Muffins & Stuff!

Yesterday on Facebook, I posted three photos about my blueberry muffins. Since then, there have been quite a number of people making comments about them, especially the small amount of sugar used.

I used parchment paper liners which don't stick to the baked muffins. 

The recipe came from The Treasury of Newfoundland Dishes. My mom has several of her favourite recipes printed in this book. This is my second copy as the original one that mom gave me decades ago, is literally in tatters!

 Here's the recipe:

These muffins use little sugar. If your sweet tooth isn't satisfied, cut one in half and spread some jam!

The cookbook is still available at Chapters and Amazon.

• Pinterest HERE has a few ideas for quilted muffins / cupcakes
• Cupcake applique HERE
• Template HERE
• Free Cupcake / Muffin Oven Mitt HERE 

Enjoy!

 

Happy 99th Birthday, Mom

Mom is 99 years young today and in great health. Thank you to the staff of Chancellor Park, St. John's, Newfoundland, for taking such good care of her. She calls the care givers, her angels. 

Due to COVID-19, I can't be there to celebrate her birthday. Hopefully, I'll be there for her 100th!

Here's mom in her early 20's. 

This next one is a favourite of mine as well as my sister and brother.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Canada! 

Wishing all my relatives and friends near and far, a very happy, safe Thanksgiving Weekend. 

In honour of this special holiday, I have the perfect autumn quilt, which was made by my sister, Joan, in Tennessee. She made it and hand delivered it in 2018, for my July birthday. 

This photo was taken today where the temperature reached 22C. I was lucky to get the full view of the quilt as it was a bit breezy. The wind reminded me of home in Newfoundland where it's windy most of the time!

The back fabric is all birch trees.

My back garden is displaying its gorgeous autumn colours, most of which, are in this quilt.

Links for your pleasure:

• Joan's creations on Instagram  
• My photos on Instragram   
• Free Quilted Projects  
• Free Leaf Quilt Blocks    
• Fall Quilt Projects   
• Autumn Leaves    
• Free Fall Patterns   
• Autumn Projects on Pinterest HERE    
• Pumpkins   
• Previous Thanksgiving posts HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE     
  

Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

 

Snow Happens Update / Mega Storm in Newfoundland

Slow and steady wins the race. Really?? In any case, I have a bit more done to my hand embroidered snowmen. Here's the pieced border that had me say a few choice words over it yesterday.

I have the four sides trimmed and ready to stitch onto the piece.

On another note:

Thinking about my relatives and friends in Newfoundland today with the mega snowstorm playing havoc to the point that the mayor of St. John's declared a state of emergency today. My friend, M, has been keeping me updated on the storm.

To read more about it and to view some video clips, check out CBC HERE .  This weekend is going to be one of digging out for the residents of St. John's and area.

Now for some fun stuff (depending on how you look at it), here's a few links to explore:

• Mary Corbet's Needle n Thread blog has some free hand embroidery patterns for you to use.
• DMC has lots of free patterns for hand embroidery.
• Get a head start on 2020 Christmas by sewing up the Felt Christmas Tree Ornaments at Bugs and Fishes.
• Inspired by the snow, check out the free pieced and quilted Little Landscape wall hanging. 

Enjoy!!

Out with the old / In with the new

Christmas was a quiet one shared with family. Presents were opened on Christmas Day with our granddaughter exclaiming "Oh, my goodness" when she opened up the giant Lego set that she was hoping for.

We started bathroom renovations on Boxing Day!!! I'm the designated helper / cleaner-upper. You get the idea. Today, the old cabinet and sink went out the door. It will probably be a few days before the new one gets installed. I figure it will take awhile before everything gets finished.

The studio has been cleaned up after a very busy craft fair season. I won't be working at anything in particular for awhile.

Last week was one of semi relaxing. I did put this puzzle together and started another one. This one did not include a picture of the piece which made it a bit harder to do. It was one of those mysteries that you are suppose to solve by doing the puzzle. There was a short story and the answer to the mystery. I didn't bother with that part.

The stained glass poinsettias were a gift from my brother and sister-in-law in Newfoundland. Some of his work is at King's Point Pottery.

I am not one for making New Year's Resolutions but I am hoping to blog a bit more frequently in 2020. Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Three Churches and a Lobster

Two new shimmers have finally made it into stitch!! These make lovely window catchers and great Christmas Ornaments.
I was asked to design a shimmer of the Three Churches of Mahone Bay and a lobster. Thanks to my husband, who does all the technical drawings for the embroidery machines.

These lobsters are drying outside on the clothes line. This could never have happened in our old home in St. John's, NL as it was way too windy.  Did you know that according to a documentary by CBC Radio a few years ago, St. John's is the third windiest city on the planet? Not what I would want to be famous for, that's for sure.  I actually bought my first out door garment without a hood, when I moved here to Nova Scotia.

Hanging on the clothes line.

Road Trip

Here's a few photos of our road trip across the island of Newfoundland a couple of weeks ago. These were taken near Port aux Basques. Yes, that's snow up in the mountains! The first two photos were taken on our way to St. John's and the others, on our way back to Nova Scotia.

For those of you who have never been to the island, it takes about 11 hours to drive from St. John's to Port aux Basques. Have a look at this map showing Atlantic Canada and you will see how large Newfoundland is compared to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

It looks as if the road is going into the water.

Life in Nova Scotia

I have been living in Nova Scotia one year today. It has been a very interesting, busy year to say the least. The one thing I don't miss, is the weather. CBC did a radio show a few years ago and St. John's was the 3rd windiest city on the planet!  I can believe that. It is so strange, even a year later, to look out at the trees and the leaves hardly move. Last fall, I purchased my first outdoor garment without a hood. In St. John's on most days, you needed a hood! Can you guess - I DON'T LIKE WIND!!!

In any case, we have settled into life on the mainland. Family is 10 minutes away. Life is good.

I joined the Mahone Bay Quilt Guild this month. Of course, Rose, the program coordinator, whom I met at Lynn's Quilting Studio the week before, has already penciled me in to do the March program. She wants me to do a 'show and tell' of my art work. I can do that!

Next week, the guild is having a Quilters' Harvest Quilt Show & Sale. Thursday night is the opening of the show for guild members. I was afraid I was going to miss seeing the quilts, as we are going to Cape Breton that weekend. Hopefully, I'll be permitted to take a few photos to share here on the blog.

Enjoy!

Check out my Instagram page @jctextileart to see some of the things I've been doing. I'm still having issues with transferring photos from phone to computer. Isn't technology grand!

Flash Back to 2014

I started creating these Fibre Art Pendants in 2014. They have been a popular item at the fairs I've attended and the shops in Newfoundland that carry them. Each one is a miniature one-of-a-kind piece of art.

Last October, during the Espanola Fibre Art Festival, Northern Ontario, I taught two classes on making these pendants, at. It was a great experience!

Credit / Business Card Holders are Finished - Finally!!

Today, the Credit / Business Card Holders were finally finished. More Shimmer Ornaments were also stitched out on the machine. AND, I walked 6 km at the LCLC's indoor walk area.

These 'Holders' will be going with me next Tuesday, to Newfoundland and  will end up at the Devon House Gift Shop.

 

Work in Progress

Where does a day go? Between my gopher job (which is intermittent - renos on new place), domestic stuff, and dance class (not me, Gale), time flies!  BUT while waiting for her, I walked 2.5 km around the indoor track at the LCLC. Then everyone was back here for supper.

I did manage to finish up free-motion stitching a few more pieces for the Credit Card Holders. Here's a sample. On the right side is the  embellished fabric. It is difficult to see the glittery threads and yarns used. I will be taking some of these with me for Devon House, on my trip back to NL at the end of the month.

I've linked up with The Needle & Thread Network this week.

Happy New Year

This has been a very busy year. Not so much with my art and business ventures but with house renovations, packing up the house and moving to Nova Scotia in October. Our house in NL sold in November and closed just before Christmas so that was one of the best gifts we could have received. Since the move, I have visited Espanola, Ontario and taught there at the Fibre Art Festival. Of course, the very best thing, we get to see our family all the time, as they are just a 10 minute car ride away!
 
I managed to get to a few stitch days during the year with friends but not as many as I wished.
Thanks for your friendship as it means a lot. Thank you for following my blog posts and to those who leave comments. I may not respond to all of them but they are read and appreciated.

My main goal for the new year is to have a fully functional studio where I can create new fibre art. I have some new yarns and I'm just itching to try them out! 

I wish you health, happiness, time with family and friends, and lots of fun in 2018!

From my house to yours:

Happy New Year! 

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and Other Stuff

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my relatives and friends, near and far. The rest of our belongings arrived today so we are officially moved to Pine Grove, Nova Scotia. Our house in St. John's, NL is now for sale.

I took a drive to Mahone Bay yesterday afternoon. It's 16.5 km from my house along a country road. The fall colours are gorgeous! I love summer  but autumn foliage wins. I stopped a couple of times to take photos but the road is narrow with hardly any shoulder for parking.

 

A new book store just opened up in Mahone Bay called An Novel Idea. This bookstore caters to book lovers and writers. They carry a diverse selection of books, stationery products, and unique literary gifts.

The Mahone Bay Scarecrow Festival was last weekend but the scarecrows will be on display for most of the month. Check HERE for the photos I posted last year. Here's a couple from this year:

Someone stole the 3 little pigs from the mamma pig!

Enjoy!!

Whink!

It's been busy here - packing up stuff, trying to tame the garden and still making Shimmers! The newest place to have my Shimmer Ornaments is Whink, on Water Street. I dropped off their order last week. If you are ever in the area, please drop into the store as it's lovely. It's brightly lit, inviting and has marvelous gift items.

EAC Banquet

Last evening was the closing banquet for the Rock, Needle, Scissors 2017 EAC Seminar. (I would have posted about it last evening but my head cold was really acting up). The meal consisted of salad, roast salmon with rice and vegetables and a rich, creamy, custard crème brûlée with raspberries and cream. Delicious!

As part of the banquet scene, the hosting guild has favors for each guest. Our guild, St. John's Guild of Embroiderers', spent the last two years making cute little pincushion puffins. This particular bird is the national bird of Newfoundland Labrador. Each puffin was hand embroidered and then stitched together. We made over 160 + (I did know the exact number but . .  .)! In any case, they were a hugh hit with everyone. These first two photos were taken a few weeks ago.

Photo courtesy of Mary Pippy

Photo courtesy of Mary Pippy

A bunch from our table

This one is mine!

My embroidery machine made the tags for all the puffins

A few leftover puffins were put on silent auction. For those of you unfamiliar with Newfoundland place names, the names below are actual places.

Enjoy!!