WE ARE HEADING HOME!

We are heading home tomorrow for our granddaughter's operation. So today will be spent putting things in order, getting our garbage ready to put in the boat and closing up for a few days.

The tumor which is benign is being removed at a radiology clinic in Toronto and we are taking her. It's a long operation I'm told, but just day surgery.

After all this, the recovery should be speedy and she will be back on her feet and putting 100% effort in her training program.

It's been a long haul to determine the growth and the pain. So it's being removed!

We have been having such incrdible weather, but it does have a downside. This past winter there was little snow up in the lake area, hence, not too much of a run off to our lake.

The photo actually is a tributory of a lake higher up
than ours and usually the waterfall (see below) is roaring
at this time of year.


Well it's just trickling down like it was the middle of July this year. So for all the good there is always a bad I suppose.








You can see the waterfall on the right side of the photo that is coming off the upper photo. It is usually just roaring down at this time of year.



The kids walk up there to just hear and see the roaring of the waterfall at Bear Lake. The upper part is called part of Livingston Lake in this area and they dump into ours, which is Kawagama Lake.


It is always an adventure to go there with the kids and I used to be able, like them, climb to the top and just wonder at the beauty around us.

The other photo is of our wonder dog Wilson who loves the boat ride and the excursion of the visit to the waterfall but we put the "boat coat" on him. It's easier
to control him and he knows there is a trip when he
sees the red life jacket.


I have a new blog for you to look at to just make us all that blog know that we quilters are a special breed; the cumberland island quilt chick (what a name) is on my blog roll and her photos are very amazing as well as her writings.

Isn't it something when someone connects with you, you connect with them and the links are all over the world?

Each and everyone that I visit is always so fun in the mornings when having coffee, seeing what each person has done, how their day is going and each day is a discovery! Visit Cumberland Island seen through her eyes.

NOW, WOULD YOU BE SEWING WITH THIS KIND OF WEATHER?

Now who would sew with this kind of weather? It's like
summer....the summer we haven't had for three years
here in Ontario.


The weekend was all bliss weather, in the mid 80s, the sun was shining, light winds, therefore the lake went to about 60 degrees....at the top 5 inches the swimmers told me!

Now, I just couldn't get my head into thinking about sewing. It was just not to be. I even tried to honestly lay out the geese, but it was too hot.

It's still so hot today and therefore, I am relaxing totally as we are planning our first trip to Dorset for our first shopping trip of the season. Yes, we need food after the weekend!

We also need water! Our lake is clean enough to drink from, but the taste just isn't sweet so we go to the spring well that the town provides.

I do count my blessings in life that we are still able to be here!

FIRST STORM OF THE SEASON! AND MY FLOWERS ARE CUT OUT.

We were sitting on the deck last evening, the wind was calm
so we were enjoying a glass of wine before dinner.


I was sitting facing east and remarked to my sweetie that the wind was coming up!

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So he glanced over noting the "cats paws" on the lake.
I said they were more like lions paws as I was beginning to feel the breeze.

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Well a couple of minutes later, the breeze was a storm coming through and the rainbow that you see had moved from over the island in the distance to the big
island right across from us.


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The lake became very dark, the wind was dislodging pine cones from the trees, branches were flying across the roof and huge drops of water were starting to fall.

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You can see the white caps forming on the lake. The sun is shining to the west of us and since we are facing south you can see the sun on the other island.


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It was truly wierd! I must tell you this was all in the spance of less than 10 minutes! I would pop out the door and take a shot and dodge the pine cones and branches,then pop back into the cottage.

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In about 15 minutes, it was all over, the wind dropped, the lake calmed and not only that but the wind changed to a westly breeze!

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We put the pillows back out on the deck and finished our wine! This was the first storm of the season.
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Of course my sweetie had just finished raking the winter debris and everything looked super!


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I have all the flowers finished! I spent a few hours tracing and then cutting them all out. I have decided to make the centers in one colour.....I think right now.

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I have also cut out the leaves which were easy. Now I am thinking that since "stabilizer" is paper, I may try using some old magazine pages which are thin and may just stabilize the white fabric enough to get started.
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It is Friday morning though and we are expecting company, so I'm probably not going to start the larger of the project till Monday at least.
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Bob and Mary (the neighbours) are coming for the weekend. Their lovely daughter is coming with the love of her life at the moment. (mom is hoping this is the one) So there is baking to be done.
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Better than Sex Cake is on the request menu, my daughter's oatmeal goodie squares also, and of course Pizza.
I can make all of it today. Believe it or not the Pizza is actually awesome when baked the next day. The crust is crispier which is what everyone like.
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Bob is bringing beef tenderloin for Sunday dinner, along with the fixin's. So, we eat too much again.

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS!

Ok, the Geese were so easy, of course once the instructions were in my head! I can actually make 4 of these babies in about 10 minutes. That's including the pressing and the trimming. Who would have thought it?



I tried to download them yesterday but the satellite just didn't seem to want to accommodate me. So here they are today.

Yes, I am proud. Remember I told you that these were my grandmother's favorite blocks. They show up in so many of her quilts. She used a cardboard template which I have amongst her treasures of quilting stuff.



Ok, now to the dilemna. See the flower? I think that the stitch may be a bit too wide, that I can fix. But the white keeps puckering. do I put a piece of paper under the white?

I have fusible web behind all three cut outs as directed.

I did ask ask Anya at Hillscreek quilter, who by the way has been honored with an lovely award for one of her quilts. Go see http://hillscreekquilter however she uses a blanket stitch but she did give me adivice for that if I went to that stitch. But I think satin is the way to go here.

Please, also do I use less tension on the needle? I have a very light tension for the presser foot all the time, so should I reduce the needle tension too?

I have read a few directions on the web which show how to do it but not the set up. Gosh, I can sew, it's the set up that I can't figure out.

I'm cutting out all the flowers for the quilt today and don't think I'll kill myself with the scissors and there should be no blood dripping as my fingers are healing.

I just never thought of quilting as a dangerous hobby. After reading Karen's comment about not quilting in bare feet in case the rotary cutter drops on the foot, my sweetie (who knows me well) said that he better up the insurance on me! Today, he said that I should be careful with the scissors as I could poke my eyes out!

What a man!

FLYING GEESE AND BLOODY FINGERS!

When I was reading the little bio on Eleanor Burns,
one of the things noted was that she charged twenty
five cents for each person that didn't put the cover
on the rotary cutters!


I usually do this, but today I forgot and was reaching for a piece of fabric and look what happened! Yep, three fingers sliced! I had to stop working while the fingers stopped bleeding. A little nic by someone on 325 mg of aspirin sometimes takes a bit of work. I didn't want to bleed on the geese.

Well the geese are done and if I could have downloaded the photos I took, you would have been proud! I am very very proud of myself for following directions.

Well almost...the first practice shot I cut 11 1/2 instead of 11" on the white. So I thought why would she put all that extra fabric to trim? Yeah, then I re read the instructions...11" OMG. And this is day one!

Well I must say that I am very pleased. The Queen of Quilt in a Day did it right. I made all the geese in about 5 hours of sewing, cutting and measuring. I wish I could have downloaded them by satellite, but maybe I can do something tomorrow.

Anyway, the fingers are healing, the sewing is put away for the day, and I am now going to tackle the cutting of the little flowers as directed. Of course when I made my templates....oh yeah, I cut them out of mylar no less, then read Eleanor's little note (cut flowers 1/4" larger than shown) So I shall make more I think, just to be right and following directions for the first time ever. Gosh you'd think I was a man!

Oh, I don't know if my friend even got to Ireland yet as the volcano was acting up in Iceland and maybe she went to Paris instead! Now wouldn't that be a treat!

FLYING INTO SPRING WITH ELEANOR BURNS!

We have returned to our little "shack at the lac" as the saying goes about our little piece of heaven here in Ontario.

Not only have we returned but so have the humming birds. Only 2 so far and they are males, so the females can't be far behind. Usually about a week till they arrive and the mating season begins.

The photos that I've taken here are from American Patchwork and Quilting by Better Homes and Gardens. The feature quilter this month is none other than the queen herself Eleanor Burns.

I have all the fabric, the fusible web the backing etc. I even found
a machine quilter when shopping at Fabricland on Sunday. You know
if you listen to a conversation while browsing and hear the word
"quilt" well, the rest is easy. I asked if they knew of anyone who
did long arm quilting and low and behold one of the ladies does and she lives only 15 minutes from me! Now isn't that saying that karma happens when one least expect it!


Ok, I am also going to make the flying geese for the first time, make the flowers for the first time, follow directions for the first time, (that is to the letter almost).

There is a very good diagram of how to make the geese which I shall practice on some scraps before I begin in earnest.

Helen, my guru, my mentor, my very patient friend is off to Ireland for the next week with one of her daughters and her friend Susan. I am going to try on my own, but if I can't giterdone as the saying goes, I do have another project to start.

But I am full of confidence! I am going to make myself proud! I am starting tomorrow.

The weather is fabulous, very light breeze and it's 78 degrees in the shade of our deck. It just doesn't get any better than that!

DAVID COPPERFIELD...WHAT A SHOWMAN!

Oh boy were we entertained! I'm never one that has said, you know
how much I loved this guy! Well he was funny, he was quick with the
repartee, he totally amazed me and I laughed and ooohed and aaahed
for about 2 hours. Just short of that really, but it seemed like 15
minutes, because the show just rolled so quickly.

We saw him at Casino Rama where I'd never been for those of you who live in Ontario and know that it's near Orillia. 5,000 people in the theatre. I never knew that people, that many anyway would go to shows like this.


Now I know. We were also about 4 rows back with Helen, and her honey so we could see it all. My sweetie who is such a sceptic (?)
was totally and I mean totally entertained!

What more can I say, except thank you so much to our friends who had us for dinner, ribs extraordinaire, we got to sleep in what was like a hotel suite with total luxury!

We are back home, rested and today will be a shopping day for the next couple of weeks at the cottage.

I am also heading to Fabricland this morning with my list of goodies I require with instructions from the birthday girl of last week for a maple leaf quilt....Shades of red? Not for her...."Nana, just plain red and white!" It was her tone that made it clear....Well I may get a teeny bit creative with it still.

I think that spring is finally here as we are now in the mid 60s with sunny days ahead. I hope when I return to the lake that the hummingbirds will have arrived.

FAN QUILT

Did you really really think I'd made this? Not on your
life!

This quilt was made about 70 years ago by my neighbour's grandmother. This was what I wanted to do!

I mentioned to Helen that maybe my blog friends would believe that I made this....She laughed ! What? You don't think I could have done this? She was probably still laughing when getting into her boat to go home!

Ok, I didn't make it, but dreams do come true and one day, it will happen. Even if it takes me a year to accomplish such a beauty!

I think the yellow and white points just add drama to the placement of this quilt. If you click on the photo you can see that the quilting, done by hand all of it, is quite different in some of the blocks.

I just love this quilt and it will be at our cottage for the summer, so I can see it every day we are here.

We are heading home for a few days so I'm heading to Fabricland for fabric shopping. Big sale for this month and I do have an Eleanor Burns quilt which was in this month's BHG that I want to make. It's called Spring Fling...and uses fusible web to applique. I think I can do that! I'm not going to rush it, I'm going to make it my summer project.

I bought enough fabric from Green Fairy Quilts last month to make it except the white background. I probably should buy a bolt of white when it's on sale, as well as yellow, as I love both of these colours!

It's very windy today at the cottage. We are once again hunkered down and burning wood. No humming birds as yet and as Harmony Hopes aka Penny noted, they are smarter than we are. Maybe next week as the weather is supposed to warm up.

We are expecting a gang for the long weekend in May, which is like Memorial Day in the US except that we call it the May 24th weekend even if it doesn't fall on the 24th. It's a totally Canadian thing!

We are off to see David Copperfield on Friday with Helen and her honey! Can't wait.

IT'S TOO COLD TO QUILT......SO, I DID THIS!

What does one do at the cottage when the weather is in the freezer?



I decided to make focaccia bread! I had brought some buns from the bakery at home and thought that I'd try making them here.



The new neighbours (I gotta stop calling them that after three years) made me brownies for mother's day, so I decided they should get one of the loaves.




We were going to my friend Helen's for dinner, that was worth one and we got one.



The recipe I got from an online site, said that these
were made in the round. However, in Canada we have
focaccia usually in square buns
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I also read that one should add rosemary which the
neighbours had. Fresh no less as Kathleen is a vegan
so they always have wierd and wonderful things in
her larder!

As you can see from the photos they do look amazing! I was very pleased with my first attempt.

But...the next time I would use less olive oil, more rosemary and try to make them more crispy and less like bread.

As you can see they really puffed up and were quite delicious, but not what my goal was. I am going to give them another try to try an make them truly crusty!

Honestly, the weather had me hunkered down in the cottage most of the day.

My sweetie was outside wearing coat and gloves finishing putting the final touches to our precious lift.

The new neighbour guy who is so fit and actually can usually run with a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood has hurt his back which meant that his girls had to carry all the groceries etc up to their cottage....overheard by someone...."dad we need a lift". It's a sign I tell you!

I am getting some advice on the fans today as Helen will make the trek to our cottage this morning. If it's not too cold for us to fire up the sewing machine. There must be a temperature level for that poor machine which is set up close to a heavy plastic window. For those of you in the south you have probably heard of Weatherwall Windows. Well that's what we have here in the sunroom. No insulation value whatsoever.

Ok, this week we will be in the mid 50s to low 60s. Spring is returning to our little paradise.

I must say though that some of the flowers that are usually in bloom when the hummingbirds arrive have finished blooming. What a strange year. I saw on tv this morning that the lilacs will also be 2 to 3 weeks ahead of their time. The hummers have yet to arrive here, although my neighbour Mary says she has them now.

It is still a beautiful day here, not a cloud in the sky, the lake is calm and we can actually hear the loons early in the morning with their haunting calls. It's worth it all.

I'M A WINNER....WAHOO!

Now, I've said it many many times, that I don't have much luck
when it comes to entering the thousands of giveaways in blogland.

You know some of you win over and over again, but not me! I have
finally won! Thank you to Christine at "The Cutting Edge" for giving
me my first ever win!


Not only that, but she felt a bit sorry for me moaning and groaning about never having won (grins here a bit) that she sent me more than just my winning package.

So thank you Sunshine! All the fabrics are coming to the cottage for creating something special!



I haven't been doing any sort of sewing, quilting, planning projects and definitely not the fans.

We have been at the cottage doing cottage things, like reading, eating and visiting with friends. The weather is just too awesome to sit and sew. And.....my machine hasn't made the trip yet.


It is a bit early for us to have weather in the mid 70s, or teens for
the celcius people . We usually are bundled up, keep the fires
burning hoping that the weather doesn't get too cold during the
nights so that we don't freeze.

Not this year, not even any fires at night during this past week.
I took this photo on Sunday morning. The lake is still
about 39 degrees, while the air was about 72. Hence
the fog which was lying low over the islands on the
lake.

The little island near the end of the lake seems to be in the clouds. It was quite an eerie morning, but still mild enough that I sat on the deck with my coffee in hand, listening to the sounds of the birds calling for mates.

We are still awaiting the hummingbirds which should arrive sometime in the next week if they are on their annual migratory schedule of past years.

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Returning to the city on Sunday afternoons is always different for us as we are retired so we never "travel" with the weekend cottagers. We were surprised at how many people were like us, opening cottages early due to the great weather we have been experiencing this year.

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We returned to take one of our granddaughters' for her appointment with a super surgeon regarding the tumor on her leg which is benign, but is growing and it's been bothering her for the past year. It is very close to the bone on her calf, causing quite a bit of pain during her training workouts, so we are now told that there will be an appointment at a radiology clinic to inject her with -for the life of me I can't remember what- which may require only one or two treatments to clear the tumor up. We are very thankful that it is a minor treatment program and so worth the wait to have it all cleared up.

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Gosh, my blogs are long! I just start and never know when to finish, except now, I'm making dinner which requires my full attention.

AT THE COTTAGE DOT CALM

See the little bear which was quilted by one of the ladies
from the quilt show I visited last month with my new
friend Peggi.\?


Well, it's the only bear that I've seen. None were seen this year on our trip to the cottage.

We usually see at least one! But this one which was quilted in free motion was very cute indeed!


We could not believe the weather. It must be the same for all of America and Canada. Spring has arrived!


I must say the water levels are very low compared to recent years. This year there is literally no run offs because there was so little snow this past winter.

All the way north, the rivers, the streams, and the large lakes had levels much much lower than years past. I read that some marinas and boat launching sites are not able to launch boats due to the water levels being so low. Next year we will complain that we are flooded! No one is ever happy with each situation. Me? I'm happy, as I have had a great weekend.

I cook! It's what I do at the cottage. I like feeding people! It's that simple. I'm not fancy by any stretch of the imagination, but I try to please everyone. Now my specialty is Prime Rib Roast. It's not that it's a secret recipe, but for any beef to be tender, it must be aged. I buy a roast or steaks and age them for at least a week, then I marinate them in my secret marinade. If you want it let me know. I can't publish it as it will be a rage!

So needless to say, we had Prime Rib this weekend and ohs and ahs made my weekend. On Sunday, I decided to make muffins that looked yummy in the magazine that I had, so I started making them and found I didn't have yoghurt, oh, that's ok I thought, I'll use sour cream....well I forgot that at home....so I used mayo. I'm telling you that these were the best muffins anyone had ever had. I had to ajust a bit and added some cinammon to the recipe too, but wow.

I wrote it down while the brain was working. I'm going to try these again to see if I got it right.

We are back for a few days, then we return to our little paradise. No hummingbirds as yet, but I have some purple flowers blooming! Unbelievable.

THE BEST PUPPIES!

I was sent these puppies by my bridge friend Barb. I couldn't resist posting them. Are these not the cutest ever ?

Abviously the mums are the largest of the large and the arranger is super talented.

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She could probably do hand quilting too I'll bet.

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We are off to the cottage so the past few days have been filled with getting supplies to stock the essentials for our coming season. I tell you that because I've not been looking at any quilting projects at all.

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You know cottage loving and living is a tasking effort as one ages. Each season, new ketchup, mustards, flour, coffee, sugars, crackers, salt, pepper to name a few must be restocked!

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Now when we were up a bit ago, did I check to see what I had left there last year? Nope, didn't open a cupboard to see if I have coffee or any dry goods. I was too busy

just being happy to be there.

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So today we leave to officially open up. Thank goodness for the inclinator. No carrying of supplies up to the deck. Can't wait.

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See you next week!

FIDDLEHEADS, A SIGN OF SPRING!

A sure sign of spring for me as Acadian born that I am is that fiddleheads are ready to be picked!


I can't remember a time when I didn't eat these delicacies. They are tender, taste a bit betweein asparagus and spinach I suppose but, oh so much better.

There is a very short window of opportunity to pick them for their best flavour. The time is usually the first couple of weeks at the end of april or first of May depending on the weather.

Well, Sunday one of my boys, Martin to be exact and his friend Carolyn went picking for me. Due to the hip thing, I really couldn't have bent over to do the job of harvesting these little critters.

They freeze well too, did I say that? Well they do,
I just blanch them for about 2 minutes in the
steamer and pat them dry, freeze for whenever I
get the urge.

There are many recipes for fiddleheads, but simply
cook them till just tender, drain, rinse, and add a bit
of butter and vinegar to taste and YUM!

I have been on a stall on the fans! Need I say more?
Decisions, decisions and more. So, I'm going to sew them by machine using the blanket stitch and leave the lessons of the hand part for the dahlia quilt.


This is a big project while the dahlia one that I posted last week is much smaller. With that in mind, and also I noted that Sunshine (at The Cutting Edge on my blog roll) has done some amazing curved piecing and used her machine to do her curves.
Her work is aways so interesting. So have a peak.


I'm going to relax and enjoy making my fans today, even
though the weather is so lovely. We are still in the city,
but come Thursday afternoon, the cottage beckons.

Enjoy the day!

PS...did I see that Crazy Mom Quilts is coming back?

FANS AND MORE FANS

First, I want to thank you all for your kind words of encouragement yesterday when I blogged about my very ambitious project!


I didn't know that I should have cut the foundation block about an inch larger...thank you very much for tell me that...the pattern did not state that!

Also, nowhere did the pattern say how hard it would be to turn those curved suckers! Nosireebob! No statement to that effect!

After getting lots of comments about doing this, I tried, lord knows I tried for a long time to practice on those extra pieces to make them look like the samples on the quilt pattern.

Didn't happen. I may need to make something so that I can indeed curve the tops. I was very very frustrated. I am going to see if Helen can show me how to do this without my going nuts! I don't know how you hand quilters do it! I am now understanding what
makes you tick...


So, then after thinking about it, I did make a practice square by using a blanket stitch that I think Jane or Anya (bloggers extraordinaire) did sometime back and thought that my Janome must have this stitch.

So, without much frustration! Some, but not much I say, I managed to do this block. My sweetie, who is always coming up with opinions (I didn't ask for this one) said that it was nice, but didn't look like the hand quilted one in the photo......NO, it DOESN'T. But, it looks pretty good.

So, I'm putting this away till I see Helen, and if I don't get the hang of this, then, I shall do it in the blanket stitch, and improvise the finishing.

Since I use cotton batting for most quilts, I'm thinking poly to do some hand work, I'll need advice on this. I know that Helen used a silk batting on one of her quilts, but I don't want to spend that kind of money on this . What do you use to hand quilt an ordinary project?

I'm further thinking, yes the mind is reeling from all the goings on! I'm further thinking that I shall do the bottom in yellow, and not blue, finish the border in yellow which would make it go with the nine patch I did last summer and be on the bunk bed with that one.

Always thinking folks, always thinking. However, I must put this to print as my mind is like a sieve and I shall have forgotten it all by tomorrow.

Again, thank you those that left the little comments of advice. I probably wouldn't have started it all if I had read them.before, as it is a daunting endeavour for me to do on my own, which is why I'm waiting till I get to the cottage.

Have a fun weekend.

PS, just noted Green Fairy quilts is have a jelly roll sale, $25.95 ea. Lots of them.

TWO NEW PROJECTS!

I found these two lovely quilts in a book that I have at the cottage...given to me by my buddy Helen...I love them both.



I honestly have never done applique work. This Dahlia one, (that's the name of the quilt) is a 1930's scrap quilt.



I am of course thinking of more modern colours for the flowers and a more subdued yellow for the sashings.



Not only that, but I am thinking of trying Lap Quilting!
Yep, this is a whole new venture for me. I have been
intrigued by this method, specially so that if I was making a large quilt, wouldn't that be easier? Don't know how the method works, but I've seen a video a few times on it.

Ok, I've watched it a dozen times and for the life of me,
I can't figure the sashings that join the blocks together.



But...and that's a big but (my other one is too) I'm a
great stitch picker, so I suppose I'll figure that out too!

This one is also a 1930s quilt, and I love this pattern, I figure, that I can machine sew the fans together and do the curvey part by hand.


I made the mistake of asking my sweetie what he thought of the quilt with the blue sashings, (which I don't particularly like) and he says that he thinks that it is great with the blue.


What? there is nothing blue in our lives, not even when we are down....blue is not what I would call it!

Ok, so now I'm thinking blue...nope not gonna happen!

I have cut out all the fans using the jelly from American
Jane which is more country, so I'm getting ready to
start this.

Now this one is a Granny Fan quilt, fabric is also from a 1930s stash . I love this one, no sashings, which I couldn't do the lap quilting thing, but more to my liking I think.


I bought muslin fabric yesterday to cut out the 8 1/2" squares that they both go on.


Which to do? Also thinking of making the dahlia one with the Chez Moi fabric. More modern but still I think using only 8 colours to do it.


So, I'm not going to pump out quilts as I usually do. These two look like projects of an undertaking in a whole new direction for me....Helen is getting ready for these two.


We are heading to the cottage for good in the next few weeks, so I'll have them cut out and hopefully started with some semblance of order.


I'm feeling retro!