Where have I been? What have I been doing!

Apr6

I find it very hard to believe that I haven’t written a blog post in over a year. So much has happened in my life since that last time I posted. I am happy to say that it has been a fun filled and exciting.

Last March our daughter Elizabeth and her boyfriend Garrett got engaged. We could not be happier! They are two amazing individuals and we wish them a life time of happiness.

A huge surprise to us was that fact that in order to find a venue in Maine for a summer/fall wedding you need to start looking almost 18 months in advance! So that being said – let the games begin. The wedding planning is well underway and we are looking forward to an amazing event in August. Elizabeth and I have had a lot of fun discussing how to make this wedding a special day for everyone involved.

In July we celebrated birthdays – a lot of birthdays but 2 very special milestones were hit. I am reluctant to say that I turned 60 and my son Charles turned 30. 15 days apart. Those are some big numbers for both of us and because of that an amazing party was thrown in our honor by Chuck.

Charles and I were very happy that so many of the people we care the most about were able to come and join us for our “BIG” celebration.

We had friends and family from all over and it was a really special day for both of us.

The party was amazing – and since I make quilts I made a quilt for Charles for his birthday. I had started it a while ago with the idea of giving it to Charles and then I made it a point to get it done this past summer for his birthday.

Charles’ 30th birthday quilt

Once the celebrations were over and life settled down a bit I made a couple more quilts.

Cathy’s quilt

One was a group project for a friend who is battling cancer. The blocks in this quilt were sent to me from all over the country and Canada to send some love and comfort to a lovely lady. I really enjoyed working on it and I know that the person who received it felt the love that was stitched into this quilt

The next project was a wedding quilt for a young man and his new wife. They got married in September at a beautiful Inn in Vermont. It was a perfect day for a wedding and we had a fabulous time. This is a picture prior to quilting.

Phil and Devon’s quilt

Here is a picture of the newly married couple. I love making quilts for people knowing that it will be something that they have for along time.

The summer came to an end and fall arrived. I am never sorry to have the heat of the summer leave – I do love the change of seasons and Autumn is one of my favorite times of year. This past fall was lovely here in Maine.

I will be back tomorrow with another update on what is going on in my life. It has not been an uneventful time lately – lots of changes.

Be Kind….

Faith

Oh my what a month February has been….

Feb26

the view from my front door

I can’t ever remember a month where we had back to back to back storms. It would storm on Saturday and Sunday and then storm again on Tuesday or Wednesday. We would just get dug out from one storm in time for the next one to hit. It has been epic! I have heard various reports on the total amount of snow that has fallen – anywhere from 70″ to 90″! That is a lot of snow.

During all of this we have also been breaking records for cold temps. BRRR!!! let’s just say it has really been winter here in the Northeast and especially along the coast. I am not complaining I live in Maine not down south where they freak over a dusting.

Gracie and Stella in the snow covered yard

While all of this has been happening we brought home a new baby. The four legged kind. Miss Stella has joined our family. Stella is a chocolate lab who is a little spitfire. Stella has us all jumping at her command, she is just so darn cute.

Stella – one of her rare quiet moments!

Love that face!

Gracie is not at all sure that she is happy about the newest family member but she is definitely telling Stella to stay our of her space. They are sharing toys and people but as with all sisters they do get on each others nerves!

Gracie telling Stella the rules

During all of this fun in the snow we have been doing some puppy training. Stella knows to go to the door and ring the bells when she has to go outside, she comes when she is called – even when I don’t have a treat in my hand and she sleeps through the night. She does not want to accept that Gracie is the boss yet but she will learn.

It has been a great month to stay in and cook and sew – I have been stocking the freezer with all sorts of goodies that make it easier for me to have a hot meal on the table and still get some sewing and quilting done.

I don’t mind the snow but I am not in charge of relocating it after every storm. Our snow blower decided that it didn’t want to be in charge of snow removal either and after 15 years it died. We will get a new one next year when there is actually a selection. Not many snow blowers available in the Northeast these days.

Here is a little peek at some of the sewing that I have been doing lately.

Mirror Mirror Block by Marie Bostwick

Grand Illusion by Bonnie Hunter

Stay warm, Spring is coming – hopefully the snow will melt by May.

Be Kind….

Faith

The BLIZZARD of 2015- Juno…

Jan28

view from our front door January 27, 2015

The Blizzard of 2015 may have passed by NYC but it decided to visit the coast of Maine and pull up a chair and sit for awhile. The picture above was taken at 11:25 AM on January 27, 2015. At this point the wind had been howling for many hours. It is very difficult to get a measurement of how much snow we got because it was blowing all over the place. The estimates are about 24 inches, 2 feet of snow is a lot of freaking snow!!!

there really is a driveway there!

In some places there was grass showing and in others it was hip deep. There was no point going outside to try to clear the snow at this point because there were several more hours of heavy snow predicted and many more hours of heavy winds.

So when the weather outside is cold, snowy and windy, I bake. The house is chilly when it is very windy – at least it feels chilly to me, so I turn on the oven and prepare things to bake in it. Today I made corn muffins with blueberries and oatmeal raisin cookies.

corn muffins with blueberries

Oatmeal cookies ready to go into the oven.

I had a wonderful dinner planned but needed to warm up the house first. I made Braised Beef short ribs and mashed potatoes for dinner- the plan was to make something that could be cooked completely on the stove just in case the power went out. I have a gas cook top so when the power goes out I can still cook. The generator doesn’t power the oven so the baking has to be done early but I can cook on my gas stove. Thankfully we did not lose power in spite of Juno’s best efforts.

The view from inside our garage and 2:00.

Chuck and I decided to go out to clear the snow at about 2:00. It was still snowing and blowing but if it gets too high you just can’t get through it so it is better to do it in stages.

The wind calmed down over night – it is amazing how loud it is. I woke up when it got quiet at some time around 2 AM.

This morning it is still cloudy but the snow and wind have moved on to Nova Scotia.

making a path for Gracie and Stella.

Chuck went back out to clear the snow that blew over the walks and driveway last night. You could hardly tell that any snow had been cleared it had blown over so much. It is a winter wonderland for sure and there is more predicted to come on Friday and then next Monday. We love the snow but eventually you run out of places to put it all.

thinking of Spring flowers. This is the second re-bloom for this orchid.

the snow is covering the fence

We go to pick up our new puppy Stella tomorrow. We will be up very early in morning to go and get her. I will be posting pictures of Stella and Gracie as soon as I can. Gracie is in for a somewhat rude awaking, she has been queen dog for 6 years and now she will have to share us. Should be interesting.

Tonight I sew and I will show you the latest work that I am doing on Bonnie Hunters latest Mystery quilt. I am loving the way it is coming out. It sparkles!!!

Stay warm and safe… check on your neighbors and enjoy the Season of Winter.

Be Kind….

Faith

Grand Illusion step 2….

Dec10

Well Bonnie Hunter continues to challenge us -http://www.quiltville.blogspot.com/p/grand-illusion-mystery.html

I have been quilting for over 30 years and Bonnie seems to throw us a curve with every new step! I love it!!! The fact that I am doing a type of block that I have never done before is wonderful. I have to slow down and be precise, be sure that I am cutting my strips accurately and be very careful when I am stitching the pieces together. I have finished step 1 and I have everything cut for step 2. My blacks are from yardage because I had it and didn’t have a lot of scraps of any blacks – my whites are a couple of white on white fabrics. Once again I had several pieces of yardage that totaled the needed amount of fabric. I wanted to use what I had not buy anything new for this quilt.

piles of pieces ready to be sewn

I used the second option for cutting and piecing this step. I stitched several together and although they were close they were a bit small or the triangles were a bit wonky – so – I took them apart and restitched them. I went a bit slower and used a scant 1/4″ seam and things came together much better. They measured up just right.

finished blocks – lots more to do but on my way!

I am happy with the end results but I learned a lesson with this one. Slow down, use the skills you have learned, re-read the instructions that Bonnie has provided and all will turn out much better.

The weather here on the coast of Southern Maine has been miserable – yesterday we started with freezing rain and wind – the day warmed up to about 34 degrees and the rain really started to pour! It was the sort of day that you are happy to be inside! Today is rainy and windy. Just a lousy day! I would much rather have snow at this time of year but I know that is not a popular opinion. There is a Pot Roast in the oven, homemade bread just out of the oven and a bottle of wine waiting to be opened. Perfect for a stormy day.

Stay warm and dry…

Be Kind…

Faith

Acadia…

Dec5

Acadia National Park

One of the most beautiful places I have ever been. In mid October Chuck and I and all of our kids went to Acadia. There were 10 of us in total and we had the most amazing time. I first have to tell you that whenever we are all together the laughter is abundant! Everyone of us has a remarkable sense of humor and we especially enjoy teasing each other. If you have a thin skin we will go “easy” on you but as a rule the ribbing is all in good fun and is never meant to hurt feelings. We are just a really funny group – sometimes on purpose and sometimes purely by accident.

We had all been checking the weather forecast and the apps on our phones and the forecast was at best dismal. However, the luck of the Irish was with us and although the sun did not shine brightly on us, the rain held off for the most part and it was perfect weather to be outside walking around an amazing place.

Jordan Pond

We had lunch at the Jordan Pond house – popovers and tea – soups and sandwiches. We all walked around the pond and it was so beautiful – breathtaking actually. Here are a few shots of us all.

Summit of the Bubbles

view from the Pond House

We had dinner at Havana – a lovely restaurant in Bar Harbor.

Dinner at Havana

We walked along the Loop Road….

One of us went swimming at Sand Beach – the air temp was about 50 degrees and it was very windy.

Sand Beach the morning Charles went for a “dip”

We ate amazing Mac and Cheese at The Side Street Café –

Apple Cider Margaritas!

We drank lots of beer and wine – ate lots of wonderful meals – saw some amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean – and we laughed until our sides ached and we made some wonderful memories.

Our last day there we got up before the sunrise with hopes of seeing the sunrise. It is the first place on the east coast that you can see the sunrise during the month of October. I have seen it and it truly is an amazing sight. However the weather did not cooperate with us. It was a foggy, windy, drizzly day, but we were there for the sunrise and we can say we did it together.

Cadillac Mountain at sunrise!

The thing that amused us the most was that an engaged couple were having their engagement pictures taken in this horrible weather. They had to have been freezing and very damp by the time they were finished. I would have nixed the entire project but they were determined and who knows the pictures may have been amazing in the end.

We had a wonderful vacation – for many reasons. We were in an amazing place but more importantly we were with amazing people! It is wonderful to be able to spend really special time with really special people. I fear that with the crazy lives that a lot of us lead that we don’t always make the time to spend special time with the people we love. It is not always easy and it takes a lot of planning but if you can make it work it is one of the true blessing in life.

I am off to decorate the house, work on a quilt and complete some Christmas presents. I love having a really good reason to need to be sit in front of my sewing machine. Enjoy the process and remember why we all make ourselves crazy during this time of year.

Be Kind….

Faith

Grand Illusion Step 1

Dec4

Every year Bonnie Hunter does a Mystery Quilt – this year the name of the mystery is Grand Illusion. The link to the mystery is http://www.quiltville.blogspot.com/p/grand-illusion-mystery.html. Bonnie’s inspiration for the colors of this quilt was the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. MI. I have never been there but from Bonnies pictures it is a beautiful place that will bring you back to another century. Maybe that will be added to my bucket list.

I have been plugging away at getting these sections completed and I am enjoying the colors. I am using a constant for the black and the yellow. Sometimes if I use to many scraps I find that my quilts look a little bit muddled and I don’t want muddled quilts.

a long line of HST’s

Here I am setting up a little ironing station. When I iron my back is to the TV and that is unacceptable. I moved my portable ironing pad on my movable set of drawers and all is good.

portable ironing station

I am currently half way through my “broken dishes” blocks – I have a Christmas party to go to tonight so I will not be sewing but I hope to complete them on Friday so that I can start step 2 over the weekend.

work in progress

Happy Stitching everyone.

Be Kind…

Faith

A pleasant day…

Aug4

in Maine. About a month ago Chuck and I decided to take a ride, we loaded Gracie into the car and headed northeast.

Gracie loves the car

There are so many amazing places to visit in Maine that we often have a hard time deciding where to go. Chuck had read about Owls Head, Maine in Downeast Magazine. We read that there is an amazing little general store where you can get “the best hamburger in Maine” It is called the Owls Head General Store and let me tell you they have the best hamburgers in Maine.

We grabbed our hamburgers, chips and lemonade and headed to the Owls Head State Park. It was a beautiful day so a lot of people had the same idea. We spotted a picnic table in the shade with an amazing view and plopped ourselves down to enjoy “the best hamburger in Maine”.

our lunch time view

The lighthouse is a short walk from the picnic area. I love lighthouses – I love the views that you see at lighthouses, typically they are situated in a spot where it can be seen for miles – because of this when you visit the lighthouses the views go on for miles.

Owls Head Lighthouse

We love visiting the Lighthouses of Maine. There are a lot that we have not seen yet but we have a list and one by one we will be checking them off of our list. Many we will visit more than once because they are such special places.

Of course during this ride we went past a few quilt shops – during that time of year many quilt shops through out the country were participating in a program called The Row by Row experience. The shops that were participating have designed a row, you collect the rows from the various shops and then make a quilt out of them. During the summer I was fortunate to collect patterns from Maine, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. The quilter who gets 7 rows made into a quilt first and brings it to a participating shop wins a prize. I have not even started mine yet but I will make the rows and show them to you at some point.

Chuck and I had a wonderful day, we saw some beautiful views and in the end had an ice cream cone. What more can you ask for – lighthouses, quilt shops, good food, great company, a dog and an ice cream cone. Seems like a wonderful way to spend a summer day.

Have a great day….

Be Kind…

Faith

A Wonderful weekend…

Jul21

in Boston. A couple of weekends ago we loaded up the car, dropped Gracie off and the kennel and headed south to Beantown. We were going to visit our daughter Elizabeth and spend the day wandering around Boston and seeing the Red Sox.

Our first stop was the Quincy Market – we went for a walk around the business district. Had to get our steps in for the day.

Elizabeth and me in Quincy Market

Our next stop was the Museum of Fine Arts Boston to see the Pilgrim/Roy Collection of antique quilts. The quilts were amazing!!! I had a wonderful time looking at them and getting inspired once again to go home and make quilts. Here are a few of my favorites from the collection.

Four Poster quilt – this was made to fit a 4 poster bed.

Baltimore Album

I love the half blocks on the sides – you almost never see this in quilts made today.

Star details

border – love it!

love the simplicity of the design and the amazing quilting.

When you think about the fact that most of these quilts were made in the 1800’s – they were hand pieced, machine pieced and hand quilted. There were no rotary cutters, none of the tools that we use today to make our quilts complete. It was wonderful to be able to see these quilts in person. They were displayed in a way that allowed you to really see the details and the workmanship of the quilts. We had a lovely light lunch at the museum and then continued our Boston fun.

We headed back to our hotel to relax for a bit before dinner and the game. It was so nice to spend time with Elizabeth – we had a cocktail and a cheese and fruit platter and wonderful silly conversation. I tried a Moscow Mule and I just might have to purchase some of these fun copper cups and have a Moscow Mule Party.

Moscow Mule

Dinner was early and Garrett – (Elizabeth’s boyfriend) joined us at Stephanie’s on Newbury. We had a very nice dinner and then walked to the park.

Fenway Park

The Red Sox won the game that evening- we had a wonderful time and then went back to our hotel for a nightcap and some more conversation. Overall the day was relaxed, fun and exciting. Boston is a wonderful city – it is easy to get around and it has always been one of my favorite places to spend a day.

We were up early the next morning so that we could pick Gracie up at the kennel. Gracie was very happy to see us and to be home and Chuck and I were happy to be home as well.

I will post more pictures from the museum tomorrow – there are some more amazing quilt to see.

Have a nice day,

Be Kind…

Faith

The windows are open….

Jun16

and after the damp cold spring and long snowy winter that is a wonderful thing. It will require practically daily dusting to remove the pollen that is coming in with the fresh air from all of the surfaces in the house but it is worth it. Summer officially starts in 5 days but in my mind as soon as I can leave the windows open summer is here. I love this time of year – well, lets be honest I love every time of year. I love all of the seasons for different reasons but that is a topic for another day. Today is about how everything looks bright and fresh and happy outside right now. I love the poppies and the irises, I love that the peonies will be blooming shortly. I love the blue skies and the big puffy clouds.

This past Sunday was fathers day. I had a nice phone conversation with my father. Chuck got 5 very nice phone calls from the “kids”. It was a sunny day and the weather was beautiful. We had a nice quite day.

I have gotten a lot done the past few days. I am working on a new quilt – it will be a gift but I am pretty sure the recipient will not see is here. I got the pattern from the Missouri Star Quilting website. If you are looking for a new pattern you might want to check out this website – there are a lot of fun easy patterns. This is a picture of the blocks on my design wall – this is not the final layout just a peak at the finished blocks. I will move these around a lot before I decide on the finished quilt. It is so much easier to use a design wall than it is to crawl around on the floor.

I have also been spinning again. I purchased some wonderful fiber from Weston Hill Farm – www.westonhillfarm.com – but I haven’t really started to spin that yet. It is so beautiful that I want to practice some more before I spin it. I have been spinning some fiber that I purchased at the Common Ground Fair last September. It is such a relaxing craft. I really enjoy it and I will have lots of wonderful yarn to knit when we hit the next season that I love.

I also finished a penny rug this week. I have it sitting on top of my Treadle Sewing machine. I will probably not leave it there forever because the sun will fade it too much, but I like it there for now.

I am hoping that the weather stays nice so that my veggie garden does well. We are trying something new this year. We have black poly with straw over it covering the garden this year. Our hope is that this will cut down on weeds, hold the heat in the ground for the plants and help everything grow a little faster and bigger. I will let you know how it works.

Garden and Pool

the garden

I hope you have a nice day and that you are able to enjoy the sunshine.

Be Kind…

Faith

A few long weeks…

Jun5

So the weather here in Maine has been good and bad this spring. My allergies have been horrible and to top it off I picked up some sort of virus that has had me feeling pretty lousy these past few weeks. It has been a chilly, damp rainy spring here along the coast of Maine.

If you notice the date on the thermometer it is May 28th. 45 degrees on May 28th, that is crazy!

This is a picture of some of the flower parts that have since been appliquéd onto the raffle quilt. I have done my part, now another member is doing the long arm quilting, she will then pass it to yet another member who will put the binding on. It is wonderful when we have a group of quilters working together.

This is a picture of my favorite pincushion. I have had it for over 20 years, it is wool roving that has been rolled together. I love the colors and the size and shape.

Last weekend I used my new FreshTech canner. I made strawberry rhubarb jam and strawberry jam. It was very easy to make with my new canner and it didn’t heat up my kitchen and it was done very quickly.

Our pool was opened today – they worked amidst the rain drops. It needs to clear up before we can vacuum it but the fact that it is open means summer must be on it’s way.

It looks more like pond than a pool but once the water clears it will be crystal clear and Gracie (our chocolate lab) will be swimming long before any people do.

This little fellow was watching the pool opening. The pool cover had been protecting one of his little holes and now that the cover is off the entrance to his home is no longer hidden. I don’t think he was very happy. Oh well he can move out anytime – that would be fine with me.

So now I will get back to some of my other projects – I have a long list of quilts to make.

Be Kind….
Faith

quiltingonthecove

A peek at my life. My quilting, my cooking and a look at the beautiful place that I live!

Archives

Where have I been? What have I been doing!

Oh my what a month February has been….

The BLIZZARD of 2015- Juno…

Grand Illusion step 2….

Acadia…

Grand Illusion Step 1

A pleasant day…

A Wonderful weekend…

The windows are open….

A few long weeks…