One fish, Two Fish...

Thanks to my new quilting friend, Phyllis, I've been having great fun this last few weeks.

When I visited her in August, she generously showed me the |"flying fish" mobiles she had made. She also gave me a short lesson and a copy of the patterns and instructions. The results, as you can see in the attached photos, are quite exciting for one who enjoys "playing with fabric. Fortunately I had most of the materials required in my stash and only had to purchase stiffener for the body. I did indulge myself and bought a half metre of a lovely baik and a spool of matching Egyptian variegated thread that was a joy to use.  So here I am fourteen fish later and only stopped because |I ran out of stiffener.  I hope you enjoy looking at them.

Back in Berry Beautiful Newfoundland!

    If a holiday can be said to have a theme, ours was blueberries. We chose the month of August to visit Newfoundland because that’s when the blueberries are ripe. For Gordon, it didn’t much matter what else we did in the month but we had to go blueberry picking. Of course we planned to visit with family and friends and I had some interesting quilters to meet, but if we didn’t get any berries, it would have been a wasted month. When we landed in St. John’s, the question uppermost in Gordon’s mind was "Are the berries ripe yet?"
    As we drove from St. John’s to Lewisporte and looked at the hills, bogs and barrens passing by, if he said it once, he said it a hundred times "I wonder if there are any berries there?" (meaning, of course, blueberries).We were heartened to see cars parked along the roadsides in the middle of nowhere, a sure sign that someone was off either fishing, or picking berries.
    In Lewisporte we took a walk around Woolfrey’s Pond and, joy of joys, along the edges of the boardwalk there were ripe blueberries. Not many, but enough to make us feel optimistic for a later berry-picking day. Luck was with us, for when we called a friend in St. John’s to arrange a get-together, she invited us to join her the next day for a berry-picking excursion. She knew a secret spot where berries grew in profusion. An invitation to a Buckingham Palace Garden Party couldn’t have created more excitement!

    The day dawned cool and overcast, with a good breeze blowing to keep away the mosquitoes. Perfect for picking berries. An hour’s drive brought us to Doreen’s secret spot and two and a half hours later we slowly made our way back to the car with aching backs, wobbly knees and three gallons of blueberries between us.

    Another day brought another berry-picking expedition and we left Newfoundland with half a suitcase full of frozen blueberries packed inside an insulated cooling bag. Some were thawed when we arrived home twelve hours later, but they made delicious jam.

    Oh, and did I mention the blueberry print on the fabric I bought to make napkins to match the blueberry place mats I had purchased on our last visit?

What a trip!