A Maritimes AdvEVenture Part 5

The last leg of our trip was spending two days in Halifax. 

Fishermen's Cove Dartmouth

Fishermen’s Cove is an adorable little spot near the mouth of the Halifax Harbour, a beautifully restored fishing village. Unfortunately MacGyver and I did not communicate properly and he took us there first thing on Sunday morning when they weren’t open until noon (autumn hours). He is Mr. Efficient when it comes to planning a route, which I totally appreciate, because I am the same. However, checking business hours for shopping is not high up on his list of priorities. Still, there was a silver lining to my disappointment at not finding something unique and handmade to take home: the lack of people meant that I got a couple of pretty sweet photos of a quilt that’s going into Make Modern next spring!

A Maritimes AdvEVenture Part 4

From Ingonish we headed on to Chéticamp on the Cabot Trail, hoping to do the world famous Skyline Trail that day, but if not, then the following morning. The parking lot fills up fast, and when it does, they close the trail, and the fines are very substantial if you park on the road and walk in. Once 30 or so vehicles depart, then they will reopen the lot. However, this first window for us happened to be a pretty cool day (high of 13-15) within a cluster of gorgeous warm (low 20s) days, so when we arrived at around 11:30, there was plenty of parking to be had! Before we arrived we made a few stops.

Green Cove

Colour and texture, bracing wind and powerful pulsing surf, a mesmerizing cocktail.

A Maritimes AdvEVenture Part 3

When planning the Cape Breton section of our Maritimes trip, MacGyver confessed he was a little anxious about the charging infrastructure as it's pretty remote. Never did we think we'd be more concerned with the charging of the human body infrastructure!

Now if a human could live on the non-stop feast that was before our eyes over the past two and a half days, then we'd each have been stuffed to the gills. My heart was aching almost 24/7 with the utter splendour.

Ocean view at the top of the 23-storey high Freshwater Lake Look-off Hike

A Maritimes AdvEVenture Part 2

We love to go a bit off the beaten track, so to speak, when we travel, opting for secondary highways as opposed to major ones. This gets us more in touch with the real landscape as opposed to the manicured, everything-looks-the-same landscape of highways/motorways/interstates. These lower speed limits are where EVs really shine. Because we are going at speeds around 80-90 kph as opposed to 110 on the major highway, the car goes through less energy. It’s also in the automatic mode where it’s learning the driving habits so it maximizes energy use in that way too. Remember in one of my W-EVnesday posts where I wrote that my husband said it’s basically a smart phone on wheels? A great analogy. 

The colours of fall continue to mesmerize me

This is Highway 6 in Nova Scotia, a little bit west of Pictou. 

A Maritimes AdvEVnture

Other than my Gratitude and Glimmers posts, I haven’t really mused much of late. I never wanted this blog to be only about quilting, but have it be a place to share bits of my life and thoughts in my brain. I started this blog 12 years ago this month so it seems fitting I should post a little bit about goings-on which, as you can see by the title, is currently a trip.

Yes, that is Three Pines, and yes, that is Knowlton, hometown of Louise Penny, and yes, we stayed the first night just outside of Knowlton in Lac Brôme Hotel (highly recommend).

Three Pines is really a state of mind. It’s where we live when we choose to be kind.”

O Canada Placemats

Another item on my long list of USOs (UnStarted Objects) is a set of placemats. I am happy to report that I finished them up yesterday!

Why it’s taken me this long to make these I do not know…shame on me.

Glowing Hearts

The last several days have been absolutely dismal so I was able to get my Glowing Hearts quilt finished.

I am so pleased with it!

150 Canadian Women Quilt Finish

I actually am quite filled up with emotion to share this finally finished quilt. But first, I want to acknowledge this beautiful land where I live.

I live on the traditional and ancestral lands of the Three Fires Confederacy: the Ojibwe, the Potawotamie, (also known as Nishnabek), the Odawa, and also Caldwell First Nation. I also acknowledge the Myaamia, First Peoples of my beloved Point Pelee and Pelee Island and surrounding waters. This is unceded territory, meaning it was stolen, and I respect and honour the First Peoples who have been on Turtle Island since time immemorial.

The quilt has been seven years in the making. I first heard of the quilt along in early December 2016. It had started in November, and over the course of the ensuing 52 weeks, the designer, Kat Tucker of Quiltnasium, released three 6" blocks, each representing a Canadian woman who had contributed to Canada in some way. Well, I was instantly IN. I love anything that empowers women. Since I'd read a fair amount of pioneer- and suffragette-themed books, I was intrigued and eager to learn more. And did I. Not only did Kat give the directions to make each block, she also included a few paragraphs telling each woman's story.

I Like/Love...

This is a (mostly) photos post.  Good luck with that, Sandra, I can hear you thinking! Here are about 10 items for which I am grateful.

I've stashed some of these photos for a while..

A few weeks ago we went to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers.  It is a place I've wanted to visit for ages.  It did not disappoint.  Clockwise from top left: Mysore Fig Tree in the distance on the left and a stately row of palms leading to the Caloosahatchee River on Ford's estate.  Next is a closeup of another massive Mysore Fig in front of Edison's home. I wanted to do a headstand in front of Ford's tree. Too many people around but that would've been so cool! Mysore is the style of Ashtanga I practise, which originated in Mysore, India.  (yes I'M-sore LOL after some days of practice!)  Close-up of one of my all-time favourite Florida plants, Bougainvillea, and then a row of a few colours of these "paper flower" bushes on the estates.

I love animals.  I love my own three fur kids; they are a part of our family, each with their own wonderful personality. I love that they often gravitate to my sewing room, clearly a place of extreme happiness, completeness, and peace.  I love that Bella, like Naala, will often lie beside her cushion, and use it to rest an elbow and head on!

Clockwise from top left: turkey buzzards; Norfolk Pine and bougainvillea; Design #8 Sunset in the City; a leaf bug

We live in an area that is not built up very much, although it sure has had a housing boom over the past two winters.  As a result of the lack of houses, there is a lot of wildlife and nature.  I find turkey buzzards both hilarious and a bit creepy.  Hilarious because they are so big and perch in these dead trees, or on the neighbours' rooftop , two of them, a few days ago, much to Naala's annoyance.  She raced around the yard, deep growling in her chest and leapt into the air at them!  They, in turn, flipped her the bird, lol, by buzzing relatively low overhead, flapping (loudly! they're huge!) their wings. Nature is beautiful but also cruel: I saw a dead (looked agonizing) possum yesterday at the side of the road, mostly eaten out but head and legs and fur very much there.  Quite possibly killed or half-eaten by one of the many bobcats we see; munched on, or will be, as well by buzzards.  I love Norfolk Pine trees (not as much as those Mysore Figs) which also get humongous. I just found out they are native to Norfolk Island in the Southern Hemisphere, east of Australia, not Norfolk, VA! Orlando is their limit for how far north they can grow. Seems so odd because when I think of a pine tree, I think snow, northern climate, right?
Design #8 - Sunset on the City: I am quite amazed at how much I am enjoying fiddling around with design, especially colouring with pencil crayons! This design above, #8, was inspired by the fabric below,

which I purchased on sale from Hawthorne Threads.  May I interject that I love sale fabric as well?! I couldn't afford to quilt without finding deals. I bought it to go on the back of my House Blocks RSC2017 quilt.  I wrote a tutorial for the block in my last post, or you can download a PDF for free right here. That is an affiliate link.😉  Finally, last photo in the collage above, I am not a fan of bugs per se, but of some, yes.  No clue what this leaf bug is that MacGyver scared out of the jasmine when he was watering, but look at the size of it! At first I thought it was a Praying Mantis. I actually saw it wipe its face on the leaves of the viburnum right after I took the photo!

I love the first installment of my Christmas present from MacGyver, a fat eighth subscription to Art Gallery fabrics from Pink Castle Fabrics.

Nope, I would not have bought a lot of these...lemons anyone, for example!  But seeing and petting them, possibilities are forming.

I love hummus.  Tomatoes.  Good cheese (this is Swiss) and spinach on a wrap for lunch.

I love scraps.  I love figuring out ways to get more out of my scraps.  This Card Trick block called for cutting 3.5" squares in half twice diagonally which would leave two extra for all four colours used in this block. I used two white triangles cut from a 3.5" square as templates so I only had to cut a 1.75" rectangle to get two.  This also is a great block for another love, playing with gradation in colour.

I like Tuesdays because we get three more 6" blocks!  We are now 20% done the 150 Canadian Women Project at Next Step Quilt Designs.  Here are this week's ladies:

28 - Emily Carr, famous Canadian painter; 29 - Madeleine de Verchères, who, when her parents were away in Montreal, successfully defended her family's fort at the age of 14 against an Iroquois attack; 30 - Henrietta Laetitia Tuzo, first Canadian born woman mountaineer.  Mount Tuzo, on the BC/Alberta border, bears her name.

Here are the first 30 blocks! I will be sewing sashing and cornerstones to them, but haven't got the fabric from Sew Sisters yet because it's been delivered to my friend in Ontario!

Yep, I LOVE!

I love my country, Canada; I've made no secret of that.  It has inadvertently sneaked into this blog over the past year, unplanned, but I'm happy that it has. We celebrate 150 years as a country this July.  I feel very fortunate to be able to escape a few months of the Canadian winter and sojourn in Florida's sunshine.  I love sunshine.  I admire and deeply respect American's outgoing president and, without getting too political, because I don't have the right to express my opinion on choices for president here since I can't vote, but I do have the right to express my opinion on a fellow human being.  Let me just say this phrase: President Obama and Chelsea Manning, which makes me both smile and choke up at the same time with emotion.  So thankful.  Kudos to you, Mr. President.

I like pattern-testing.  I've learned about writing my own patterns by testing for others.  The 10" blocks I've done for Cindy over the past several months have challenged me:  to find the right fabric for the various components, to evaluate the instructions for clarity, and to apply pieces a quarter the size or less of my pinkie fingernail!  I am so thankful for Lara's Crafted Appliqué!  I've done no stitching on the four appliquéd blocks I've made and they all have held wonderfully.

Tried for a nighttime scene for the moose block. It's actually a bit darker in real life.

The Parliament Buildings, Ottawa.  I added some greenery on either side of the main building, the walk and an attempt at the Centennial Flame that burns at the approach to the walk.  Might have to add a bit there.  I also was true to the roof colour as of the present.  They are replacing the copper roof, which has a lifespan.  So the Peace Tower is still the light green that aged copper goes, while the Centre Block building has changed to chocolate brown, which I read it does shortly after being installed.  I've had that sky fabric about as long as the twinkle stars one, but this sunset piece was just an 8X10" piece I picked up on a shop hop somewhere.  Thanks for the flag Cindy! And for being patient with my slow testing.  Appliqué and I are not always the best of friends...

I love the saying on Instagram posted by Fat Quarter Shop.  This could apply to anything: yoga, your body, your parenting, or any hobby or activity.  I love Angela Walters, who said in this week's episode, "Finished is better than perfect" and notes on her blog that she purposely left mistakes in her videos to show that she herself is not perfect and she is totally okay with that.  "Fibre in my wine...hmmph!...meh, I'm okay with that, " and she takes another swig.  I LOVE her.  None of what you see in her videos is forced; she is truly that spontaneously funny in person.  Another great quilter whose YouTube channel I subscribe to, is Jamie Wallen and ...... DRUM ROLL .... I am going to be taking a couple of his classes when he is at The Quilt Bee in Ontario this May!!! EEEP!

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You can hop over to Not Afraid of Color if you'd like to read LeeAnna's "I Like" Thursday post and find a few other bloggers who write similar ones.
and also with
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts (no finish here, unless you count the finish of pattern testing Cindy's Canada blocks😉) 

Oh Canada

Seems to be a theme for the past few posts, doesn't it?  Not intentional.  Yet kinda cool, especially on today, as I think of my neighbours to the north--north of me is Detroit, Michigan, and to the south across Lake Erie--south is Sandusky, Ohio.

You are probably thinking, wait, you made an entire quilt of maple leaves floating on one giant maple leaf like, a week or so ago?  Yep.  Windfall.  That was my own design and for the Autumn Abundance blog hop.  This particular block is a test for Cindy at Stitchin At Home, who has designed a Canada quilt as a block of the month for her guild to do over this next several months, with the finish in time for Canada's 150th birthday on July 1, 2017!  I'm testing the blocks for her.  She constructed her leaf a little differently than mine.  It looks great amongst the leaves, several of which I'd picked to scatter on my quilt.

I also tested the puppy block for Joanne at Canuck Quilter.  I have very limited time for sewing and blogging over the next couple of weeks, so I couldn't do the entire baby quilt for her, but she's got several testers for the owl and ducky versions, such a cute quilt.  She writes great patterns; hope you check out some of them on her blog link, and maybe pick up a copy of this pattern once it is available!

Woof!

I was thinking Naala, aka Rottweiler when I did this one.  Pretty cute, huh?  It might end up in a cushion or something for Brady.  He loves dogs.  The mum that the puppy is resting against is one that comes back each year, such a vibrant burgundy-red! It survived a recent transplant quite nicely.  

The glorious Fall weather continues: I leave the house five times a week at 5:45 am for yoga, either doing or teaching, and I've only had to scrape the windshield once.  That was such an ever-so-light scrape, as the frost was just a touch.  All our flowers and all the flowers in town (well those who haven't been rather goofy IMHO and yanked them out) are flourishing:

 So many roses in town are still thriving, blooming.

Close-up.  Canada colours, eh?!

Back to our American neighbours on their Election Day, which will undoubtedly affect us, not to mention the rest of the planet.  We were on the north side of the Detroit River last week.  The drive along Jefferson Avenue to Dayna's never disappoints; why take the freeway when you can revel at the jaw-dropping mansions on one side of the road, and the jaw-dropping views of Lake St. Clair on the other?  And then, there's the stunning colours...

The photo does not come close to doing the colours justice, but you get the idea.  I hope all will be well with them.  Our two countries are so very similar in many ways, but so very different in others.  Yet we live side by side pretty amicably.  Would that all different cultures could do so in peace and understanding.  Variety is the spice of life, as they say; why should everyone be all virtual clones of each other, and look and act the same?  Wouldn't quilts be pretty boring if all the millions of them on this planet were one colour and all the same shades or tones of that colour?

Tolerance, cooperation, and we, like the fabrics in our quilts, can all play nicely together on the quilting frame.  That is my own humble opinion and hope for our world.

:-)

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Strong and Free

That's my country.  A line from our national anthem.  We Canadians are a rather laid back breed for the most part.  Quiet.  Polite. Peacemakers.  I am very proud of that description of us.  I'm also very proud of my country and I love it.  This post has a few Canadian images and thoughts for you.

Sunset on Lake Erie October 15 at the home of friends of ours

Maple Leaf Forever

Not sure of the variety, or wait, I think this may be an oak?!! My friend Doug taught me that red oaks have pointed leaves...please do let me know.

Okay this next definitely is a maple, known as Autumn Blaze.  I got that name from the guy who owns these spectacular beauties, trees I have photographed every year for the past five Falls that I have walked past them.

I think the big one right in front of me and on my right is a silver maple. Maybe a red maple!  Autumn Blaze is a hybrid of those two I learned.

A little maple of my own has been a-happenin' in my sewing corner...

Love it when seams line up purr-fectly!

Speaking of purring, Bella has been right beside me every step of the way on this secret project which will be revealed this coming Friday!

From cutting, to discovering my desk lamp throws some lovely warm heat (don't worry; the iron wasn't on), to settling down all nice and cosy, ensuring both sides of her head got toasty, to oops!  Guess she sat too near the pile of HST trimmings...

Back in the summer Bernie of Needle and Foot asked me if I'd like to be a part of a hop she was planning for the Fall, to showcase a fabric company's Fall line of fabrics.  For sure!  Paintbrush Studio is our sponsor and I picked Windfall for my project.

Some of the incredibly rich hues in this gorgeous line.

Here is a teaser photo during construction:

And during quilting:

The Autumn Abundance blog hop runs all this week.  Be sure to check back as I will update the links below as each post goes live.  You should get some great Fall inspiration!

Monday - Bernie at Needle and Foot
Tuesday - Janine at Quilts From the Little House
Wednesday - Mari at The Academic Quilter
Thursday - Tish at Tish's Adventures in Wonderland
Friday - moi!

Back to Canada.  I've been thoroughly engrossed in another fantasy by Ottawa, Ontario resident Charles de Lint, Trader.  I am nearly finished; if you like a good fantasy, especially one that paints the veil between Faerie/Spiritworld and ours as being very thin, and blends Celtic lore with Native American, then you will love his work.  The Little Country is the first of his that I read, with Moonheart and its sequel, Spiritwalk, in a three-way tie for favourites.

While working on my quilt, I decided to go through some CDs that I was organizing, ensuring they are loaded into the laptop (and therefore my devices) for easy transport.  This was the point at which I realized how I'd unknowingly been surrounding myself with Canadian art while I worked on my Autumn Abundance quilt.  I'd completely forgotten about this gift from my mum from several years ago, a Canadian Brass CD, love!  Bach's fugues have mesmerized me since I first was learning them (and they are hard!); the intricacy and interweaving of themes in each 'voice' quite a work of art and organization, not to mention genius.  In keeping with the fantasy atmosphere, Canadian Loreena McKennit's haunting melodies are just the ticket.  They've been getting a fair bit of play recently.  I do believe I own every one of her CDs, and, imported into the laptop though they all may be, I will still keep the hard copies!

Canada is such a rich country in many ways from resources, to a variety of peoples, cultures (we are multicultural and proud of it), vistas, and interesting weather to be sure!  Out west in Alberta, they had an unwelcome blast from Old Man Winter a couple of weeks ago, and he is hanging on yet with his icy fingers...
Still, there is incredible beauty and magic to be found:

Photo courtesy of my sister Linda, taken by her son

I think she should enter that photo in a contest.  I just love it!  The snow is pretty much gone now.

2000 miles to the east and 700 miles south of Edmonton, I sat and enjoyed the sun and water on my walk yesterday.  Canada is indeed diverse.

Can you spot the black Lab swimming? Ah, would Rocco have loved to be with him...

A little later on that same walk, I had to stop and take a photo of this fabulously decorated house.  People really go all out in my little town, but this circle of dancing ghosts was just so creative! I immediately heard the music of "Outlander" in my head, thoughts of the dancing white witches in the standing stones overlaying the ghosts in front of me.

Ahh, Outlander...Scotland...one day I hope to go there...  Finally, a nod to Canada's 'mother' country, from none other than my own proud to be English, mum.  She sent me this photo the other day, her lunch of homemade broccoli soup (she makes the best) on her Union Jack placemat I made her last year, and in the background a tablerunner from probably about 15 years ago that I also made her. How I love seeing my quilts being used and loved.  

Photo courtesy of my mum. Thanks Mum!

Be sure to check out the Autumn Abundance Day 1 post right here!

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