The Quilters' Garden Patch

September is here and we quilters are anxious to get back to our quilting.

I sometimes teach classes at a lovely little shop in Bronte (at the west end of Oakville), Ontario. This shop has a very friendly atmosphere, a wonderful selection of fabrics, and offers some really interesting classes.





Last spring I taught a class called Samplings from the Sea. The quilt is a collection of blocks with a maritime theme. This is Louise Robitaille with some of her finished blocks.



This is Amy Hart with her finished blocks.



This fall I will be teaching a workshop called Ladies of the Night--we have a fun evening ( from 7 p.m. to 1 a. m.) of stitching an easy mystery quilt while enjoying pizza and snacks.

I will also be teaching an old favourite pattern--the Dresdan Plate.
We will be making an easy variation done with piecing and blanket stitch applique either by hand or machine. The petal curved border makes this quilt extra special. This quilt has a lot of memories for me as I've made mine from scraps that I saved from my mother's scrap drawer intermingled with some 1930's reproduction prints.

Wine Tour

My daughter wanted me to give her a Wine Tour as a present for her birthday--so I decided to go along too! We had a great day together discovering a lot of interesting facts about grapes, wine, and how to pair wines with various foods.

These grapes were at Chateau des Charmes; they pinch off the small grape clusters at the top of the vines and only let the ones grow at the bottom of the vines so that they are easy to pick.



Candice in the Chateau Des Charmes Vineyard.



Candice and I with Anna Olson at Olson Foods. We had lunch with Anna and we received an autographed cookbook. Anna uses locally grown produce from the Niagara region. She was very gracious and a lovely lady!



The autographed cookbook that we received beside our peach dessert. Yummy!



At Ravine Winery which is next door to Olson Foods.



The Upper Canada Cheese Company where we tasted delicious cheeses locally made from the milk of Guernsey cows.




Candice and I resting at the Fielding Estate Winery--we'd been wined and dined out!




Happy to be heading home with our purchases!

Sandcastles

This summer Joan Conners, my friend and long, lost realtive who I worked with many years ago at the Halifax Chronicle Herald and Mail Star, visited me. We enjoyed walking and talking as we strolled along the Burlington Beach strip pathway. There had been a Sandcastle competition a few days before so we were delighted to see and admire this wonderful sand creation made by award winning sculptor, Sandy Castle. I kid you not!

Missing, Lost or Stolen

Recently these workshop samples went missing from Girous Sewing Center in Cornwall, Ontario. If you see these samples anywhere, please contact me with an Email through my web site as I would like to recover them if possilbe, as I need them for upcoming workhops. Thanks very much for your help.

Colour Shadow Trapunto Workshop Sample




Invisible Machine Applique Workshop Sample.