Monthly Archives: March 2026

Happy National Quilting Day, 2026

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My current project now colonizing the dining room table!

Live and learn!

I have been making quilts since 1983, back when I was a student in a poetry M.F.A. program. That’s when I learned how refreshing it can be to put words aside for a while and dive into color, texture, and form.

Now quilting is a permanent part of my life, and, in a time when retail fabric stores are as rare as hens’ teeth, I feel uncommonly blessed that here in Northfield, within walking distance from my house, is a true treasure: Reproduction Fabrics.

This little gem of a store is located on the second floor of the Merchant Bank Building at the center of town. Brainchild of fabric historian Margo Krager, this store combines her loves of history, fabric, helping, and teaching. Where else can you find every quilting notion you need, bolts and bolts of bequiling fabric, and expert advice for any project? Best of all, you don’t have to travel to Northfield! Margo does a lively business through phone and internet connections.

At Reproduction Fabrics can you find early Colonial calicos, Civil War designs, accurate reproductions of popular prints from the 1920s or the 1950s, and so much more. Margo’s website is an art gallery for the fabric afficianado. My current favorite? That would have to be the bold fabrics inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School geometrics.

If you are contemplating a project, you are in luck, because today Reproduction Fabrics is having a sale to celebrate an annual holiday. It was their email yesterday that alerted me to an national holiday of which I was previously unaware: Today is the 34th celebration of National Quilting Day! Every year, on the third Saturday in March, this holiday, a joint project of the National Quilt Museum and the Quilt Alliance, showcases the history and joy of this textile art form.

So hang a quilt outside today! Hug your favorite quilter! –or simply spend a few moments browsing through the wealth of color, line, and story available on these amazing websites!

Happy National Quilting Day! LESLIE

Reproduction Fabrics brochure on my coffee table

Happy Vernal Equinox, 2026

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This image is one I took in the parking lot of our beloved Just Food Co-op. For me, it sums up perfectly the shift in the seasons between the grey skies of winter and the greening fields of spring. It is always a day I feel like celebrating.

This year of 2026, I am especially happy because Tim and I have just finished the full first draft of our first co-authored novel, one set in 1979 that celebrates a small community with an early food co-op at its center. We planted this literary seed fully six years ago, during the dark days of the Covid pandemic. We don’t know where it will take us from here (but, you know us: discussions for three sequels are well underway!)

Wishing you, too, a joyous and eventful turn of the seasons!

LESLIE

Happy and Frosty St. Patrick’s Day–2026

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No green is visible in Northfield today–Minus 8 degrees this morning, but clear. We did hear a robin singing early, just as the sun rose, and we expect temperatures to soar to above freezing soon, and the trees are putting out buds. So, while the ground is white today, there is a green singing in our hearts!

LESLIE

Happy Pie Day–2026

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This morning, I looked at the calendar and wondered, “Why is this date significant?”

I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then, this afternoon, as I was writing a scene in a novel project that Tim and I have going, a scene in which the two main characters share a piece of peach pie in a restaurant on the Oregon coast, it suddenly hit me: Pie Day!

Yup. You know me. Way more wordy than mathy.

But today, we all get to mark the celebration of math and physics,( introduced to us by our neighbors Joel and Janet decades ago when we were homeschooling.) As now most everyone knows, the Greek letter,  π , stands for an irrational number that is the mathematical constant, approximately equal to 3.14159, that signifies the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. And every year, 3:14–or March 14–is cause to celebrate however you choose, rationally or irrationally, consciously or (in my case, until a few moments ago) unconsciously.

The Google Doodle today celebrates it, but I was blind to that, at least consciously. I love these kinds of coincidences, and then, when I realized that I had a photo of a pecan pie I had baked during these cold months, I thought I would share it.

Here’s hoping that your day holds a sweet surprise!

LESLIE

Another Year of April Poems Ahead

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Dear Readers,

This year, I am returning for the tenth time to the practice of writing and sharing a poem each day in April. This challenge, which I first attempted eleven years ago, in 2016, has proven to be fun, fruitful, and sometimes frustrating for me. (In 2024, I took one year off.) Somehow or other, though, I have not missed even one of those 300 pledged days. And so, emboldened, I intend to sign on for one more set of 30 “who knows what they will be?” poems. (The pussywillows in front of our house are beginning to bloom, despite the wild weather, so who knows what poetic possibilities emerge?)

Again, I will be sharing each morning’s poem via email, with an additional April something here on Winona Media. If you previously received emailed poems in 2025, you are already on the list. (Let me know if you wish to be removed from the list this year.) If you would like to be added to the list, let me know.

And if you are someone who is also participating in the April poems this year and would like me to share that information here, let me know! The more, the merrier!

LESLIE