Happiness Is . . .

Happiness is finishing this quilt top!!! It's been raining for the last few days . . . 6.7 inches, so I have been working on this piece. The pattern is "Happiness, " one of  Jacqueling de Jonge's Be Colourful" patterns. The Quilt Show has been giving its members access to an instructional video from Jacqueline de Jonge for this piece. As I noted in my previous post, this was a challenging piece. Today my friend Laurel came to quilt and I added the final double, mitered corner outer borders. Oh my goodness!!! Did I mention that this was challenging??? Yikes! Anyway, the top is now completed and I am thrilled with it.

Here are two close-up views of the background fabric used. The piece measures 32 inches square.

Having completed the piecing of the top, I can now continue work on my other time sensitive project. Meanwhile I'll be thinking about how I will eventually quilt this piece.

Latest Quilt Project

 

     The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims since July has been offering its members access to a dvd by Jacqueline deJonge showing how to make her wallhanging "Happiness" from her Be Colourful  series. Jacqueline deJonge from the Netherlands has created a whole series of stunning quilt patterns. Access to this dvd ends on October 31, so why, oh, why did I wait until last week to begin it? Beats me! The fabric had been purchased a few months ago, but somehow time just slipped away.  Anyway, here's a close up of the inner circles.

     Last night while watching the Patriots game, I added the first ring around the center. I stitched it, then had to unstitch it, and then stitched it again. Today I added the background fabric and another border.  Jacqueline de Jonge is extremely precise and her instructions are quite thorough, but her painstaking process does take time. I watch each section of the instructions and then re-watch it. On her website, this pattern is classified as a "3" on a scale of "1 to 6" indicating difficulty. I shudder to think what one of her "6" in difficulty rated patterns might entail. Actually, I do have one of those patterns for a full size quilt tucked away, and I'm pretty sure it will remain tucked away for quite a while. :-)
     The next step is to add a border of flying geese. Hopefully, I can get this part finished over the weekend as I have another project which is also under some time constraints.

Cranberry Harvest

This afternoon I headed down to Carver in search of bogs being worked, but unfortunately, I didn't have much luck. This is as close as I came; this bog was flooded and the cranberries were floating on the surface, but there was no sign of any workers.

It was still a very colorful sight.

I have often driven by this lovely church on Rt. 58 in Carver, but I haven't photographed it in recent years. Today I decided to stop.

I love the beautiful architecture and totally embrace the message proclaimed outside.

Autumn Weekend on the Cape - Part 3

On Sunday, the four of us who were left stopped at Fort Hill which I love for its sweeping vistas.

These white egrets were a bit too far off for my long lens to capture them, but it was lovely to see them.

We all took turns posing on or near this rock along the trail.

Here's a map showing the areas at which we stopped.

Here is Coast Guard Beach.There were many folks strolling on the beach, but no one was swimming.

This sign would definitely have deterred me anyway!!!

Autumn Weekend on the Cape - Part 2

Sunday dawned bright, warm, and absolutely beautiful. After Mass, Kathy showed me a little beach near Rock Harbor where the above photo was taken. I love the colors. These lobster boat floats were hanging on the side of a building at Rock Harbor.

Later, we went back to Nauset Light which had been obscured by fog the previous afternoon. It is such a lovely, lovely lighthouse. As you can see, I shot it from every angle. 

Down the rode from the light house in a wooded area where we also photographed the "Three Sisters."

Tomorrow I'll post one last set of photos from our weekend taken at Coast Guard Beach and Fort Hill in Eastham.

Autumn Weekend on the Cape

A friend invited a group of us to spend a weekend at her parents' summer home in Eastham this past weekend. It was three days of fun, games, shopping, eating and laughing. A young couple took this photo of the group on Saturday morning when we began our day in Wellfleet. We spent the next few hours checking out area thrift shops, and each of us seemed to find some little treasure to take home. In my case, a cute pumpkin vase and a few scraps of velvet for my crazy quilting came to $1.50. I did later purchase a bracelet at an outdoor craft fair which cost just a bit more than $1.50, but it is lovely.

The most interesting find was made by Chris who while searching through some rings came upon one from World War l. It had the word "Verdun" and "AEF" (for American Expeditionary Force). The words: "Liberte - Egalite - Fraternite" on the inside indicated that the ring had been made from a French silver coin. Later we found similar rings on a website featuring trench art from that period.

In the afternoon we stopped in Chatham for a bit more browsing and swung by Chatham Light. By then it was drizzly and visibility was diminished.

There was a bridal party posing for photos at the Coast Guard Station, and if you look very closely, you can see the bride and groom at the top of the light. How the bride managed to safely wind her way up and down that spiral staircase in her gown, was simply amazing.

Our last stop was at Nauset Light which by then was shrouded in fog.

Tomorrow I will post photos taken on Sunday which was a warm, gorgeous day.