Patchwork of colours along our Maritime Highways

Monday, July 15, 2013

Hello I'm back and its Monday. I just have to tell you, we hit the highway this weekend for Nova Scotia and the weather was absolutely beautiful. We were travelling along the St John River just outside of Fredericton when I couldn't help but noticed all the wildflowers out along our highways. Have you been noticing? If your a quilter for sure I would think you would pick up on the colors quite readily. We brought the car to a stop however when I spied this bright, snapping blue plant. I love bright blue and I can't think of another plant so intense with color. It is called Chicory and grows in spots along the roadside. It would be lovely in your garden except I think its a spreader. 

Look at the color! Just as Eugene was snapping the picture I noticed something yellow in the distance. Look below to see what I found.

These gorgeous plants were hanging in the distance and really caught my eye. They were hanging like big bells on a pole and were four to five feet tall. These plants are called our Wild Canada Lily and grow in swamp and wet areas near our St. John River marshes. The deer love these plants so the plant population has dwindled over the years. I understand they grow in a red color also. What a beautiful sight. I just had to share them. Now read below and see our feature quilt for today. It is also spectacular.

J

Our quilt today is a beautiful "Log Cabin" quilt done by Kathy. She has used a wide array of browns and tans for her logs. I love the bright yellow centers and borders. They really make this quilt. 

Our quilting pattern featured today is called "Wind Dance" which are maple leaves blowing all over the quilt. The quilt is 94" x 100" and will fit nicely on a queen size bed. Kathy has done such a good job on this quilt and we loved taking pictures of it in a natural setting. The allover quilting pattern of maple leaves goes great with the themed log cabin. This quilt will be very cozy and warm on Kathy's bed. 

Roses, Weddings and Quilts

Thursday, July 11, 2013 

Roses! Roses! Roses! They are fragrant and beautiful in the gardens now and I'm showing you a couple that I grow. This red rose peering between the porch rails is a Grootendorst  Supreme Rose and is very hardy. It has grown in this location for years. 

This single pink rose is a semi-double pink rose that grows low to the ground. This rose is a Pierette Pavement Rose and is ideal for the front of the garden bed. Just like in quilting, placement of flowers or quilt blocks can make a great different whether it be in garden beds or quilts.

My favorite rose of all is this soft climbing rose called "New Dawn' . I was given this rose by my aunt who is no longer with us. I have been able to pull this rose through every winter so far when the rest of the family has lost theirs to frost. I hope I can continue to do so. This rose is a soft shell pink climber that can grow 10 to 15 feet tall . It is also called The New Dawn, Everblooming Dr. W. Van Fleet rose. The fragrance from these roses are wonderful. 

Roses and weddings go hand in hand. Congratulations to  my mother and father, who have celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary this week and this blog is dedicated to them today. They are 95 and 93 years of age and have raised a family of 17 children with 16 still living. I know, I know, I come from strong genes and feel so fortunate. 

Our quilt for today is a wedding quilt, that I have put together, for an upcoming wedding in August. It was a great way to use up my blue scraps. I don't have any particular name for this quilt although I have seen it done many times. It is 81"x 103" and is quilted in the all over pattern called Soft and Sweet. We did this quilt in a soft variegated thread with a mixtures of blue and pink. It is a lovely queen size quilt that any bride and groom would enjoy receiving . Congratulations to the Bride and Groom!

At this time of year, we get many of our wedding quilts to do. They make lovely , cherished gifts for brides and grooms and don't forget to label them. It will mean so much to the receivers, they will look at the label in years to come and remember who gave them the beautiful quilt. 

The back of this quilt shows up so well. Although you can't see the pretty variegated colors in the thread from this picture, trust me they are there. Congratulations to all those brides and grooms out there and maybe you will  be lucky to receive a beautiful quilt quilted by Gwenda Quilts for your wedding. Bye for now!

Hot weekend

Monday, June 8, 2013

Wasn't that a hot weekend? We asked for warm weather and we really got it. Agreat weekend for the beaches and campgrounds. It must have been lovely for sliding down those water slides, except for the wait to get on them. It was hot for the gardens too. Today's flowers are not a real significant flowers in my garden but it has merit as a filler and lends a pretty bouquet. I call these flowers my bell flowers although I'm sure they have a proper name. Aren't they delightful and showy.

Today's quilt is a T-Shirt Quilt. Often times we get a lot of t-shirts with places and things we like to remember. Our children especially collect a lot of t-shirts from camps, events, school and college. A great way to preserve these memories for them is a t-shirt quilt. Debbie made this delightful quilt using a combination of embroidery and t-shirts. The quilt is 54" x 109" and we quilted it using the pattern "Cotton Candy" as an overall design. This was a good pattern to select because it doesn't interfere very much with the designs on the t-shirts.Nice job Debbie, it was a fun quilt to do for you.

Seeing Fireworks and Stars

July 4, 2013, Thursday

I promised that I would show pictures of the fireworks display over the St. John River on Monday night. The rain held of long enough to get a few pictures although they happened so fast you could hardly have time to capture them. All in all, they were beautiful and every one of them reminded me of quilt patterns and color combinations. Its funny how you can see patterns every where you look and some of the colors in these were beautiful.

The fireworks were many colors of star bursts and the quilt today is called "Star Power". This quilt is a lovely quilt done by Janice. It is 89 x104 and is quilted with the pattern called "Falling Leaves" at 8". Below you can see the quilting quite well. This is a very pretty quilt done in beiges and burgundy.

Add caption

 Summer is well under way now and its a time for me to be where its cool, {in front of my sewing machine]. I am not a heat lover so I will try to catch up on some of my quilt projects. Are you in your sewing room on very hot days? Enjoy your summer either way but don't forget to watch our blog. Have fun Gwenda

Canada Day 2013

Canada Day 2013..Monday

Happy Canada Day!

Strawberries are in season, who can think of Canada Day without thinking of fresh strawberries. I didn't get my blog out early this morning with such a busy Canada Day weekend but at least I will have it out by tonite. Yes the strawberries are out and the picking is not too bad with all the rain we have had. I was trying to think of some Canada related topics that we are all familiar with and my husband started to put pictures of things that made him think of Canada. Here goes!

We are never very far from the water in this province, this was a trip on the Grand Manan ferry with our flag standing proudly at the stern.

Time to relax and reflect on living in this great nation.

The beaver is a symbol of our country and their homes can be found within an easy drive of the city.

Last night, just after we got up on the hills just outside Sackville. The sky was really puting on a show for us. That's a Canadian night sky for you.

Sugar Maple leaves growing proud and free in natural habitat  on the Currie Mountain trail..

The mighty Saint John River as it flows just above Fredericton.

A day to Reflect on our country and its beauty. This was a lovely spring evening and the picture was taken just behind the ball field at the Johnson's Senior Centre. The site was so peaceful and a flock of Canada geese were just making their summer appearance, if you look carefully you can see them dotting the sky. So there you have it, some of Eugene's take on Canada Day. Now for our Canada Day quilt.

This quilt is called "Hugs and Kisses" . It is a lovely example  of all the Bali prints you can use in your stash. The quilt is 73.5 x 85.5 and is quilted in the pattern called "Champayne" quite fitting for a Canada Day Celebration wouldn"t you say? I was debating whether to go downtown tonite to take pictures of the Canada Day fireworks, it would work so well with Pat's quilt today .Look at those colors above that just explode. If I decide to take the pictures I will put them on the next blog for Thursday.

Pat has pieced the back of her quilt with lots of Balis also so you can use either side. Smart thinking Pat!

Well, hope you are having a great Canada Day.Gwenda