Kaffe Fasset - Road Trip To Amherst NS

Wow we had a good time! Let me tell you how our 12 hour day went!

Elizabeth came to the cottage at 8:20am! I was so surprised because she runs on her own time, mostly, always late! That morning she was 10 minutes early!!
Then we loaded my car & were off to meet Bev & Christel on highway 11, they too were not late but early! With the Centennial Bridge in Miramichi down to one lane this summer, that can hold you up for over 30 minutes depending on the traffic flow.

All loaded up we headed towards Amherst for our 4 o'clock lecture of colour with Kaffe Fassett.
With loads of time we had planned on making it a day & what a day we had!
Our first stop was to see Quilts By Lucie-Anne in Kouchibouguac. I never thought to get my camera out but I will before the summer is through & I'll take you inside this converted church & show you Lucie-Anne, a woman very passionate about her place & her consigning & creating of handmade goods.
I purchased burlap rug patterns, one a rug & one to be made into a pillow. It's the same pattern of the New Brunswick flower, the violet.
Since my bedroom is done in violets & blue, that will be where I'll use them!

 Rug's center piece, the pillow is the same scale, just a smaller burlap piece. Bev, Christel, & Elizabeth all found treasures for themselves too. I was happy as this was the first visit for the trio & Christel those Irish linen embroidered pieces were quite the find!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then we were on the road again. Elizabeth spoke of the events going on in Richiboucto & it was on our way & we had plenty of time to do whatever we wanted to, no hurry today!
There was a sidewalk sale & music playing out of the tree over head. What an wonderful time we had there.

 Elizabeth & Christel taking in craft goods. They were out of the car & gone before I could get my hat on from the trunk! What a beautiful day to be outside, the cold front overnight took away the humidity but oh so sunny, I needed a hat. There were many vendors with many different crafts, this birdhouse really caught my eye.

 It has a real rustic feel to it & I hope to attract more birds around the yard.

The bottom opens for yearly cleaning, how convenient is that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were off again, this time I asked if Christel would drive as I wasn't so sure on were we were going & she was! We made it to Amherst in very good time, now it was noon & we were all hungry!

 Now feed, don't we look like a happy bunch of travelers! lol
Christel still at the helm asked for the directions to where we to be. With that in hand we were off again!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Deanne Fitzpatrick's new studio on 33 Church Street, Amherst NS.
And what a beautiful studio she has! It's L shaped from entering on one street to exiting on another!..

 The back half of the store, this woman is winding a ball of fabric for rug hooking.

 The eyes were just so full of movement with all the coloured textured yarns & supplies were in abundance.

 How cozy & welcoming is this area?!!

 This was in the area that you could make yourself a cup of tea & have a sweet or cookies were put out too!

 The Briggs & Little & PEI yarns area, I purchased some violet colours for my new rug!

 A 'Play Station' for the rug hookers, to try out different fabrics & hooks!

 Deanne's studio had so much colour, even to the wall colour that enhanced her work. Oh so organized...must take that thought with me!!lol

 Her work for sale was displayed all through the store/studio.

 This was my favourite piece!! I just loved the look & feel it gave to me, so Group of Seven' feel.

 Look at the sign on top...Create  beauty  everyday! The baskets below were fore your shopping pleasure, I was offered one but said 'no thank you', I knew my shopping could get out of control! Have you seen the cartsized baskets at Costco?!! I could only purchase what I could carry!

 Bev & Christel fondling rug textures! lol These two are quilters & longarm quilters too! Fabric is in their blood!lol

 Elizabeth off playing on her own with some 'sexy jersey' fabric. She's now our newest rug 'hooker' & our youngest too! Her Oh OHH Oh, to the touch of all the textures put her in her own world, she too was fondling & smiling the whole time in the studio.

Me taking a picture of Christel taking a picture of the rug pattern that she bought! She's inspired to start rug hooking...this is infectious! My traveling trio are now all turned on to rug hooking! Nice ;-)

 Some finished work to inspire you! Handmade hooks & new ergonomic hooks were there to try out.

 Bins of colour, for your hearts desire! Everything open for one to enjoy & touch.

 More of the finished products on display.

 Neutral & soft shades, love this quiet piece!

 What's in a word?!

 And another word, in quiet neutrals.

 Deanne & I with my purchases. She's a very welcoming warm person & had a very busy day leading up to K. Fassett's lecture.

For my new New Brunswick violet rug.

 This was the church in which the lecture was to be heard! What a grand old church on the corner it was. I was so enjoying the day & we still had more time to ourselves before the lecture.

So off we went to find Dayles Depsrtment Store. On the way the street was blocked off for a vintage car show & filling the air was live music was playing old tunes! What an wonderful feeling walking upon this! And the cars.....yes Mustangs!

 A GT Mustang, if Bill were here he could tell you what year it was made. For me there just a thing of beauty from years gone by.

 The sporty little car's back end.

 The sleek side view. Yes that put a smile on my face! :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then voila! we were at Dayles Department Store. Oh the history & architecture within this store reminded me so much of Kingsmill back in London ON...without the elevator!!

 The size & scale of everything was grand!

 The downstairs was a clearance sale center for the store, the main floor was clothing & coffe shop, second floor mezzanine was china & lamps, third floor was furniture & yes!! fabric!

 The office area still had the original doors to it, inside you could see the newer doors, love the old ones. Such detail of craftsmanship & quality materials went into the work back then, things where built to last.

 Third floor of furnishings & more...

Yes I found this lobster fabric for a backing on a red & white quilt!

I went downstairs to have a refreshment & to take in more of this beautiful place.

The flag banners were strung out over the coffee shop.

Yes that's the Nova Scotia tartan that's in the mix!

It's such a grand scale, a much to visit if your in the area.

The original tin ceilings will grace you overhead. Then it was 30 minutes till the lecture, we must get a move on!!

As we walked back I noticed another Mustang, what a beauty it was!

Oh so shiny! I think I could have been a magpie in my first life! lol

So well looked after, I can't wait till Bill has time to baby his 1970 Mach I. He use to take me out every Sunday in that for an ice cream at Dairy Queen. I use to laugh as we turned corners, with only a lap seat belt & his polished seats, I use to side with every turn. LOL

Love these cars! On to the show we came for!

There was an overhead projector to show his work.

Kaffe Fassett wore his fabric in this shirt design.

Lively fellow, see his hand movement!

It sure was hard to get a 'still' shot of him!

He did book signing after his 1 1/2 hour lecture.

His partner helped organize the books for signing

Looks like he too really enjoyed the evening!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then a real treat for quilters...The owner opened her shop after the lecture!

Hidden in this huge building was a quilt shop!

The signage was displayed & the door was opened!

I love the old architecture to these buildings!

And the amount of detailed antiques too! Done in such a grand manner to compliment the building.

The owners fabrics were just gorgeous & her new collections would've had you in awe with Anne Sutton & the Bunny Hill Designs!

How inviting her store was, every nook & crannies were full for the touching & purchasing.

The New York Beauty was on display from Karen Neary, I'd conversation with her years ago back in 2008 to come to Ontario to be our guest speaker but her children were young & she wouldn't travel far from them, back then. Funny how paths can cross after so many years?!

After the Kaffe Fassett lecture, the festivities were coming to an end & I noticed that the Pride flag was flying high on the street corner. Acceptance has finally come upon us, like a rainbow after a storm, when one sees one, it makes them smile. What a statement infront of this Baptist Church of a century ago, makes one smile. :-)

The wall murals & statues around this old downtown district are worth the visit. I'll be back to Amherst! Loved my day with the girlfriends!
With Christel driving at the helm again, we were on our way home when a very large deer jumped across the highway 11!! She said 'Holy Shit!!' & braked hard, I was in the front with her & said ' A deer, I saw a deer!' well she missed it by seconds & when she explained to this city girl that it was a 400 pound deer leaping across the front of us & would've come through the windshield! I was scared but the vision of the beauty is instilled in my memory. I saw a deer! Bev & Elizabeth both told me to not even think of seeing a moose!! lol

The day was coming to an end & the sun from that beautiful day was coming to an end.

It looked so whole...

What a day we had!

It was around the clock & more! Thank you Christel for the driving & Elizabeth I'm still in awe that you were early! Bev your a rug hooker that's hooked & we'll have more adventures next week at Bonar Law as we do another annual hook in in the century home's kitchen.

Thank you for stopping by & I hope you enjoyed your trip to Amherst Nova Scotia, via Kyrotime!