Forever Blue

This was also ordered when I purchased Hugs & Kisses...it was on sale...such a good price & my favourite colours too! I love traditional quilt patterns too, it was meant to be ;-)

So many pieces cut in just 2 colours...one pattern block done in a negative & positive. Painter tape is my tool of chose for many quilting projects & is handy when I paint too! As each unit is cut it is stickered with the painter tape & the information & size that was cut recorded on the tape...a lot of 2 1/2 & 3" squares! The tool purchased at The Marsh store 'Quilter's Magic Wand' is used for marking the diagonal lines on the many squares, that & a 220 very fine sandpaper to keep everything staple while marking your lines on the diagonal.

Here is the positive & negative squares complete...25 pieces sewn together to make on square! Just 25 a total of squares to make...

Sashing & 36 cornerstones will separate the 2 squares, it too looks like X & O's!  Once I have this 80" x 80" quilt done, I'm going to be cutting & sewing this pattern in red & white. This queensize quilt will be made as a wedding gift for my son Donald & his new wife Melissa...they were married July 1st, Canada Day.

Hugs & Kisses Applique Begins...

Next year is our 25th anniversary & I'm starting this quilt that I ordered through the Quilt Show with Alex Anderson & Ricky Tims...thank you Paulette for introducing me to this online show & workshops. Each square is a X or O style applique all done in the colours shown, it's so fresh to look at. I must stay focused on this one as the year is now down to 11 months, there's also corner blocks & swags on the border to applique...which will all be done needle turned in the Robyn Pandolph style that was taught to me a few years ago at the LFQG. Stay turned as more blocks appear as completed.

'Over The River & Through the Woods'

This has been one of my handwork projects this summer, it's a Crab-apple Hill pattern that has 3 embroidered horizontal panels , which I'm using DMC perle cotton #8 rather than 2 strands of skein of black & enjoying it very much! The design also has horizontal square-in-a-square & star blocks , finished with a flying geese border around the inner border. I'm now working on the last busy block that is to be positioned on the top, working on muslin with the flannel back has been a bit of a challenge as I'm use to using Kona & flannel...however the outcome is very pleasing to the eye. I hope to have this done for the living room  as a wall hanger for the fall/winter. It will measure 51" x 57" the finished colours will be in black, brown, gold, beige, the feel of late fall/winter. A photo of the finished quilt will be shown when it's finished.

Community Voices

The Miramichi Leader newspaper makes the community aware of the issues presently going on...even visitors are asked their opinion on the question...the medicare I receive in Ontario is the one I want to keep  & yes New Brunswick does have the best auto insurance rates I've ever seen!

Myers Quilt Show

The Myers Quilt Show is an event I have contributed to & helped with for 2 years now. It is held in a boat shed & the transformation is stunning...the fishermen were mending nets the day before set up! Once everything is removed, a folk lift comes in & a huge pale pink tarp is placed on the dirt floor, then a very large factory roll of navy textured paper tablecloth is stapled in place on the outer beams & run around the
room to encase you within the show. The boat shed begins its transformation as the quilt racks go up & hanging begins.
It was a pleasant surprise for me to have visitors schedule a visit & quilt show attendance. Loraine Swanson & family...all 6 of them, attended the quilt show & are pictured in the center of the paper. She had never been here in New Brunswick for the summer, only the fall for Thanksgiving. It was a chilly wet day when she arrived at the cottage in high spirit to see the wee cottage & view the quilt show.
The Clover Leaf quilt was the 2nd one I've made, my mom's mom her family was from Ireland & I have blue eyes...that only she had. Mom's were green & dad's were brown so my connection with her began  at an early age, I remember looking in her blue eyes & saying 'grandma your eyes are the same as mine' & she replied 'yes duck, they are' she always called me duck with affection & I remained close to her till her passing. The 1st Clover Leaf quilt went to my Irish father-in-law & is proudly displayed in the living room. Miramichi is Canada's Irish Capital & I had my chuckle watching Maryiln & her  interviews on TV in March on St Patrick's Day in Miramichi!
In the photo, Jean & Theodore are the couple Bill & I celebrated our anniversary's together & the man that's with Theodore, his wife too is a celiac & we had conversation last year at the show...so I made her special gluten free banana muffins to enjoy with her tea after the show...which was a surprise & much appreciated.  In a small town you get to know everyone & I was so surprised to view the paper & be able to talk about every picture shown in the show. I just love my life here on the east coast! These cottage days are some of my peak experiences that I'll treasure & smile with for years to come.

Circa 1946

This is an old photo of the cottage  given to me by my neighbour Lorine. It was originally the home of Raymond & Dodette Carroll & was the home that raised ten children through it. About 1/2 of the family have stopped by through the years to see what has happened to the homestead & comment on the changes that have gone on. All saying how nice & happy mom would be with what has been done...somehow I feel her joy too, I felt it the very 1st time I viewed the house in 2009. I had a warm vibe & replied to my husband Bill, I could live here...the rest is history! 

What a Storm!

This cottage is just like a Timex...it takes a lickin' & keeps on tickin'. Wow what a storm front last night, there was even tornado warnings & there is NO way that I am getting in the basement. There is a trap door in the pantry under the stairs & a ladder going to a crawl space! The winds were strong & free like this country, I made a cup of hot tea just in case we lost power as it was flickering. Before the storm hit, I spent my day making a small wallhanging of a April Cornell placemat, playing with my sewing machines meandering stitch for 1 1/2 hours & was quite pleased from the result. This picture does not do it justice, the fish & flowers pop out with the heavy stitching on the white.

I Love Lucy

I love Lucy...my cement Canadian goose, she was a gift from All My Children years ago. I have taken her to Daytona Florida, where a hurricane storm upset her, she fell & broke her neck. She then was taken home to Ontario, then brought out to New Brunswick, where my husband  repaired her neck. I have made her a new nautical coloured quilt, I think she needs a flying geese block quilt...I named her Lucy & shrieked with delight when opening the gift saying ...  I Love Lucy! she loves the east coast too! & is still at the Atlantic Coast Line, only in Canada now at the cottage. She has a brother goose in Ontario that resides on my sons lawn, the two have never met.

Cat Mat

I was in the Co-op & found 5 balls of taupe & cream & one ball of variegated blue for 99 cents each! It  is my 6$ cat mat & was made watching as TV movie...summer relaxing for me. The mat measures 36 inches round & is 100% cotton. The cats, Tom & Jerry love their new summer mat, I love that its machine washable.

Summers Here!

Playful pinwheel quilt, hung over the porch railing.

It has truly felt like summer today & outside was beautiful...tomorrow the lawn needs a mowing again, it is the song that never ends.

Wooden vintage lobster traps, painted & stacked at the base of the flag pole. Thank you Armand Durelle of Escumanic, I'm Canadian among the Acadian!

These flower boxes are my summer finds!! I was at the Black River Rummage sale & purchased both these window boxes with the empty flower boxes included...all that was needed was the flowers & I came to this mosquito haven with a flat of marigolds!  Bill installed the boxes on his last visit & flowers were added. What a find!

The real task was to get them home to the cottage, Jean worked the large one in her Ford Crown Vic car, wedged between the two of us. What a pleasant surprise when they both fit the windows on the cottage & the colour was a match too. Some finds make you feel so good, they cozy the exterior of the cottage.

Happy Anniversary

It was our 24th anniversary on the 4th of July, just the two of us at the cottage...so I`ll take a picture of you & you take a picture of me. I forgot to take the camera to our anniversary dinner with Jean & Theodore Williston, they too have a 4th of July anniversary, they celebrated their 54th! Three full decades on us! A fun evening in Miramichi for all of us.