November’s Ohio Star quilt block represents winter in Southwestern Ohio. The clouds seem to get thicker and heavier in winter. They hold a spectrum of gray hues and deposit sometimes a lot of snow and sometimes not much snow at all. November is the continuation of October: cooler months that welcome me outside.

Now, I will admit that I fudged this block a bit. I rarely see snow here before Christmas. Winter doesn’t even make its official entrance until December, and sometimes it doesn’t feel like winter until January. But, if you’ll remember, January’s block was for my husband whose birthday is that month. December’s block (spoiler alert!) will be for my daughter who has her birthday that month. So, November gets winter.

For this block, I was inspired by snow-heavy clouds, and the deep gray color tree trunks seem to take on during this season. I chose two shades of gray fabric. Each with cloud-like, curvy, swirly patterns. It reminds me of going for a hike along the Little Miami River in the middle of winter. Crunching along a snow-covered path and pausing at the river’s edge. Watching my breath swirl in the cool air, mixing with snowflakes lazily drifting down.

If you have a keen eye, you’ll see that the center is the same Charley Harper fabric from April’s Ohio Star quilt block. If you look back at all my Ohio Star blocks, some fabrics are repeated. I did this for two reasons: to add a bit of consistency in this wildly varied quilt and for economy. Why go shopping for a particular color of fabric when I can find it in my stash?

Can you believe this project only has one more month? I can hardly believe it myself! It has been so much fun to reflect on my 10 years of life in Ohio and I’m going to treasure this quilt—not only because it’s one of my firsts, but because of all the stories I’m stitching into it!