Spring….

Weeping Cherry

Well Spring has finally arrived here in Biddeford, ME. It was a long cold winter and at times we wondered if it would ever end. Thankfully, as usual the season changed and it is beautiful here now.

We have been busy this Spring. We are in the process of redoing our den/”mancave.” New carpet has been installed, walls have been painted and furniture has been ordered. The room is looking good, just waiting for the love seat to be delivered.

Chuck and I have treated ourselves to a dinner out. Last week we went to the Ramp in Cape Porpoise. I had a wonderful meal – roasted haddock with spinach raviolis. If you have the chance to have a meal there you should, it was wonderful – the view is amazing and the food has never disappointed!

Roasted Haddock with Spinach Ravioli

The view from the Ramp

I have been making quilts. Big surprise there! I have finished last years Bonnie Hunter Grand Illusion Mystery quilt. It has been sent off to the Long Arm Quilter, it is much to big for me to quilt on my sewing machine. Pictures of that will follow as soon as I get it back. Here is sneak peek.

Grand Illusion

I have also been working on Red, White and Blue blocks for the Veteran’s quilts that our guild makes. One of our members delivered 2 of them to wounded veterans in San Antonio, TX last month. The quilts were given to 2 young woman who were injured in the war – both had lost limbs. So sad for them and so appreciative of their sacrifices and service to our country.

Hunters Star

The other quilt that I have been working on is a gift. I will show you a picture only because the recipient doesn’t have any idea that I am making them a quilt.

quilt on design wall – time to sew it together

So that is some of what has been keeping me busy. I will leave you with some more pictures of my weeping cherry tree. It is the first tree to bloom so far this Spring and it makes me very happy!

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

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

It has been a busy time of year for me…

Dec1

I have been having a lot of fun and having a lot of great adventures. In mid-August I went to my parents house for a party. I met 2 of my sisters and their families there and we had a party. Our parents were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Wow! 60 years is a really long time.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

We had a really great party! We sat around the dining room table and laughed and told our the nieces and nephews funny stories about their parents and grandparents. My parents have been a wonderful example of love, family and fun for the past 60 years. We all have wonderful memories of growing up laughing, teasing each other and developing a great sense of humor. It was a wonderful party!

in late September for our 29th wedding anniversary Chuck and I decided to take a day off and go to the Common Grounds Fair in Unity, ME. After sitting in traffic for 30 minutes without moving an inch we decided to redirect our fun. We went to the Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor instead. We had a very nice lunch and then walked around the gardens. It was a beautiful fall day.

Boothbay Harbor

Funny Selfie – aren’t all selfies funny?

After walking around the Gardens we went into town. We walked around town – had an ice cream cone and then headed home. I am pretty sure we must have stopped at one or two quilt shops along the way – it is so hard to pass by one.

I have been doing a lot of sewing and quilting and cooking. I canned some wonderful salsa and some very sour pickles, I made several dinners with home grown peppers. Aren’t these beautiful!

homegrown peppers

We went for a lot of walks near where we live…

Life is good in Maine. I will show you more pictures of my adventures tomorrow.

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

Some more wonderful quilts from….

Jul30

the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. These quilts were awe inspiring!!! There were so many techniques used, some quilts were made from scraps and others were definitely pieced with a plan.

Amazing!

This quilt is made of silk!

A variation of the Log Cabin Quilt

look how tiny these strips are

Grandmothers Fan – this was made of silk fabric also

Another variation of a Log Cabin Quilt – uses the traditional red center square to represent the hearth.

I truly enjoyed this exhibit and can’t even imagine making some of these quilts – some of the pieces were so tiny and the thought of them being pieced and quilted by hand is remarkable.

Some of these quilts were made to impress – others were made to keep warm. No matter the end use they are all a form of expression and creativity that women used to brighten their days, and keep their loved one warm. I am sure that some women made quilts out of necessity and others did it to show their sewing skills. I make quilts because I have a wonderful sense of accomplishment when they are complete. Quilting for me is a form of creative expression that has the wonderful end result of a tangible item that will hopefully outlive me. My quilts show a bit of my personality – the colors I choose are an extension of who I am. I tend to work with bright, happy colors or warm, cozy colors depending upon the end user of the quilt. Every quilt that we make has a little bit of us in it.

The weekend in Boston was about family and for me that is what my quilting is about, sharing a part of me in my quilts.

Keep creating….

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

Let the good times roll…

Jun28

In a few hours the first of our 4th of July guests will arrive. For the past 10 years all of our kids and other various friends and family have been joining us here to celebrate the Fourth of July. This year we will total 15 for the weekend and 20 or so for the actual Fourth of July celebration.

We went to the market yesterday and will make 2 more trips before next weekend is over. It is a wonderful family reunion every summer. We will spend time on the beach, in the pool, and around the fire pit in the backyard. We will play games and tease each other and reminisce about visits to the emergency room during past visits. It seems that there is always one trip to the ER for some sort of injury, usually it is nothing life threatening but on one occasion it was an almost ruptured appendix – Elizabeth.

The lounge chairs are out, the inflatable rafts are blown up, the flower pots are planted and the yard is looking beautiful. The menus are still being tweaked to satisfy even the pickiest eater, and I am getting excited. This is a tradition that I started to make memories. I wanted our children and grandchildren to always have the happy and fun memories of coming to Maine in the summer.

Last night we started the first fire in the new fire pit. It was a very relaxing way to end the week and a great way to get into a vacation frame of mind. For Chuck and me it will be a “stay-cation” but to be honest there is really no where we would rather be than here surrounded by family and friends.

If you are traveling this weekend stay safe and have a wonderful trip. If you are enjoying a “stay-cation” have a great time.

Be Kind….
Faith

quiltingonthecove

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

Archives

Spring….

Oh my what a month February has been….

Grand Illusion step 2….

Acadia…

Grand Illusion Step 1

It has been a busy time of year for me…

A pleasant day…

Some more wonderful quilts from….

A Wonderful weekend…

Let the good times roll…