going to talk a little bit about the Puzzle Mystery Program along with share some pics of Clue one from beginning to end. Each month a detective will receive a clue. You won’t know what it will turn into since it’s clues, not blocks. You can try over time to guess how it looks if you’re up for that task!

In clue one you will receive your colorway brochure. Make sure you don’t lose it because it has important information in it along with on the back it has your labeled colorway. You will need this in order to complete the task each month. Also take a cell phone photo of it just in case you misplace it.

Cotton Cuts Carnival Important information Brochure

Cotton Cuts Carnival Hot Air Balloon Brochure

Inside the brochure you will have some tips and tricks for fulfilling the task set for each clue. Also included inside the brochure are release dates for each clue along with information on what to do if your clue has an issue or a missing piece. Cotton Cuts customer service is impeccable and they will always make whatever is wrong right. 🙂 🙂 You can also email cotton cuts if you have a question by using help@cottoncuts.com.

There are two Facebook groups that you can join as well. The first one is the Cotton Cuts Fabric page and the other is the Mystery Quilter group. Both groups are there for you to ask questions along with to post your clues as you finish them. Participating is a great way to make friends not to mention Cotton Cuts is always hosting activities to keep us all engaged as we go through each month completing our clues.

Cotton Cuts Carnival Hot Air Balloon labeled layout

Cotton Cuts Carnival Hot Air Balloon Clue 1a & 1b completed.

Don’t forget to use your “Flat Nancy” link to post your pics and answer some questions. If you’re doing more than one colorway, you can post them all via the link as well as on Facebook and Instagram and whatever other social media platform you use. Make sure you use the #TeamHotAirBalloon (or your colorway) on your post so that we all can see what you’ve been working on. Also use the hashtag #CottonCuts and #CCFlatNancy

Cotton Cuts Carnival Hot Air Balloon Clue 1A

Cotton Cuts Carnival Hot Air Balloon Clue 1B

Every month Cotton Cuts will give away ten gift cards to the shop. If you post every month to the Flat-Nancy contest, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a FREE PMQ for the fall of 2024. How cool is that!!!! So please do participate. There are many activities that Cotton Cuts provides so that we as sewers can win something from time to time! Also, PMQ detectives participate in a free Zoom sew meeting every third Thursday of the month. Make sure you check in the Cotton Cuts Fabric FB and Mystery Quilters FB for the link. If you can’t find it, post in either group and one of us will be there to help!

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Yvette of Yvette Renee Creations

I am so excited to finally share a secret with everyone. I have a new video interview with a special lady who has influenced many quilt creators in the quilting industry. She was one of Cotton Cut’s first ambassadors and she’s known for her love of paper piecing. She loves and wants to be known for paper piecing as well as teaching it! Please say hello to Yvette in the comments section of the video when it premieres and share with all of us where you are viewing from!

The video goes live September 19th, 2023 at 6:00 PM Mountain time, 8:00 PM EST and 10:00 Greenland Time. Please come and say hello and comment below the video where you are viewing from. “Exploring The Yvette Renee channel’s Quilting Journey”

Yvette started making quilts in 2001. A friend of hers influenced her to want to start making quilts. The first thing Yvette did was go and buy her first machine which is a Baby Lock Ellure. She still has the machine but has added the Baby Lock Crescendo to the quilting family.

Over time Yvette discovered her love of Paper Piecing. She has started making her own paper piecing patterns as well as started her “Piecing It Real” online community. She really loves paper piecing and wants it to blossom into something huge. She really loves to teach paper piecing as well.

Yvette started her YouTube channel (TheYvetteRenee) in 2016. One of her cats who is called Jelly Bean loves to parade often in front of the camera when Yvette is filming or goes live to sew. I think he’s in love with the camera!

When Yvette started her channel, she started out unboxing all kinds of subscription boxes. It is because of this I became interested in Quilting. She was opening a Cotton Cuts Classic Box, FQS Sew Sampler Box, Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery QAL, and Sweet Water’s Quilt label subscription.

Yvette was Cotton Cuts 1^st ambassador. What an honor to be one of the first to start making tutorials of the Puzzle Mystery QAL. Her first PMQ was the “This Way and That Way” QAL, Team Ballet.

Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery, "This Way and That Way" Team Ballet

Her second PMQ was the “Stratford,” Team Viola.

Over time Yvette started having live sew-alongs and created short tutorials. She really loves to share her knowledge of paper piecing through teaching and tutorials. The thing that Yvette loves the most is teaching through her Piecing It Real online membership. She also hosts online virtual sewing retreats as well.

Thank you so much Yvette for sitting down to have a conversation with me. I really enjoyed it! To learn more about Yvette go to my YouTube Video “Behind the Scenes With Yvette.” Also please like the blog and comment on where you’re reading the blog from as well as Like & Subscribe to my YouTube channel (Greenland Quilter) to help it grow. I thank you ahead of time! 🙂 🙂 🙂

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Signals of Spring in South Greenland

I have always loved Spring and Fall. Spring the most because I get to watch nature come alive after a perpetually long winter. The first couple of months of winter I have come to love, especially when the first few snowfalls happen but after a while, I want to hurry up and get to spring. I think it’s the Florida girl in me. Spring blasts in loudly in Florida. Here in South Greenland, spring eases in.

One of the things I’ve noticed over the past twelve years is how there are small signals and larger-than-life signals of spring here in South Greenland.

One of the smaller signals is when you see the first green foliage popping up where areas of snow have already thawed. Dandelions are the first to shoot up new growth it seems. You could walk by it on a Tuesday and see only foliage and then walk back by it on a Wednesday to see flower buds already on the plant! It always amazes me how fast plants go from being dormant to in full bloom within days. Must be all those long hours of sunshine during the summer months!

Then the march through spring starts to show up all over the town with different kinds of flowers everywhere. I’ve noticed that for some years Lupines have exponentially bloomed everywhere.

While a different year has an abundance of white daisy flowers everywhere during spring and summer. It’s interesting every year to see which plants flower the most while others are mediocre.

Some examples of other plants that grow here in Qaqortoq, Greenland

I think that it has a whole lot to do with how our winter months are and how spring and summer is. Lots of rain tends to produce more of something while other times when there hasn’t been rain for weeks other plants do better. Our weather is definitely changing here which has caused secondary changes in our weather and how it affects Greenland overall.

Standing in front of our harbor packed with ice.

The second thing is icebergs or sea ice. This year we had sea ice as far as the eye could see in both directions of our fjord. It always amazes me how it turns into a traffic ice jam. Nothing can get in or out if it’s jammed up tightly against each other.

I always see boats trying though. Sea ice signals the hunting of seals for hunters who add seal meat to their food table. This is a way of life. Hunting of seals dates all the way back to the Saqqaq age. Once the ice leaves usually we start to see Cod fishing commencing as well.

The ice tends to stick around for about a month to six weeks. Most folks are ready for it to leave so that boats and ships can come and go here. I have taken some magnificent photos of icebergs in the fjord as well. I’m hoping we’ll see some next year since there have been so few of them this year. 🙂 🙂

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Living Greenland – Kalaalit Nunaat – Land of the People

Greenland Quilter Channel

I’ve been thinking a lot about how my channel is progressing. First off I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for subscribing and watching my videos! It means so much to me and my “Heart Light.” I’m really happy with how it’s going while learning a lot and I have a whole lot more to learn while creating and editing videos to share online.

Let’s get down to business first before I finish writing what I want to share with you for the future of my channel.

Currently, my channel has reached 365 subs. I’m 135 away from 500 subscribers. So I’m going to make a challenge. I challenge all of you to help me reach my first milestone of 500. If I make it to the 500+ mark by September 30th, 2023, I will do two giveaways. 1st one will be for a $30.00 and a $15.00 USD gift card from Amazon, Fat Quarter Shop, or Missouri Star. Winners get to choose which place they would like the gift card from. Help our channel out by liking and subscribing or even making comments. Comment about where you are viewing my videos from. I’m really interested in that. I will go live to do the giveaway. I will let you know when that will be set for.

Next: I would love it if y’all would post down below about what you would like to see me make videos about. Since I’m so new to doing this, try to make it simple enough that I won’t have to struggle. As my skill set improves we can go for more later down the road. Share your ideas/suggestions with me! 🙂 🙂 🙂

I’m going to finally talk about why I started the channel to begin with along with my blog. Over the past year, I have had this burning desire to get my videos of the past online along with writing blogs. I want to have all of this up and going so that if something ever happens to me, my children and grandchildren have a way to watch videos and read what I’ve written about along with the photography. The pandemic really made me realize how precarious our lives are in the grander scheme of things. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Currently, I use three different platforms which I post photos, videos, and writing on.

Between me and my “Heart Light,” we have over 12 years’ worth of videos. Most of them are from here in Greenland. I have tons of photographs that aren’t on Flickr or my Facebook that are still in Florida. On my next trip to the USA, I’m going try my best to get those all rounded up and brought home to Greenland so that I can start scanning and uploading those to my Flickr page too.

As many of you know, my channel consists of a few subjects with Quilting being the main one and Living in Greenland the other. Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks concerning a video that will be with me and my “Heart Light”. We will be discussing how we became a couple and what it took to make that happen. I am married to an amazing human being. He’s given me a beautiful life that I never thought could happen. So we’re going to tell you our story.

Also, this week I will be posting another interview premiere. I am super stoked about this one since I got an interview with a lovely person who has influenced many people into getting into making quilts, subscribing to subscriptions from Cotton Cuts Classic Cuts box, Fat Quarter Shop’s Sew Sampler box, Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery QAL and Sweet Waters Quilt label. Who do you think I interviewed? Comment on who you think it might be! 🙂 🙂

In closing. I’m so thankful for all of you who watch my videos and read my blogs!

Greenland Quilter

My photographs on Flickr

Living Greenland Facebook page

Northern Lights in South Greenland

Northern Lights over Tasersuaq – Qaqortoq Greenland 09/13/2023

So what are the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) that are seen in the Arctic Circle? Greenland is one of the best places to see Northern Lights. I live in South Greenland and I have lived here for twelve years. Every fall through winter Northern lights can be seen all over Greenland. Northern Lights happen year-round however, they cannot be seen during the day. They seem their strongest in the more northern regions of Greenland.

They also are best seen where there is no light noise and the sky is dark and clear. Since I live south of the Arctic Circle (60° N) Northern Lights aren’t always that strong and hard to photograph. Last night September 13^th, 2023 was an exception!

Northern lights occur when particles from the sun become electrically charged as they hit Earth’s atmosphere. Because of this, it creates light with changing colors. I love how Mother Nature makes such beautiful and unique spectacles on our planet.

Greenlanders of the past had quite an imagination and legend has it that the dancing northern lights in the night sky means that the dead are playing football with the skull of a Walrus. In today’s world, some groups believe if their children are conceived when the Northern Lights are active, they believe it will make their children more intelligent.

To see videos of Greenland go to Greenland Quilter.

To see more photographs of Greenland visit my Flickr page.

Crazy Weather Forces Helicopter Flight to Turn Back

When we boarded our Air Greenland plane we had heard that the weather in South Greenland had started the day out with rain, clouds, and fog. The pilot told us that if the weather was bad enough, we might end up in Iceland for the evening. This is nothing new with Greenlandic weather though. Especially in the Spring and Fall months. The weather because precariously volatile at times. It could be the wind being ferocious or the fog so thick you can barely see in front of you. I have watched the fog many times cross across our lake like a giant caterpillar so tall and thick that you couldn’t see through it as it inched across the lake. It is very interesting to look at for sure.

We had really good weather when we left Copenhagen along with as we passed Iceland. Once we started inland in Greenland, it started out sunny, and then before you knew it there were clouds everywhere and I could also see the fog.

Our pilot gave us an update about the weather and whether or not we will land in Narsarsuaq. We probably circled Narsarsuaq several times before we noticed there was a break in the fog & clouds to allow for a landing. It was raining quite a bit when we landed too.

We weren’t scheduled to fly home in the helicopter until around 3:30pm Greenland time so when that happens we like to go walking around outside so that I can enjoy the landscape. But that day we couldn’t because it was raining and we had no rain gear.

When we boarded the helicopter we were told that if the fog was too thick we would be turning back to return back to Narsarsuaq. We were out about 18 minutes when the pilot had to make the decision to turn back.

We finally boarded a boat around 6:00 pm and headed home. Going by boat takes about 2 hours. I didn’t get any video because there was just too much fog and cloud cover and it was also raining. No way to go out and take photos or create videos, unfortunately.

We were just glad to get home. We were already experiencing jet lag because Denmark is four hours ahead of Greenland time so we were ready to chill and get in bed.

The above photograph is of the fog wall I was referencing above. I did make a video while we were on the helicopter and I will share the link below for that as well. Oh, there is one other thing. Can you please like my blog post and maybe subscribe to it as well. It would really help me out a lot.

Crazy Weather Forces Helicopter Flight to Turn Back

Living Greenland Facebook Page

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What happens when 2 Cotton Cuts Superfans meet & chat?

Premiere for “What happens when two Cotton Cuts superfans chat?” on Wednesday, August 9^th, 2023 @ 7:30pm EST.

This is Martha of Martha’s Creative Life. I had a lovely chat with her the other day while we created a recorded video about her. It was a lot of fun. Martha loves being in her sewing space while learning to make quilts along with creative sewing projects. Her motto is “A finished project is better than an unfinished project.”

We talked a lot about the Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery and Cotton Cuts Gnhomes program that she has been enjoying. Martha considers herself to be a Cotton Cuts Superfan! She loves all things Cotton Cuts. She is Cotton Cuts ambassador for the Gnomes sewing program. Martha also told me that Sean of “The Guy Who Sews” has been a wonderful mentor. She told me he’s helped her a lot with the learning process.

Cotton Cuts Gnomes Subscription — **Cotton Cuts Gnomes**

Piazza - Team Duomo — **Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery – Piazza – Team Duomo**

Just in case you couldn’t find the link for the video to our Premiere, Click on this: “What Happens When Two Cotton Cuts Superfans Chat?”

So who is Cotton Cuts?

Cotton Cuts works really hard to deliver high-quality products while trying to inspire creativity in the quilting community. Cotton Cuts believes in promoting all walks of quilters instead of trying to only make a profit. CC supports job creation along with giving back to the community. The Cotton Cuts team loves what they do and strives to keep growing as they do.

Cotton Cuts has several types of subscriptions along with a shop where fabric and notions can be purchased as well. Oh, there is one other thing. Can you please like my blog post and maybe subscribe to it as well. It would really help me out a lot. Can you press that like button and subscribe to help my blog, please? I thank you ahead of time!

Becca from Sew Becca & Friends

Video premiers August 2^nd, 2023 at 7:30 pm (19:30) Eastern Standard Time

I’m so excited to be able to share an exciting interview with Becca of Sew Becca and Friends. Becca is a YouTube content creator as well as a Quiltmaker. I was watching a YouTube video creator Yvette Renee one night as she did a couple of unboxing. One was the Cotton Cuts Classic box and then she talked about the Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery program and mentioned Sew Becca. She had mentioned that Becca was also making PMQ clues. I decided to look up Becca on YouTube to see what her video content was about. This is how I came to get to know Becca. The premiere of Sew Becca’s interview video is scheduled for August 2nd, 2023 at 7:30PM Eastern Standard Time. Stayed tuned and hope to see you there to chat live as we all watch the video together!!!

Becca is also a mother, a sister, a wife, and a friend to many. Becca liked crafting such as scrapbooking and beading. At the time she wasn’t all that interested in sewing but then that changed later. Becca started sewing small things with a friend, but then her mother mentioned something about making a blanket for all the grandchildren for Christmas. She created a sandwich out of a panel to make her first quilt. This is where it all started.

Becca has a longarm quilting machine as well as a Juke machine she uses for quilt piecing. She also has a Facebook group called Becca and Friends. Along with this, she has a website “Sew Becca” where you’ll find out more about Becca, her shop, and the VIP club. The VIP club works like a club with club dues (more or less). To be a member you pay $5.00 a month. A member gets to be a part of a once-a-month Zoom sew day as well as a quarterly virtual retreat. Members get free patterns that Becca designs as well. Best ever club perks! The quilt to the right is an example of one of her patterns.

Moda Love Charm Quilt

Sew Yeah Quilting hosted a Virtual class for learning how to make the Moda Love Quilt.

Becca was our instructor and she did a super job! She walked us through all the steps and ensured no quilter was left behind. She is really good at teaching us how to do things!

I used batiks including the white background. I will put a border around it and then go ahead and move forward quilting it.

I’m pleased with how it turned out.

The fabric used was purchased from Missouri Star Quilt Company, Fat Quarter Shop, and Sew Yeah Quilting.

#SewBecca
#FatQuarterShop
#SewYeahQuilting

I really enjoyed interviewing Becca while creating a video to share with everyone so that you can learn more about Becca!

Sugaridoo Happy Notes

I have been so excited and looking forward to finally receiving my own copy of Sugaridoo’s Happy Notes Quilt book! Irene is so talented and I love how she uses bright happy colors to share her love of happiness. I learned about Sugaridoo because I participated in a year-long QAL called Sugaridoo Bernina QAL. Down below you will see a photo of the QAL I participated in. I have made a box opening over on my “Living Greenland” Youtube channel.

I participated in the year-long Sugaridoo Bernina QAL and I learned some new skills and had a good time making my quilt top. I have named it Northern Lights. I used all Batiks including the background. I am so proud of my masterpiece and I was so new to quilt piecing. I learned how to do reverse applique, paper piecing, foundation paper piecing, and sewing triangles side by side (that task was super hard for me because I am angle challenged) but because some of the members in the group, they helped me work through what was holding me back and I finally persevered and made it through the Delta row. I still haven’t quilted it yet because I just haven’t found the right backing for it and I’m going to send it to a quilter I know that will make it look as special as it already does.

Sugaridoo Bernina QAL - "Northern Lights"

So when I opened the shipping box, the book along with other contents was wrapped in tissue paper. The shipping box was perfect for shipping since it kept the book safe from harm. Thank you, Irene!

This is the first time I have ever owned a 1^st edition quilt book not to mention it also having been signed. I am so happy about it!

Also, the information that comes inside every book about when it was published along with all other information is located next in the book. It shows that it is the first edition along with the month and year of publication! Not every day a person can get their hands on a 1^st edition of any kind of book.

The book opens up into a colorful table of contents. It shows beautiful graphics along with the titles of each chapter. I really like how Irene created such a happy colorful book.

There is a chapter covering supplies that are needed for making the quilt blocks from the book.

There is a chapter covering the fabric colors Irene will be using for the QAL.

In another chapter, there is coverage of the QAL and what it will look like.

Paper Piecing pattern sheet for the Camera quilt pattern and the ice cream, Yes please quilt.

Paper piecing pattern sheet for the Camera / Ice Cream Pattern

Here’s something very cool! This year Sugaridoo is going to create a 24-day advent holiday box! I think that will be fun to participate in.

I also received a small package of Paper Piecing Tea paper. I have never tried this so it will be a first time using it.

Over all the book has been beautifully created and it’s so colorful and happy. One couldn’t help but feel happy while reading it. I am looking forward to the QAL that will start out of the book as well! Thank you Irene of Sugaridoo! Sugaridoo also has a blog!

Cotton Cuts PMQ 1st Timers

Way back when in 2017 I came across a YouTube creator (Yvette Renee) who was sharing an unboxing of Cotton Cuts Classic Box. Back then I signed up for the Cotton Cuts Classic Box. Later, I became more receptive to YouTube creators who were sharing their unboxing of all things quilt-related. I came across a video about the Cotton Cuts Puzzle Mystery QAL. At the time I was so new to quilting that I had no idea what I was getting into but I really wanted to become involved so that I could learn how to make quilts and gain a skill set in the process of learning.

This blog is going to be about the first PMQ starting with my own along with sharing others who have shared their first PMQs photos with me so that I can write them into a blog. This is in celebration of the Puzzle Mystery Quilt along and how it has brought so many of us together while creating new friendships as well as becoming more involved with future PMQ endeavors. In late fall of 2018, I signed up for the Spring 2019 Stratford – “Team Titania”.

At the time I was sewing on a small Singer Talent and I was so new to making quilts. I really had a strong desire to learn. I didn’t complete it with everyone else at the beginning because I was really struggling with the sewing machine I was using but I had about 75% of it finished. After a year of that, my “Heart Light” bought me a Janome 6700P. I have to say the machine made me feel a bit intimidated but once I began to sew on it, there was no turning back once I got started. My skills as a sewer have improved so much because of it and also because I continued to participate in more PMQs, which also improved my sewing skills. I love the Puzzle Mystery Quilt program. Cotton Cuts has simplified it so much that all a person has to do is follow each month’s clue instructions by just sewing. A person doesn’t have to decide on what fabrics to buy, measure, or even cut. It’s all precut and ready for sewing! By month ten a beautiful quilt top is built from all the clues.

To start off the list of first PMQs from people we will start with the owner of Cotton Cuts – Kim Moos. Her first PMQ was from the Spring 2017 – “All A Glow” – Team Boardwalk Fun If you want to learn more about Kim Moos of Cotton Cuts, come over and watch Part 1 and Part 2 of an interview I have conducted with Kim. There will be more installments as we dig deeper into Cotton Cuts.

Jennifer Lee Merkley – (Fall 2022: Piazza – Team Duomo (small) “While I’m an experienced quilter, I struggled to find my motivation again after Covid, a rough pregnancy, and adjusting to life as a parent to a newborn. I found out about the PMQ and it felt like the perfect way to motivate myself to sew again. And it worked. I was hooked and fell in love. Village Green will be my 3rd PMQ!”

Brianna Robeck-Schwartz: Fall 2020 “Are You Game” – Team Catan

Lisa Turner – Fall 2021 “Olympia” – Team Scott

Trish Read – Spring 2017 “All A Glow” – Team Sedona Sunset

Lindsey Endris – Spring 2022 “Sew Sweet” – Team Abelskiver

Jossalin Newsom – Spring 2022 “Sew Sweet” – Team Red Velvet ” I honestly don’t remember how I found these, but I’m hooked. Had to skip Village Green, but making up for it with two Carnivals… maybe 3 if they reopen Ferris Wheel “

Janice Wagner – Fall 2022 – “Piazza” Team Valle (Small) Using Michael Miller Marine Metallics

Autumn Ela – Fall 2022 “Piazza” Team Vittorio

Margaret Mager – Fall 2021 “Olympia” – Team Scott

Marie Singer: Spring 2022 – “Sew Sweet” – Team Beignet – “I love batiks!”

Deb Fothergill – Fall 2022 – “Piazza” Team Miracolli (Large) “I have just finished quilting my first PMQ. I am now looking forward to binding it! I am an experienced sewer from NZ who pieces and quilts my own quilts, but I have only recently been introduced to Sheila’s designs and the PMQ concept and after finishing this one I’m hooked. I absolutely adore the ease of the piecing, and how well they go together. I have since started two colorways of Village Green and I am looking forward to starting the latest, “Carnival”. I am obsessed!” 🙂 🙂

Ashley Ledford – Spring 2022 “Sew Sweet” – Team Blueberry Cake “This is my first PMQ. I still need to quilt it! I’ve been a regular participant ever since.

Krista Cline – Fall 2020 – “Are You Game” – Team Candyland

Katrina Kuegel – Spring 2021 – “Sparkle and Shine” – Team Garnet “I gifted it to my niece.”

Mel Heimo Meister – Spring 2020 – “Name of the Rose” Team Colorific

Drusilla Tostenson – Spring 2021 – “Sparkle and Shine” Team Jasper” Drusilla made her first quilt at age 90+. What a wonderful accomplishment!

Gretta Soble – Spring 2017 – “All A Glow” – Team Boardwalk Fun. “I received an invitation from Kim Moos to check out Cotton Cut’s new PMQ and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Anna Rootbeer – Spring 2021 – “Sparkle and Shine” – “I did this quilt but not during the mystery quilt period, and Sheila Christensen Quilt Designer also advised me on the right fabrics to suit my friend’s wishes. I think it came out great!”

In honor of “Mary Jo LaLonde” – Fall 2020 – “Are You Game” – Team Labyrinth (Krista Cline; “I found Cotton Cuts PMQ through Sew Becca’s Youtube channel. I started it when clue 3 had already been sent out. I enjoyed how quick and easy it was to do each clue, so I shared it with my mom and that’s how she became a detective. One of the things we enjoyed sharing is this project along with choosing a different colorway that we loved and seeing how the same quilt came out differently. ” What a beautiful relationship!

Heather Bennett Ohye – Spring 2021 – “Sew Sweet” – Team Blueberry “My sister, Gretta Soble introduced me to the PMQs. Loved this and now I’m hooked!” 🙂 🙂

Spring 2021 – “Sparkle and Shine” (Team Pearl) “I chose this colorway because it was outside of my comfort zone. I usually gravitate towards floral prints that are more colorful. This colorway was so different with all the geometric prints and neutral colors.” Fallon from “Sew Be It Quilts“

Yvette was Cotton Cuts, 1^st ambassador. What an honor to be one of the first to start making tutorials of the Puzzle Mystery QAL. Her first PMQ was the “This Way and That Way” QAL, Team Ballet.

Fall 2021 – “Olympia” Team Valerie

Dani from Sew Not An Expert

Linda Feris
Sparkle and Shine, Spring 2021, Team Amber was my very first one. I found out about Cotton Cuts PMQ on a Facebook quilting thread. Someone posted a link on a thread and I followed it and was instantly intrigued. Since I was late in signing up, there were few options for me to choose from, but I was very happy with the Amber colorway. I made a mistake in the borders, but only one person ever noticed. I gave it to a long-time friend of at least 50 years. He is afraid to use it, so it is draped over a chair, lol. Sparkle and Shine opened the door to Cotton Cuts and that is the best thing about it. I simply love being a part of this group and have nothing but crazy respect and appreciation for all of the Cotton Cuts staff. Every encounter with Cotton Cuts is a cut above other fabric companies. (no pun intended haha) Since the first one, I have assembled seven more and I’m currently doing three Carnival. I’m hooked.

Bryanna Shindler – “Village Green” Spring 2023, Team Aster
This was my first PMQ. And loved it so much I have 3 Carnivals going!

Tony Miller – “Village Green” – Spring 2023, Team Peony
“The Village Green was my first PMQ. I chose the Peony color way because I loved the rustic, calming and muted colors of the fabric line. Peony’s are my Sister Laura’s favorite flowers, so it also reminds me of her. I don’t have a great picture of it finished as it was just up on my makeshift design wall. It is now off to the longarm to get a sweet flower pattern quilted on it.”
~ Anna Miller

Mel Heimo Meister – Name of the Rose – Team Colorific
“Finally bound my very first Puzzle Mystery Quilt! I just love it! I didn’t learn about Puzzle Mystery quilts until the sign up was almost done. There weren’t many colorways left. I didn’t have much choice, but I love the colors so I am very happy. I loved having cut pieces sent to me! I’ve made (or need to finish) about 21 PMQ’s since then, maybe more. I’ve lost count. What did I learn about myself? LOL That I can easily bite off more than I can chew!”

Cotton Cuts - Name of the Rose - Team Colorific

Christine Hammer McHenry – Team Begonia
Here is my Village Green Small Begonia. When I saw the final design of the small and large, I decided to make my small a square lap quilt. Using my oops kit, I took the top and bottom designs and carried them to the sides, and used my favorite fabric pattern (the turtle) as corner squares. It was close, with me having to sew together some of the half square triangles to finish the corners of the border and make it large enough. I LOVE how it turned out. My first PMQ. I picked the colorway because I loved the seahorse, turtle print and the orange/blue-green combo. I liked the process ok, mostly because the monthly clues were manageable in my busy life. I will say that I prefer the new prepay of getting all clue fabric at once. Gives me a box to keep it all in. I had one clue that was less fabric, and the replacement process was smooth. This might be addictive. Lol

Kasia Brodzik Hansen – Team Louise
“This was my first one completed. I have two more to finish. I like that everything is coming precut and ready to sew, I don’t like that it takes 10 months to receive all the fabric. Sometimes I’d make blocks every month, but I decided I like it better when I have everything sewn before final layout is revealed.”

Sheryl Tucker Schulze – Team Churro
“Since it was my first PMQ, I was slow to commit. So, my first choices were sold out. I decided on the Churro colorway and so glad I did. I love the PMQs! I love receiving the little mailers each month with the precut pieces. I would not have chosen any of these patterns on my own. Cutting all of those triangles would have been mind boggling!😉 I learned that I could sew those more intense patterns with the PMQs. I did add the green border and used one of the other prints for the binding.”

I will be adding to this blog when more detectives come forward to share their very first PMQ. It is my hope that sharing the PMQ in a blog will show the diversity of quilts along with sharing what we love to do with each other! Being a PMQ detective gives all those who participate a chance to make something beautiful as well as to become part of a friendship with others who are participating as well.

Greenland Quilter YouTube Channel

Living Greenland Kalaallit Nunaat – Land of the People

Kathryn Joelsen’s Flickr Page

Living Greenland Blog

Greenland Quilter Facebook Page

My Life Living Greenland

Sunday, September 13th, 2020

Hello (Allu)

My name is Katy Joelsen and I’ve been a member of Cotton Cuts for over two years now. I wanted to participate in the #ccstaycation fun to tell you more about who I am and where I currently reside. I’m a Navy brat born in Charleston, SC but I was raised in Florida. I love Florida and I never thought there’d be a day I would leave it. I used to say I would never move away from Florida but things change when a person ages along with unexpected events that happen in life.

I’m a mother of three beautiful children whom I love more than life. They have been the joy of my life even when we all were left with wreckage from the suicide of their father after 21 years of marriage. It was hard during that time having to pick up the pieces along with helping my children get through such a rough patch in their lives. My oldest daughter was just entering adulthood while the other two were in their last year of high school. We all have made it through for the most part but during that time I took the time to reflect on what my life had been and how I wouldn’t ever let another man treat me badly or make me feel I wasn’t good enough ever again. It wasn’t easy growing up hearing my father tell me that I would never be worth anything and have that worthlessness continue into my first marriage. I thought that I would be alone after that and at the time I was okay with that idea. It was strange being responsible for just myself. My youngest daughter went into the Navy and she served four years. I think it was what she needed at the time.

In 2009 something happened I never thought would. I got a second chance to finally feel loved and to find peace and happiness. Up until then, life had always been hard and a struggle. Then the light of my heart came into my life. It was unexpected and neither of us was looking for love at the time but we had an 8-year-long online friendship that ended up bringing us together. Out of the blue in 2009 he told me he was coming to Florida for vacation and wanted to know if I’d like to show him some of my state. He was going to be in Florida for two weeks and I said sure why not. So when I drove two hours south and pulled up to the hotel he came walking out at the same time. When we hugged something happened that both of us didn’t expect. It was like we were meant to meet. We clicked. When he put his arms around me it felt like a warm safe blanket. We sat up all night like two teenagers laughing and talking and asking questions. The two weeks we spent together were fantastic. He is an exceptional human being. Oh, I forgot to mention, He is a Greenlander from the country of Greenland. When he left I felt so sad because he took a piece of my heart with him. Funny how life does things at the right time too. A long-time friend of mine would always quote “It’s all about timing.”

In 2010 he came back and spent another six weeks with me and we had a great time together. During that time he asked me to marry him and I took a leap of faith and said yes! My heart light works for a big fishing company. He works on a factory shrimp trawler that takes him to sea for weeks at a time. Later in 2010, I flew to Greenland. It was my first time flying over the ocean and going to another country. It was scary but I was just so excited that I would get to be with my heart light again. I flew into Greenland in the middle of December and stayed till mid-January 2011. We did this so that we could see how my lungs (asthma) would react to winter. The strangest thing happened. My asthma hardly bothered me. It was truly amazing not having to fight to breathe like I did during the winter months in North Florida.

Instead of waiting till later in the year, we did a thing in January. We got married on January 2nd, 2011! Of course, then we had to make a decision on who was going to do the migrating. I migrated because it was the best fit for us at the time and I have not regretted making this huge life change at all.

Our wedding day: January 2nd, 2011

So I moved from Florida to Qaqortoq Greenland in the month of August 2011. I had to find homes for my four horses and one dog and I brought the other dog with me.

My four equine friends from left to right. Skamp, Shotgun (my barrel racing horse) Luna and Gogo

When I moved here it was like starting all over again from scratch. My heart light (Nikolaj) owned his own house so that made things easier. I had a lot to learn living in Greenland. Learning to read food labels that were in Danish. That was hard to start with. Now it’s no big deal. 🙂 Speaking of food. I had never eaten duck, reindeer, or whale meat, or salmon until I moved here. Reindeer is so tender, and the duck is tasty, and I’ve grown to love salmon too.

Northern Lights in Qaqortoq, Greenland

It wasn’t easy, to begin with. I was at a disadvantage relating to language. My husband speaks Greenlandic, Danish, and English fluently so most of the time we didn’t have as big of a language barrier struggle. The first couple of years I got beat up quite a bit with struggling to communicate but as time has gone by it has become easier and easier to talk to people here in Qaqortoq. Greenlanders are the nicest group of people you could ever meet. They love their country, they love nature, they love each other and they smile and laugh a lot and have a good sense of humor. I have learned a bit of Greenlandic and I can read quite a bit of Danish and I haven’t had to sacrifice too much of my English in the process. I hope one day that I can speak more Greenlandic than I do though. I have found peace here.

My first summer in Greenland (August 2011)

This beautiful place has helped to heal my hurt heart too. I contribute the healing to nature and to my “heart light”. He is the most giving person and he shows affection without ever having to ask for it. I love him so much and the longer we are together the deeper our love grows. When we went to California in 2018 he finally got to meet my youngest daughter. He had already met the other two but Kriston was in Japan when we got married so they hadn’t met until almost 8 years later.

On our way out to celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary (January 2nd, 2018)

So about me:

I have been a gardener since the age of 11 years old. My aunt from my dad’s side introduced me to plants along with the skill of crocheting. I also love taking photographs of any and everything that catches my eye. I can also sew since my teenage years and used to make my own clothes during that time. I love music from the ’80s along with rock and roll, pop, and some hard rock. I like most music with the exception of a couple I won’t mention here. So the first couple of years I didn’t know what to do with myself. I didn’t have a job, and I realized that my horses took up much of my time. In fact, I was racing one of them along with constantly riding him on trails.

So what I decided to do was pick back up on crocheting along with finding a way to garden inside my house. My skill set for crocheting was minimal but it didn’t take me long to learn new skills and become friends with others in our world who shared the love of crocheting and I have benefited from this skill in so many ways. The photo on the left is Sophie’s Universe. It was a year-long group CAL. I used Redheart worsted soft yarn along with a couple of other companies that had some really soft yarn. The second photo is of my Mandala Madness (Arctic Lights). This was done with 32 colors from DMC #3 cotton yarn along with some from Redheart and Lily. The mandala also took a year to make. I learned several new skills from both CALs.

Mandala Madness was a year-long endeavor by a group of people from all over the world. I stalled out about mid-summer because I was outside growing my first-ever garden in South Greenland. Because of that, I didn’t spend much time crocheting during that time frame. I did take time to take more sunset photographs which contributed to my using more colors especially the warmer colors in my mandala. It has kept me busy during the times my heart light was at sea. I began to accumulate plants over the years too. Gardening is part of me. It comes from deep inside me I think and I couldn’t imagine not ever having green things in my life. It brings me such peace and harmony. I consider it my Super Power. 🙂 Something I was blessed with that no one can take from me. One day I hope to leave some of that legacy to my children.

Kim Moos of Cotton Cuts (2)

Come join me to learn more about Kim Moos and Cotton Cuts in Part Two of our interview. I know a secret you don’t!

During today’s interview, we talked about the different subscription plans that a person can sign up for. Cotton Cuts has several subscriptions that are geared there are choices in what a person can subscribe for. Currently, Cotton Cuts offers the following.

Cotton Cuts Classic Box
Cotton Cuts Classic Mini Pop
Cotton Cuts Modern Maker Box
Cotton Cuts Modern Make Mini Pop
Cotton Cuts Java
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