Busy Month and a New Project

When I see packets of needles at Mardens for 50 cents I just can't pass up a bargain! Some on the right side are old ones from my Mom and Grandmother. I treasure those! And that very small package of Japanese needles. They are tiny (size 12) and a joy to quilt with. I remember buying them In California at a conference put on by the East Bay Heritage QG. What a wonderful experience that was, must have been about 35 years ago. I was so honoured to be teaching there.

I was looking for a size 11 Milliners (Straw) needle. I did find one in all that mess! Guess I should plan a trip to Avonport for more because I have started a new project, an English Paper Piecing project and that first needle has quite a curve now!

Here I go!

I now have 8 "pies" made and 2 "tarts! The pattern is by Sue Daley and it is called "Pies and Tarts". I haven't decided how big it will be yet. But it is a great, portable project to take along to my bee or a meeting.

We have been having a much different winter this year. The snow comes, then melts. This was last weekend. It is all gone now. For 2 nights that I know of, a herd of 8 deer have visited our garden to munch on the rhododendrons and anything else that is tasty. I wish they would get their fill elsewhere!

Grandsons Evan and Ben have a new baby step-sister so we have been working on a quilt for her. It is the great "Falling Charms" pattern by Missouri Star Quilt Co. They have both been using the sewing machine, Evan just had to find out how fast it would go! He was surprised! It is all pieced now, just the borders to sew on then we can baste and quilt it. Yes, it is pink but there are firetrucks, dragons, fish, lobsters and sailboats! I have loved every minute working on this project with them.

O Christmas Tree 2014

It is that time of the year again, how did December get here so fast? I am behind as usual, my blog is suffering! Kate did a little update and Squarespace has a new format so it has been a steep learning curve just when I was used to the "old" way! I hope this will work ok, we had to change my website address for a bit, but we are back now with the old one, I hope all the glitches are worked out.

So many to chose from...

We are getting there with Christmas fast approaching. The boxes have been mailed off to our wild west family in hopes that they will arrive in time. Next on the list was the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. Off we went at the crack of dawn last Sunday to walk the paths high up on the hill at Mike Falkenham's tree farm in Lunenburg County "The Christmas Tree Capital of North America"! We have been having this adventure for a good 35 years or so and we have never been disappointed. Every year we see truck load after truck load of Christmas trees headed south or we read about Mike's trees going in refigerated containers to the Caribbean and we wonder, "will there be one left for us?". We our kids were little we sometimes went in the summer to find and tag our tree, then the fun came in Decemebr to try and find it!

If you ever need help finding the right tree bring along a 7 and 9 year old! Every tree was the right one and it didn't take long to find it along with some mud to play in and some logs to climb on. The great outdoors has so much to offer!

Both trees got loaded on to the top of the car for the slow drive down the hill to the baler.

They go in nice and ful and come out like a sausage!

Everyone helps Mike to bale the trees.

A days work done and it isn't even 9:30! Now to get the tree home and decorated!

The BIG Launch

Sydney Smith, Kate Inglis and Chris "Old Man" Luedecke

You know you are really an author when your second book gets published! We were so thrilled when three years of work culminated in a wonderful book launch for our daughter Kate Inglis last Saturday. And what could be a more special place to hold the launch than the Small Craft Gallery at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. Friend and banjo player extraordinare, Chris "Old Man" Luedecke sang and played his banjo in between Kate's readings. So special, a prefect combination.

A perfect place to let this book Flight of the Griffons set sail and take Kate on another wonderous adventure.

Kate drew this when she was 6! I am so glad I kept it!

Kate, with braids and glasses, grade primary, Tower Rd School

Look what we started!

Kate has always wanted to be an author, she began at a very young age, perhaps when she was about 4 when she would staple pages together and "write" books! I was so glad I kept quite a few of them and that they are now her treasures. She read at an early age thanks to her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Douthwaite at the All Saints Church of England Promary School in Gosforth, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England (we were there on a year long sabbatical). Kate was further encouraged by her primary teacher, Jane Michaud at Tower Rd School in Haliax, there was no going back now!

Two boys, Ben and Evan - so proud of their Mom.

Kate's first book The Dread Crew - Pirates of the Backwoods, was published in 2009. Flight of the Griffons is the sequel, featuring many of the same characters and introducing some new ones. The illustrations are wonderful, captured perfectly by Sydney Smith. You can find Sydney here and here. There is a wonderful review here posted on the website Finding Wonderland. Books can be ordered direct from Nimbus or from the very best children's bookstore Woozles (yes, they love to do mail orders!).

Needless to say we are very proud of Kate and what she has accomplished - can't wait for the next one - now I need to get back to some quilting!

(There are more pictures from the book launch on my Flickr page here)