Spring Arrives In 24 Days!

 Yes, spring will arrive in 24 days and the daily weather is still very much winter. Tonight the low will be -30C with the chill factor, very bitter cold still. 

The Miramichi Bay is well frozen & the smelt fishing is going on daily even into the evening with their lights guiding the way. I'm not a fan of smelts but the locals find them a glorious feast, it is part of the culture around here. A food that their parents & grandparents would feast on & it still holds cherished memories for them. Smelt suppers are going on weekly, this week smelts, mashed potatoes, peas, lemon chiffon pie, coffee or tea, all for $15. These dinners help raise money to operate centers & churches through these cold months & other expenses to keep them open.

I'm still battling the post-COVID effects & have such a shortness of breath, I'm going for a chiro adjustment to align my spin. It is a much overdue appointment as I usually due a maintenance alignment every 6 weeks for my scoliosis, it has been months & much overdue.

Enough of that, on to my love of textiles!

I'm loving turtles right now! This is the baby turtle that will ride on her back. It is done in batiks which I am also enjoying working with again.

When my girlfriend Liz filled a metal trunk of sewing goodies for me as she knew she was dying from having 17 brain tumours. She was told the news in July 2017 & the day my trunk arrived on August 4th, 2017, was the day she died. Liz had this kitted wall hanging in the bathroom & I always admired it, now I will hang it in her memory & she always makes me smile at the thought of her. I will always carry her in my heart.

The Mom & Pop Quilt Shop had a 12hr sewing marathon with this Lisa Pay of Pay It Forward's turtle pattern...a perfect accompaniment to the wall hanging!

Do check out this Australian designer Lisa Pay, she has so many wonderful free patterns & instructions for doing all of them on her YouTube channel!

I personalized his belly with our property brand Beaver Moon. The shell is attached with snaps & comes off making it possible to make different shells for different occasions. For now, he has the colouring of the wall hanging & will just add to the enhancement of the batik colours.

He was fun making & creating the shell from faux suede & batik.

I love how the turtle in the wall hanging is now a three-D!

I have the inner border & outer border to finish the wall hanging & am so pleased with how it turned out! I'm going to buttonhole stitch it together as a quilt as you go to finish it.

It is fused together & I'm going to do a buttonhole stitch & some quilting on with my machine doing a quilt-as-you-go technique.

Block #2 is done with 8 more baskets to go...

Block #3 was the rails that will go around the baskets, all 48 are done and I'm ready for the next block release on Monday!

My girlfriend Elizabeth is the biggest fan of Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts & she is doing a BOM with the book called Blue Seasons. I'm such a lover of blue & this was a perfect fit. Thank you, Elizabeth for enticing me to join in on this project, I'm loving it!

I've been wondering what to do with this honey bun (a roll of 1 1/2" strips) I'm a huge fan of the designers Minick & Simpson and here are a few ideas I came up with!

A pair of runners & Kim Diehl's scrappy cats.

These two are going to the fair to be sold this August with the runners. I'm having a craft booth at the Napan Agricultural Fair this summer. They look sweet in a bookcase or just sitting on a chair.

Well, the snow is slowing so it's time to clean the front porch again, I'm so not going to miss winter once it is in the tail lights again & spring, such an exciting season, wakes up.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit me in the northeast Atlantic area, do stop by again I have so much more going on. Life is so good right now with the world upside down I feel guilty feeling so happy. I know I am blessed, I am loved.

Have a wonderful weekend & take time for yourself, you are so worth it!

Hugs, Cynthia

Frigid Weather & Dealing With COVID

 The weather has been so cold here on the northeast Atlantic coastline... so cold that we had frost on the great room ceiling & that has been a first for us!

We've had hurricane winds this strong without the snow & windchill mixed in! 

I could not believe what I was seeing on the great room ceiling, it was frost from the cold air coming in under the eaves.

Thank heavens for our firebox that was going day & night to keep up with this cold vortex that had descended upon from the north.

The whole width of the great room had deposits of frost on it!

And it would take the better part of the day for the heat to rise & dry out those spots!

Poor Bridget was not impressed that Bill had taken them outside to relieve themselves.

She was in shock & just sat there until I dried her with a towel, if this dog could talk it would not have been nice words. lol

The backyard filled up with the wind snowdrifts & the porch was now buried underneath it.

The view from the dining room window was and still is, very high & white.

Bill has been keeping the birds happy with their feeders full & homemade suet balls in the suet holders.

A squirrel is living in a house high in a tree.

The front porch is always covered with snow or a dusting of snow. It is a winter wonderland out there.

The snowdrift is usually just a the bottom of the stairs so Bill & the Bostons drive the snowplow to keep things open.

The frigid winds coated the entire house!

I'm so glad of the saying 'This too will pass' & I'm so looking forward to spring.

During the unusually warm snap we had, the pot of hyacinth bulbs started to sprout up in the unheated garage, so we brought them in for an early bloom. I'm so happy we did!

The other plant finally bloomed too so the bay window is alive with life & beautiful colour & textures!

So beautiful to view any time of the day!

Does that not leave you yearning for spring & the arrival of the bulbs?!

Our property here is called Beavermoon, as it was in November 2012 on the full moon, that we became the owners. 

Bill came up with the logo that will be made into metal fencing & entrance for Beavermoon for the Hardwicke House.

Free sew along with Piecing The Past Stitchers

Block One is done!

I'm using fabrics from my stash for this quilt too. I had this custard pin-dot yardage from 2010 & it is working nicely with the blue baskets!

 

This is a pillow I made yesterday from a crosstitch I had done 20+ yrs ago & wanted to make into a pillow cover & finally did!

The pink cotton velvet worked well too, it was from scraps in my stash.

I put the gold metallic thread crosses in the background as the white looked too stark. I added glass beads to the center of the heart for more texture & bling.

I'm pleased when things come together like you visioned them in your head.

I finished the Alberta kids', Mitch & Nicole's signature wedding banner & it's now at the longarm quilter being quilted in a leaf pattern.

There are more places to have signatures from friends & family that were not at the wedding due to the strict COVID rules in 2020.

I embroidered some of the words from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 & the wedding song from their wedding Beautiful Crazy by Luke Combs. 

Bill & I will be spending Easter with them this year & I'll have it done to take to them.

Bill came home from his business England trip on January 28th & with him he brought COVID to us, first he became ill & 3 days later I took ill with it. We are both on the mend but not ourselves quite yet.

Thank you for stopping in virtually & not getting this virus that takes you down & out for days.

We were able to bounce back without medication or hospitalization by having our shots up to date.

Stay warm, stay safe...COVID is looking for hosts to keep it alive to thrive. I know it died as we got well & came into contact with no one once Bill's test was positive.

It is now just 40 days until spring!! Longer days & warmer sunshine are coming for us!

Hugs,

Cynthia xXx