When Old Friends Come to Town

It's been a year since we last saw each other, but with email we've been in touch constantly.  Nat and Teresa are my best buds from Fort McMurray.  We forged our friendships over fabric, thread and many, many quilts.

Teresa opened her own quilt shop, Bear Paw Quilts and More.  It was an adventure for all of us as we helped her to decorate her shop, learned to cut and fold fat quarters and even taught classes in the back room.

Natalie, who'd never touched a sewing machine before, yearned to learn to make herself a quilt.  Once we got her started there was no turning back.  Soon after Teresa's shop opened Natalie bought herself a long arm quilt machine and went into business taking in quilts and finishing them for customers.

As time went by I retired and moved far away from my friends.  This June while heading back to our cottage the girls drove to Edmonton and we had a fun, special day catching up on news over lunch and visiting our favorite quilt shops in the city.

It's always been a favorite time to share our "sew and tell" projects.  So right in the middle of the dairy section of market where we had lunch we unfolded our quilts and stretched them open for any and all to admire.  There were a few comments and smiles from the other customers and even one excited lady who asked for a repeat showing of one that caught her eye.

Our get together would never be complete without our "Christmas in July" exchange.  Presents and goodies all around, wonderful warm hugs and tons of laughter.  They sure did brighten my day.

Recycle, recycle

Last summer I come up with a wonderful idea . . .   I thought about crocheting rugs for our new cottage.  At first I thought I'd save all of the selvedge edges from my fabrics.  As I started off with a ball of knotted together strips I realized that a chore of this nature would require more than selvedge edges in order to have a rug anytime in the near future.

Then our son arrived with a bundle of discarded linens from his house and announced that he had cleaned out his closets and was giving us what he not longer wanted.  There were sheets and pillow cases that wouldn't fit the size beds that we have so it occurred to me to cut them up and use them for rug making.

I cut open the pillow cases, trimmed off the hems from everything, and cut the material into strips one inch wide.  Next, I stitched the strips together end to end on the sewing machine and wound my strips into a ball ready for crocheting.

By the end of the summer amid my other projects, I'd managed to put together my first rug.  I'd even decided which of the bedrooms it would go to.  That bedroom is yet to be finished and the rug has been introduced to the floor on my side of the bed.  It's lovely and my dog likes to sleep there too.



Over the winter I helped my brother organized his linen closet.  It was full of mismatched sheets, some that were older than his children.  He said I could get rid of any that were not complete sets.

You know what I was thinking don't you . . .

This is one queen sized sheet plus a bit of a pillow case and the rug is half the size I want it to be.  

A Cozy Chair, a Good Book . . .

I love books and so does my family.  As a family we have collected quite a library full.  Friends who visit our cottage often comment on our wonderful collection and know where to come to borrow a book for a rainy day read.

Before leaving the US, Patrick and my brother, Max spent a day designing and building this bookcase to fit in a room in our cottage.  It traveled to our island in pieces ready to be stained, finished, and assembled.

Although it's the only finished piece of furniture in the room it will always be a focal point and a nice place to spend a lazy day curled up with your choice of a book.

The top part holds about 200 books and the larger bottom is designed to house puzzles, games, and larger books.  However, there are still books looking for shelf space and so the bottom part is serving double duty until more shelving can be arranged.

We're thinking a few narrow shelves across the ceiling might take the excess of books yet to come. Of course, there's always the possibility of individual bookcases in each room.  We'll see!

Quilts on the move

Finally, after so many years we have moved to the new cottage.  Quilts that have been folded and stored are now out of hiding and are being used not only for beds, but for make shift walls as well.

The upstairs of the cottage we have been building is still in the studded stage.  Some of my quilts have been draped over half walls to give the feeling of privacy and they make the house so cozy.  Others have been used as tablecloths, and of course to cover beds and snuggle under on chilly nights.

Somehow these quilts make the place feel just right.