Finding Inspiration in a Quiet Vacation

I'm happy to report that I've found a quiet and inspiring pause in my schedule. It began with a 9-day vacation to Grand Manan, Island, New Brunswick, Canada. The destination was chosen because I knew it would be peaceful and provide reflective time and inspiration.

We lucked out on weather! A vacation in the Maritimes is often (at least for us) accompanied by rain. We had beautiful sunny days for the first several days, as evidenced by these fluffy white clouds. Even though it was cloudy a lot in the latter days, we seldom found it raining more than a brief shower.

Seafood is always a welcome part of travelling in the Maritime provinces. We stopped off for lobster rolls, haddock and whole clams just outside St. Andrews. That was the first of many, many lobster rolls!

A walk to the pier in St. Andrews.

A look back at the picturesque town.

We dressed warmly for the ferry ride to Grand Manan Island. It wasn't as cold as we expected. Here you can get a glimpse of the shore of Grand Manan as the ferry approaches.

Such a beautiful day spent out on the deck of the ferry. Here is the pattern we left in our wake.

Oh, yes, and the other reason I chose this destination was that I fell in love with the quirky cabins and yurts at Castalia Marsh Retreat. This was ours. We had a beautiful view out over the marsh, and a lovely outdoor seating area to enjoy it.

The front of our cabin:

I have been drawn to the sight of fishing boats and reflections on water for a while now. Grand Manan provided lots of inspiration to photograph them. I hope to create some quilts inspired by these photos, but am seriously wondering what I can do that is different from what others have done? We shall see.

Not sure what these purple flowers are that were blooming all over the place, but an abandoned boat amidst them captured my attention.

As if Grand Manan wasn't quiet enough, we decided to ferry to a smaller island called White Head Island. Not one afternoon, but two! There I did some sketching, we collected treasures (shells, rocks, etc) from the beach, and mostly found we had the beaches there all to ourselves.

A few nights into the vacation we woke to the sound of rain on the roof. Our first thought was, "oh no, another rainy vacation". But no, the next morning we awoke to magic outside our door. I shot many, many photos of raindrops on leaves. It just so happens that this is another subject I've been developing an interest in. I certainly collected a lot of inspiration.

The spiders spun magical webs during the wet night, and they were coated with fine raindrops. I'm feeling inspired to make a quilt based on the spider web.

When it was cloudy, many days I found the sky an interesting turquoise, blue and grey. Reminds me of a hand-dyed fabric I dye regularly in those colours.

A week of peace and quiet amidst nature and beauty is just what I needed. Now that I'm not planning the next three teaching trips (the next one isn't until end of September) I can think and dream about work I want to make. But in the meantime, I have a bit more vacation coming up, in which I shall think and dream and sketch some more. I am finally moving past the big sketching block I developed in the last couple of years. I'm willing to take the risk now. Enjoying quick pen and ink studies with a bit of watercolour. Perhaps I'll share them in a future post.

I hope you are enjoying some peace and quiet in your life wherever you are.

Salon 2016 in Montreal

I've probably mentioned a few times on this blog about the many kits I've been dyeing over the past 2-3 months. I know that prior to my most recent teaching trip, I had dyed more than 500 meters of fabric. Much of it was ironed by my husband. So off I went to Salon 2016 (the provincial show of Courtepointe Quebec) in Montreal with lots of kits for red or blue poppies, pink peonies and two types of hosta quilt.

The show opened on Wednesday night, and I found several works by students hanging with ribbons. This one by Annick O'Shaughnessy. It was started in my "Liberated Radial Piecing" class in Beaconsfield, QC last February (2015).

Suzanne Hurtubise started this one in the same class. Congratulations ladies!

I taught my Hosta Leaves

 and an In Full Bloom class. This class decided to pose showing the works I brought with me.

One of the lovely things about teaching at shows is meeting (or re-meeting) other teachers. In this selfie (me on right) I've managed to photograph several of my fellow teachers after dinner one night. From left to right, Dorothy Fu, Laurie Swim, Sharon Stroud, and Pat Pauly.

Although the show continued until Sunday, I left early (on Friday night) to drive to Cambridge, Ontario and attend our niece's wedding. That was followed by a 3-day visit to my father and sister. Managed to get my father fitted for some hearing aids. He turns 92 this month!

Irises were in bloom everywhere in Southern Ontario. This is a beautiful time of year, with so much of nature coming to life.

There you have it. A week in which I slept in four different beds! I guess that is why things hurt? I have only about 20 more meters of background fabrics to dye before my days of teaching at the Vermont Quilt Festival later this month. I'll be busy with that this week, as well as prepping the boxes of patterns and kits to ship to Vermont in advance. Then I plan to prep for my July classes at the Haliburton School of the Arts.

New Brunswick Teaching Trip, Part 2

When I arrived at my hotel room in Fredericton, New Brunswick, I found this beautiful gift bag from the Elm City Quilters Guild had been left for me. How thoughtful, and another example of Maritime hospitality.

The bag contained snacks, beverages, bath products, toiletries, and a magazine. Many things to make my stay comfortable.

Attached was a card with an abstract watercolour painting of cats. Hmmm ... they must have been reading about me.

Our classroom was huge and bright, and again very accessible.

On my first day I taught my In Full Bloom class. That evening I gave a lecture. I did not take any photos at the lecture, but am awaiting some to be sent from members who did.

I taught a half day class on Flip and Sew Curves

followed by a half day class on Liberated Applique.

This group did such a fantastic job and really seemed to enjoy my third class, Fast & Fun Fused Designs. Many had not ever cut their designs free hand before.

This is June, my class helper most days.

Marie:

Gloria:

I met so many people in my 9 days of teaching and lecturing in New Brunswick, that I am struggling for names here. If anyone can please help me with the names of the following members, I will be happy to add them.

Rhoda:

I enjoyed lobster roll after class one day with Pat, the Guild's President. Pat is the one who contacted me to invite me to teach in Fredericton. I enjoyed her company.

I took two days to drive home to Ottawa again. My first day brought blue skies and beautiful views.

I decided to stop at Hartland to view the longest covered bridge in the world. It was more than worth the 5 minute detour from the Trans Canada Highway. My husband and I have driven to the Maritime provinces many time for summer vacations, and we have never stopped here.

It definitely is the longest covered bridge I have ever seen!

That night I stayed in Quebec City overnight, discovering that I speak better french than my GPS! A huge thank you to the Elm City Quilters Guild for also taking such good care of me! Let me repeat: that is Maritime Hospitality!

Thanks to so much help from everyone, along with accessible classrooms and hotel rooms, I came home fairly rested and no worse for wear. Certainly my arthritic knee was no worse on my return. However, I did have a cortisone shot yesterday and hopefully things will continue to improve.

New Brunswick Teaching Trip, Part 1

On Sunday I returned from a fantastic teaching trip to New Brunswick. I was away for two weeks. What a beautiful drive, with autumn leaves at their peak.

You know you are in New Brunswick when you see these kinds of signs, in both official languages (New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada). I never did see any moose but that is probably a good thing as they can cause severe damage to your car, and you, if one catches you by surprise.

I undertook the 11-12 hour drive to New Brunswick over two days. My first booking was with the Marco Polo Quilters Guild in Saint John. My first class was Hosta Leaves 101. You can see students using the big bright windows to trace their patterns.. 

My photo taking during workshops was a bit haphazard on this trip, largely due to my limited mobility. I spent most of my trip teaching from a chair on wheels due to my arthritic knee. I did manage to photograph a few finished hosta pieces.

Dorothy:

Barbara:

Carolyn:

Nancy:

Barb:
A big thank you to Barb who treated me to dinner at her house one night, and provided me with homemade lobster mac n'cheese and blueberry pie and red pepper jelly. I spent my final night in Saint John sitting in my hotel room eating lobster mac n'cheese while watching the federal election thanks to Barb. It was delicious!

My second workshop was Surface Design 1, which includes Prismacolor Artist Pencils and Caran d'Ache Necolor 2 Water Soluble Wax Pastels. Students learn how to use artist pencils to add shading and hi-lights. They also learn to use the wax pastels  to create a piece that is impressionistic after adding water with a brush. More definite lines can be added after that with dry crayons.

Marilyn:

This is Dorothy with her partially completed project from the Liberated Radial Piecing class.

On Sunday afternoon I gave a lecture and trunk show.

Because I chose to drive, rather than fly, I was able to take my store with me. There were shopping frenzies from time to time.

On my last day in Saint John I taught my In Full Bloom class.

A big thank you to Sandra, who was a very organized workshop and program coordinator. I think this is a fantastic photo of an elegant woman and I hope she likes it too. 

 

Big thanks to Leslie who worked as my class assistant most days, including running my store so I could focus on teaching.

It was a beautiful day when I finished my last day of teaching so I decided to do a little sightseeing. I visited the Reversing Falls, where the ocean tide pushes back the rapids on the Saint John River.

near the Irving pulp and paper mill.

Before leaving town the next morning I decided to see the down town and water front. A large cruise ship was in port.

I took a walk through Market Square, a building that pulls together the New Brunswick Museum, Saint John Library, and shops and restaurants under one roof. One can walk several blocks through an overpass called "The Connection". It is all indoors.

Oh and there is a model of the Marco Polo ship that this guild is named after.

I had one more lobster roll at the Saint John Market.

With a large cruise ship in port, it was a busy day at the market

After that I headed north to Fredericton. 

An enormous thank you to the Marco Polo Quilt Guild for taking such good care of me! With accessible classrooms and an accessible hotel room, a lot of the stress of my knee problem was alleviated. Everyone was so helpful with transporting my class materials and fabrics too, and many took turns providing dinners and lunches. That's legendary Maritime hospitality!