Time to do Some Blogging

It has been a while since I did some blogging.  So many things have happened since the last time I was on here.  In September I flew to Southern Ontario to visit two of my sisters and my grand daughter.  My older sister was turning 79 this year so I wanted to visit with her close to her birthday if I couldn't be there on the day.  We went out for lunch at a little pub near their home and then went back to the house for a short visit.  

On the way home we drove past the road to Paris so we took a detour and went to Mary Maxim.  This is a shop that is famous for their knitting supplies and patterns and lately they have added fabric.  It was a nice visit since I hadn't been there in over 15 years.

I have been busy making Christmas gifts which I can't post yet but will do so after Christmas but have also been making some quilts.

I have a narrow table in my hall and have always has store bought runners on it so I decided that this was the year to make one.

I used a pattern that I have made before and just added more squares since the table is 6 feet long.

Whirligigs and Pinwheels

This is the back of that quilt.

This is some of the fabric that my sister in California sent me because she decided

that she wasn't going to do much quilting and instead

concentrate on knitting.

I don't know where I found this pattern.  I flip around the internet so much and when I come 

upon a pattern I like I just save it.  I was really drawn to this one because of all the

small squares.  I save squares in all sizes and this was a great pattern to use

some of them.

Another pinwheel quilt.

I used fabric that was left over from the backing on another quilt and was able to cut enough 5 inch squares to make this quilt.  The border is also fabric that was left over from another quilt backing.  This fabric was extra wide so I was able to use it for the border.

Color Block

Quilts by Elena

When Lynda and I were in the Maritimes I bought 25 fat quarters of fabric from the area.  There is Anne of Green Gables and potatoes from PEI and shells, sea glass, whales, lobster and crabs from NS and NB,  I had fabric from Newfoundland from when we were there a few years ago so I added it to this quilt. 

 This is my "Memory Quilt"

I found this quilt on Moda and used some of the left over fabric from my memory quilt.  It seems the fat quarters seem to grow over night after you have made a quilt with them.  There is still a lot of fabric left over.  

Peggy

More Amish Star Hot Pads

I was with a few friends in July and we learned how to make the Amish Star Hot Pads.  The pattern showed how to make them round but I don't think mine was exactly round and that bugged me so I thought I would try to make it square.  The round one also called for bias binding and since that uses a lot of fabric I didn't like that either.

My first Amish Star Mat.

I don't think it is truly round.

I like the square ones better so I decided to make my older sister two of them for her birthday.  Carole will be 79 in October and I am going to Southern Ontario in September to visit my granddaughter so I will also visit with Carole.  Lynda and I went to Florida in January 2015 when my brother turned 79 and I am so glad that we did because he passed away this past January.  Not that I suspect that there is anything in Carole's near future but as we get older it is good to stay in touch when we all live so far apart.  Jobs and marriage have separated us over the past years.

A blue and gold Amish Star.

A fall Amish Star.

The middle star looks funny because I didn't pay attention to where the green leaves on the fabric were.  The middle would be better if it was all orange.  I certainly am not going to rip it out but I will watch how I fold the pieces next time I make one.  I was thinking that I might make a few for the guild booth at our next quilt show coming in April 2017.

There is a link to the pattern in an earlier post.

I have to finish the two table runners I am working on first.  I want them for my hall table.  It needs to be freshened up.

Peggy. 

Two New Comfort Quilts

When Lynda and I were in the Maritime Provences I had two things on my mission to accomplish list.  I wanted more fabric with food on it and I wanted to buy some fabric that was very indicative of the Maritimes.  I was able to fulfill both things.  I haven't done my Maritimes quilt yet but I did finish another quilt with preserves.

I had so much fun choosing the fabrics for this quilt.  I have bananas, mushrooms, onions, french fries, lettuce, corn on the cob and of course chocolate chipits.  Every jar is different.  This quilt is actually a pattern for a Bug Jar Quilt.

Star Flower Block Quilt

One day while I was flipping through the Internet I came across this pattern and really loved it.  It was one that I really had to make.  More half-square triangles just arranged in a beautiful pattern.

I found the pattern HERE.

Peggy

The Bee Purse

A while ago my youngest sister asked me to make a small purse for the nurse that works in her doctor's office.  When the nurse admired the one that C was wearing she decided that it would make a great retirement gift for the nurse.  I told C that she had to buy the fabric because she was very specific about what she wanted.  I received the parcel on Wednesday and then proceeded to him and haw about making this bag.  I had made up the pattern for the original purse so I needed to refresh my memory and to look up some patterns on the internet to get help putting it together.  The first bag also had seams showing on the inside and I don't like that anymore.  I guess I have grown in my sewing.

I started the bag on Saturday and worked all day on to get it finished.

There is a back open pocket that I secured with Velcro and a small pocket inside for keys or something.  The strap is long enough to wear across the body for security.

I mailed it last Monday to California and she received today which is really something for sure with our mail service.  She loved the bag.

In the parcel with the Bee fabric was also a great deal of fabric that C decided that she didn't want anymore since she wasn't doing much quilting so she sent it on to me.  I pulled out some of the colours that went together and made her a hot mat.

Amish Folded Star Hot Mat.

The original pattern was round but I found another pattern that made the mat into a square.  It is Vicki's Fabric Creations.  You can find it HERE

Peggy

Voyager Bag

I finished my Voyager Bag a while ago but haven't blog for a while so now is the time.  I took it away with me in June and couldn't believe how much I could put into this bag.  I have had the pattern and the fabric for a while too but just hadn't gotten around to getting it done.  The pattern is from Among Brenda's Quilts.  She has a lot of really great patterns that are easy to follow.  Lots of easy instructions and pictures to follow along as you make your projects.  

Voyager Bag

I bought the fabric last year at the Minnesota Quilt Show and as soon as I saw it I knew that I would use it for this bag.  Brenda also has a pattern for a shoulder support for the bag.  You can see it in the picture.

I am really pleased with this bag.  Check out Brenda's website if you have a spare minute.  It may take more than that though because there is so much to see.

Peggy

Hearts For Pulse Orlando

http://theorlandomodernquiltguild.blogspot.ca/2016/06/details-for-quilts-for-pulse-donations.html

I don't think I need to say anything else.

Peggy

Two New Teddy Bear Quilts

I hated to cut this fabric so I decided to just put batting and backing on it and quilt it for some teddy bear quilts.  I picked this fabric up at the Creative Festival in April in Toronto. I had some black polka dot fabric that went well with the Dalmatian dogs for the binding.  

A cute little elf

Twin elves on twin quilts.

Peggy

June 20 th 2016 what a day!!!

We were heading to Halifax today from Sydney to spend a few more days there before flying home.  The day started out a little off because I couldn't find the car keys.  We had all the suitcases down at the car ready to load them and the keys were no where to be seen.  We took the bags back upstairs and started going through my suitcase and we found them.  I have been keeping the keys because Lynda seems to lose them all the time.

We got on our way and headed for the quilt shop that was on the way to Halifax.  When we pulled in the large sign in front said that the shop was closed on Mondays from  May to August.  Their website and Facebook did not mention this.  We were a little upset after going out of our way to go there.

We started off again for Halifax and turned onto a road that we thought would take us back to the main road.  It didn't.  We continued on and went from one bad road to the next.  We were doing well until we hit a pot hole and heard a bang.  We had blown a tire on a deserted road.  We hadn't seen another car for quite awhile.  We decided to start walking and we heard a car coming.  It was a truck with a middle aged man who said he would change our tire for us.  When he started I really felt that we would never have been able to accomplish that ourselves.

He directed us to a small town called St Peter"s and to OK Tire.  Mike checked the tire and said that it could not be fixed and no one in town had a tire that would go on our car.  He could order one but it would take 24 hours at least to get a new one.  He suggested we drive back to Sydney and get Enterprise to swap out our car for a new one.  We drove on a donut tire at 80 km an hour.

Well that didn't work either.  When we got back to Enterprise in Sydney they had no vehicles and said they would order a tire and we would be on our way tomorrow.  So back to the hotel we just checked out of.  

I called home to let YKW know where I was and find out that he had fallen in the garden when he was finishing up and broke his wrist.  What else could go wrong.

It didn't take long because on Tuesday when I called to find out when we could get our tire replaced we found out that the garage forgot to order our new tire.  Enterprise said they had a vehicle returning today so we could have it and be on our way.  After 1 pm our car arrived.

We grabbed a quick lunch and were on our way to Halifax.  We finally arrived at 6 pm just in time to have dinner and pack for out flight home tomorrow.

Peggy

Cape Breton Island Day Ten and Eleven

We left Port Hawkesbury and made our way toward the Cabot Trail to take us to Sydney.  This trail leads all around Cape Breton Island up and down mountains and across rivers.  Travelling along we stopped at the small town of Mabou because we saw a church steeple.  

St Mary's Church

The inside of the church.  

Notice the tartans hanging on the columns

We drove on further and stopped at St. Joseph du Maine.  You can see how close the road is to the ocean and how the road twists and turns.

We are so high up here looking down into the valleys.

Another stop at Lakies Head.

We drove through Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada and down the eastern side of Cape Breton Island.  I wanted to stop at Ingonish at the Keltic Lodge because I had been there 38 years ago and I wanted Lynda to see it.  

Keltic Lodge

Bridge over Big Bras D'or

We looked down on the bridge and then after many twists and turns we drove over it and then onto Sydney.  That was one long drive.  It took us over 7 hours.  It would have been about 5 if we hadn't stopped a few times along the way.

On Sunday we decided that we should go to church.  We found one not far from us with Mass at 10 am and decided that we would have breakfast and then head over there.  We found it but couldn't find a parking lot where we could park.  The sign out front had no mass times so Lynda stopped someone on the street and she told us that this was one of the churches that had been closed.  We figured we would forget it and start out on our way to Glace Bay and Fortress Louisburg for the day.

We drove into Glace Bay and the GPS told us that we arrived at our designation.  Just around the corner was a huge Catholic Church and the sign out front said that Mass was at 11:15.  We checked our watches and it was 11:20 so we went in and Mass had just started.  

St Anne's Church at Glace Bay.

After Mass was over we went back into the church to take some pictures.  

The main altar.

There were 2 very large stained glass windows, one on either side of the church.

We continued on to Louisburg.  Lynda wanted to travel along the coast so we stopped at a few beaches.

This one had a gorgeous beach.  The sand was very firm.  The water was very cold and I ended up with wet sandals trying to put them back on and trying to get the sand off my feet.

To get to the beach you walked along the boardwalk to the pods which ended at the beach.  This way you didn't have to walk through the tall grass.  This is tick country here.

We finally got to Louisbourg National Historic Site.

We had had no lunch so we went to the bakery and had French Toast and tea.  Because it was early in the season it closed at 5 pm so we had very little time to spend here.

Everyone was dressed in period costume

The Guard at the Main Gate.

I climbed up to where the cannons were overlooking the fort.

We took a short cut back to Sydney and went for a hot tub and then dinner in the dining room downstairs.

Tomorrow we head back to Halifax for a few days.  It will take about 4 hours to get there.

Peggy

Day Nine Heading to Cape Breton Island

The sun was shining this morning when we got up but it was still cool.  By the time we had breakfast and packed up to check out of our hotel, the temperature went up to 16 C.  A nice change from 8 C yesterday.  We decided to walk around down town some more because the provincial legislature is just a few blocks from our hotel. 

Part of the Provincial Legislature.

A closer look at the war memorial.

We walked around the building instead of taking the street and came across more buildings and a sign.

1864 was the year of the Charlottetown conference when there was great discussion about the provinces joining together to become Canada.

We left downtown and got on the road again.  This time we were heading for the ferry to take us back to Nova Scotia and to Cape Breton Island.

The Ferry Coming In

View from the Ferry

A lighthouse and a beach near the ferry port.  The buildings are change houses and picnic bench enclosures.  We saw them at Basin head too.

We landed in Nova Scotia and drove to Port Hawkesbury on Cape Breton Island so that we will have a good jump on the day tomorrow when we drive the Cabot Trail around the Island.

Peggy

Day Three in Charlottetown

This morning the sun decided to shine.  We started off today driving to East Point on the Eastern side of the Island.  This is the furthest point North on the Eastern side. We were heading for the East Point Lighthouse.  

When we entered the lighthouse they said that we could climb to the top if we would like to.  So for $5 we took them up on it.  

View from the top.

There was a fishing boat out in the water.

These were the very steep stairs leading to the top.

We left East Point and when we were heading home we stopped at Basin Head Provincial Park so that we could see the beach.

The Beach

We could see a very large ship out in the water and didn't know what it was or where it was going.

The wind was really strong and it was cold, notice that I have my gloves on.

The Souris Lighthouse

As we drove into Souris we could see the ship again that we saw at Basin Head.  It was a ferry boat carrying large transport trucks and cars back and forth to Ile de Madeleine or the Magdalen  Islands.  

We watched it turn around and dock.

We then decided that it was lunch time and stopped at a cute little cafe called The Blue Fin.

Just down the road was a lobster and seafood take out that had a large parking lot right beside the ocean and the tide was going out so of course we had to walk on the ocean floor again.

It was like walking on corduroy.

I got a great picture of a mussel shell when the tide was out.

Now it was time to head back to Charlottetown.  It would take us over and hour and a half and it was now after 2 pm.  We wanted to walk around downtown and see a few of the sites there.

We found Sir John A MacDonald

The John Hamilton Grays

At the Charlottetown Conference of 1864 when confederation was being discussed there were two men called John Hamilton Gray.

We also found St Dunstan's Cathedral and the strange thing about that is that when we were children living in Toronto we went to St Dunstan's school and church.

The ice cream that is considered to be the best ice cream on the island is called Cow's.  We found the statue of "the" cow.

We enjoyed a Cow's ice cream cone even though it was freezing outside.

Tomorrow we take the ferry and head back to Nova Scotia.

Peggy