Smugglers Cove

Do you see the mouth of the cave?

The lines streaking across the bay....I'm wondering how I would stitch them.

The rum runners in days of yore found it very handy.

I often wonder if that house perched on top has a secret passage into the cave.

Rocks draw me in.

They are stability....

a firm foundation...

safety....

The backbone of Mother Earth.

Anyone for Stitching!

These critters once adorned the blouse

of a Guatamala Signorina.

The blouse was made from a square of handwoven cloth

completely covered in embroidery....

and you can see it is a thin, thin, embroidery thread.

Wish I could delve into creating my own version

but right now I have to meet a deadline for the holey water piece.

This embroidery belongs to Diane

who has sailed the seven seas

and collected treasures like this.

The little brown chap looks like my beaver.

Don't think they have beaver down there though.

A yellow cat for Jude!

Sorry I didn't capture more of him.

Another Gathering of Holes

Watery holes with a different approach.

I commandeered some blanket stitch and ordered it to whirl around a circle.

Only when the stitching was done did I take scissors in hand 

and boldly cut the holes. 

The story of this cloth is slowly forming in my mind.

It is a watery piece with a sandbank strip of rusted cloth

appearing and disappearing beneath holes

and gaps in the watery fabric. 

Moose Were Important to the Mi'kmaq

This Moose hide hangs in the Captain's quarters at Habitation.

The Mi'kmaq depended on moose.

There are none around here now.

When deer were introduced from New England, the moose moved to Cape Breton.

Apparently deer and moose can not live side by side.

Handsome fellow!

Don't you love this interpretation of what could be

 herons, Canada geese or perhaps cormorants.

They had a use for every single part of the moose.

These would be of special interest to us stitchers.

The awl carved from bone or cartilage
and claws from a bear or a wild cat

were used to punch holes in hides and tree bark.

Their thread would be sinews from the moose

or sweet grass picked from the bits of land we have sprinkled amid our lakes!

A Piece From My Own Past

 One of my first wall hangings made many moons ago.

It has a story...don't they all!

New to quilting, I decided to accept the challenge of trying to get it accepted into our

 national quilt show.

As I stitched away on this tree of life, a very down to earth and grounded thing....

I learnt that the theme for Quilt Canada was going to be

"Heavenly Bodies".  

My solution was to stitch beads and stars all over the border..

and call the piece

"Crewel World in a Beaded Galaxy".

It worked and the piece was accepted.

Not only that, but it won the award for Workmanship in Appliqué!

It was of course based on an old crewel embroidery tree of life design.

There is more to the story.....

As I frantically worked to meet the show deadline,

the red cotton above bled into the cream background!

I tried everything to no avail....

then fearfully handed it over to Handy Hubby

asking him to try anything but to make my background cream again.

I dread to think what chemicals he tried!

but still nothing worked.

I finally took it back, soaked it in lemon juice,

laid it out on the grass on a sunny day.

By Jove.....it worked!

Looking at this handsome tree with a beautiful view

reminded me that

we interpret what we see but can never do it justice.

Visiting the Past

The first place where Europeans landed and survived our harsh winter.

Habitation, or Port Royal to the English is where

Champlain and his band of merry mariners landed.

They survived because the local Mi'kmaq indians befriended them.

They built this fort in 1605 and it survived until the English burnt it down in 1613.

Luckily Champlain recorded everything and so they were able to rebuild it in 1939.

We bring all our visitors here.

It is what I call a living museum where you are allowed to touch

and experience everything.

Some of the windows have been made with animal skins I presume

just as they would have done in the 1600's.

Makes for a dark and cold room inside.

Some windows are just openings that would get boarded up in

the cold.

I think of windows has having a view.

I suppose this little one is no exception....

but all you see is a door or perhaps a portal.

Working Watery

 Over the weekend some bright watery rings

or perhaps bubbles

gathered along one edge of my water cloth.

 And that is how they developed.

All those holes came about because of this photo.

Fuchsia in Bloom

 The sun came out!

And my magnolia simply had to burst into bloom in spontaneous celebration.

 Simply wondrous.

And a hummingbird whipped past me as I walked the garden.

So their feeder is now up, ready and waiting for them.

A fuchsia meeting point perhaps....

or a fuchsia explosion. 

Rusty brown and fuchsia look good together.

Could be bird migration routes across a fuchsia landscape.

All in a Day's Work

A day's work....

wrapping cotton around lines of knitting wool.

Hopefully it will end up looking like water.

 I've used it before for a 'rooty' effect.

And I've couched the wool on top for tree textures. 

Rain can get to be a bit much

A rainy day is a day to look forward to.

It is an excuse to snuggle down with rusty pups at my feet,

a good book in my hands or perhaps some stitching.

But that rainy day should be sandwiched between two sunshiny days.

Not day after day, after day, like this month has been.

Can't get near the vegetable patch....it's flooded.

I hate to whine especially when our thoughts are 

with those who live in the flood plains of the

Assiniboine and Mississippi rivers.

 All this water dampens my desire to stitch.

But thank goodness for all the collections

of precious things 

dotted about the house.

Perhaps just looking at them on a dreary day

helps keep the flame of creativity alive.

Perhaps tomorrow the sun will shine.

Hairy Woodpecker Takes over the Bird Feeder

When Harry the hairy woodpecker

fancies a change in diet

he comes and gorges at the bird feeder

until he is replete.

He even scares the blue jays away

by spreading his wings and

pointing his long beak at them.

Every now and then he tries to stare us down

as if daring us to shoo him away.

Cheeky devil should get back to doing this in my woods!

Weaving a Rusty Tale

Trying out new things.

Weaving slits and changing textures.

Rusted cloth went over and under with ease, but

the rusty string above was sticky.

Wonder if any of my rusty bits and pieces would weave into it.

Rusty Inspirations

Four legged explorers....

Rusty resurfacing of deadwood.

More deadwood...not so rusty...but inspiring all the same.

Meandering insect trails of a hidden life beneath tree bark.

I see stitching lines.

Weaving Novice - Can you see the jpegs now?

Needle weaving star points has been fun.
So perhaps I should learn more about weaving.
Handy Hubby made me a lovely loom for small weavings.

An army of nails, standing to attention, keeps everything in order.

Cotton strips become the ocean blue.

Woolly bits and onion bags become garbage drifting with the tides.

Scrunching cotton tightly together creates ripples.

Sometimes seas are calm and so a few strips remain flat.  

A stitcher simply can't resist adding a few stitches!
Think my first weaving is called Flotsom.
Perhaps tomorrow I'll do a Jetsom!