Why I love our local market...

Beautiful fresh berries! YUM.

I cannot take credit for the delicious scones. They were - you guessed it! - purchased at the

the market. What a great Sunday afternoon treat.

An ode to the Canadian "wilderness"

We are back from the cottage and family wedding. I thought that I would share a few images from very peaceful Muskoka Ontario (in Canada). These shots are from a beautiful, sunny day by the river in Bracebridge, Ontario.

This was the view that I was lucky enough to have from our cottage window:

So pretty!

Unfortunately, the weather was not as cooperative on the wedding day. It was very rainy. The wedding took place on a boat in the middle of Lake Muskoka.

Generally, Lake Muskoka is filled with motor boats roaring around (sort of obnoxious). The rain seemed to keep all of the boaters inside, which made the lake eerily quiet. It was almost surreal with all of the rain and fog.


Even the cute 2-year olds were mesmerized into a rare calm quiet.

A new obsession...

Pretty little crochet waves...mmmmmmmMMMMmmmmm...

Much of this was completed during our summer road trip. There is something very restful about a road trip. Really there is nothing that you can do but spend the passing hours looking at the beautiful scenery, listening to music, chatting, napping...and if you're me -crocheting! You are absolved of all "responsible" tasks that you could be undertaking.

The road and scenery were absolutely hypnotic! Add repetitive crochet stitches into the mix and I was all RELAX-ED. Ahhh.

True confession - I don't really know how to crochet. I wasn't able to understand all of the instructions in the pattern. After 3 false starts I decided that this looked close enough to the pattern in the book, and most importantly - I like the way that it looks!

Still millions of little crochet stitches to complete and no more road trips planned for the summer. Sounds like the perfect excuse to watch rainy day movies and crochet or to haul the blanket into the backyard with a cool drink on sunny days!

Gotta love summer!

Crafty-cation?

Does that sound really wrong??? (sounds a bit shocking to me!!). I am trying to convey that I will be on vacation for the next three weeks (so excited) and that I plan to do some crafting (sooo excited!).

The first week will be family togetherness week. My daycare is closed and we (my son, husband and I) will be at a family wedding in "cottage country" at the end of the week. Should be fun, but as with all family intensive events, it could also go terribly wrong! A very kind friend has agreed to watch my son on the evening of the wedding so that my husband and I can dance it up with the rest of the wedding people. A dressy night out? It's been a while! Should be good fun.

In preparation for the free time, I have ordered some exciting craft books to inspire me:

1. Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross
2. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia Of Crafts: An A-to-z Guide With Detailed Instructions And Endless Inspiration
3. Vintage Crochet: 30 Gorgeous Designs for Home, Garden, Fashion, Gifts

I don't really know how to crochet...but I fancy myself able to learn. We shall see. We shalllll see...

Stacks of happiness

Last night the stars aligned just right to allow me a few hours of uninterrupted crafty puttering. On a school night!

Here are the happy stacks of fabric that resulted:

The stack at the front are just halved charm squares for a baby coin quilt (Neptune by Tula Pink - just in case you are keeping count!!)

The stack in the back are a fun assortment that will become a quilt inspired by this:

http://www.filminthefridge.com/2008/12/29/this-end-up-quilt/

I really love the funny story behind this quilt...such a thoughtful and personal gift from Ashley. Just what a GREAT quilt should be!

Here is a sneak peak at my "Film In the Fridge" inspired quilt. Like Ashley's quilt, it will be going to my sibling (sister) for Christmas...

My "baby" (grown up!) sister lives on the opposite end of the country. We are quite different people, not unlike other sisters in every other family! It always amazes me how two people can grow up in the same family and turn out very differently. I very much admire her sense of fun and adventure. I hope that she will love all of the beautiful, bold, fun prints and colours that I think match how I see her very well.

She's not always easy to get a hold of (so many soccer games, pub trips, movies, etc, etc). We had a nice long chat on the phone last night which was great fun! She really is funny! In thinking back on the conversation and I realize that I spent some time regaling her with stories of how great fabric is...OH DEAR! She was very patient and indulgent. I hope, dear blog reader, that if you have landed on my blog, you can share my appreciation of bright, pretty fabrics - because I do tend to go on about them. drool.

Quilts and comfort

I recently finished a quilt for my son. He has a small (read LARGE!) obsession with "Mighty Machines" (trucks and construction vehicles). Where others may see traffic snarls and commuter delays Evan sees excitement and action. His yell of "Oh, Oh, OOOOOOOHHHH! MIGHTY MACHINE!!" can be heard above the rumble of the mightiest bulldozer.

I decided to combine my new-found love of quilting with his love of construction vehicles. Not really an easy combination, especially given my preference for modern, bright colours.

Here is the finished quilt made with:

1. Michael Miller "Tot Town" fabrics


2. solid from my local fabric store


3. Melissa Averinos - Suger Snap - Candy Dots in spring.

FRONT:

BACK:

It's so gratifying to see him curled up in the quilt that I made for him...sort of means that I can be there to comfort him, even when I'm not actually there to comfort him - you know what I mean?

Here is the little man himself curled up over the weekend. It was tough to see him feeling unwell and with a fever, but I think that the cozy quilt offered him a little comfort. And me? I was comforted to know that something I made was making him feel just a bit more comfortable.

A Sunday well spent

My son (Evan) was sick over the weekend. This meant that dispite the GREAT weather we stuck close to home.

Evan spent most of Sunday afternoon napping, so I spent most of my afternoon crafting...pure joy!

I have been on a bit of fabric buying binge! You can see the result has been stacks of fabric all over (in fact some are falling over!).

Here is a sneak peak at some fabrics for an upcoming quilt (for a baby girl). I plan to make a coin quilt with these charm packs (Neptune by Tula Pink):



After Evan's nap (and my craft puttering) we headed to the market for cinamon buns and to the garden centre:










All in all - a Sunday well spent! Hope that your day was as enjoyable...

Now entering the blogosphere!

Alright! I'm just going to jump right in...the water looks fine.

I will be posting about my crafting, family and occasional musings.

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