The Sweet Table

There was so much in my last post that I completely forgot about the baked goodies that I made for the bake table at the Bazaar. The Bazaar has lots of components to it, from a delicious glazed ham lunch to a craft table, a White Elephant table, and a bake table and it is a lot of work, so I like to help out as much possible. The baked goods are always a great hit and there is so much to choose from.

This time around I made three different cookie recipes - Tiny Fudge Tartlets,

Double Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies,

and White Chocolate Gingerbread (a favourite of my friend Stephanie).

I'm not sure which is more fun - the baking or the packaging.

There were a few rejects (the first batch of fudge tartlets - I mismeasured the butter) and a small surplus of White Chocolate Gingerbread, so the Official Cookie Tester was very happy to clean those up, with a little help from moi. It was also the perfect excuse to start using my Christmas cookie tins. I have several Mary Englebright tins that I just love and I'll use them throughout the year just because they are so beautiful. If I could do just one thing in this world I would love to be able to illustrate the way that she can. This image is a little distorted - it's the lid and there is a bit of a curvature to it - but you get the idea.

All the cookies are gone now so today I'm thinking of making more of the gingerbread. They were really delicious but I remembered just a little too late that I had wanted to try the recipe with 2 eggs to make them chewier, so maybe this time around. Or maybe the oatmeal cookies - they were pretty good too...M

Martha's Legacy

I've been meaning to post this for the past couple of weeks and keep forgetting. Mom's Mary Englebright quilt came back from the shop all quilted so I offered to put the binding on for Fran so that she could take it back to Toronto with her and start using it. Isn't it beautiful?

It is a large quilt, about 85" x 108" if memory serves me correctly, so it took the better part of a day and a half for me to get the binding made and attached.

Yet another bias gingham binding, my fave. And the cherry red that she chose is perfect - it's bright and fun and works really nicely with both the back and the front, tying everything together nicely.

Betty took a few photos before it was packed into the car and it looks like she found a treasure. At least one of the blocks is from our maternal grandmother's stash. How's that for a family heirloom?

It took more than five years to get it quilted but it's now done and ready to be loved. Sweet dreams, Frances....M

The Third in a Series

As promised, here are a few pics of Jane's 'Mary Englebright' quilt, the same one that mom and Betty made. And, if you look closely you see a few of Mary's prints scattered throughout.

She started making it after she saw mom's and stitched it around the same time that mom was making hers (I have to admit that I have no recall in that regard - yikes!). Like the other two, it is all hand pieced.

Don't you just love the funky valentine/sweetheart border fabric that she used?














So there you have it - one pattern, three lovely interpretations.

Which reminds me, I still have to bind mom's....M

Bright & Beautiful

Last time I showed you Betty's 'Mary Englebright' quilt; today I'll share mom's version with you. It's a bright and cheerful and scrappy. If you saw the comments on my last post you'll know that it really isn't a Mary Englebright pattern at all - it's just what we started calling it because of the bright colours! Selective memory or what?






Where Betty's had 4 basic block colour combinations this one is totally random with no two bocks repeated - at least not the colourways.




















It is such a wonderful quilt. This will be one that you like falling asleep under. When we were young we had an applique butterfly baby quilt that we would nap under and most, if not all, of the butterflies were made of different fabrics. Part of what kept you entertained (and probably quiet!) was looking at all the butterflies to see if you could find duplicates. This one will be the same.

I remember having lots of fun pulling the fabrics for the borders. If you look closely at the dark patterned strip you'll see that it is lots of cute little veggies on a deep purple background. You can see just a hint of the blue that it has been backed in.








This is my favourite block, primarily because of the yellow border fabric.





















And here's a pic of mom under the trees at Jane's cottage just after she finished putting it together. The photo is a scan so the quality is not the best but I wanted to show you mom with her handiwork. It's all sewn by hand and she spent many lovely, lazy afternoons stitching by the lake.

My sister Frances inherited this quilt top after mom passed away and she has just had it machine quilted so it will now start getting used. I have promised to bind it for her so I'd better get busy and deliver. It's been in a pile for five years now so it's time.

Jane has made the same pattern in reds, I believe, so I hope to have photos of hers to share with you soon - maybe even for the next post - and you can see yet another interpretation of the same pattern....M

Quilt Canada Memories

Quilt Canada came to a close in Halifax last week and it reminded me of a road trip that six of us took to Toronto in 2000 when it was held at York University. It was a great adventure with lots of wonderful work to admire. I particularly remember the precision of the miniature quilts - they were true works of art.

It was at this show that Betty fell in love with a fabric collection - I'm not even sure who it was by, maybe Moda. She debated long and hard because she had a young family and wasn't sure that she could splurge on fabric, but eventually she was convinced so she went and bought it. She wasn't sure what pattern she was going to make but the longer she thought the more she realized that she needed a second bundle of fabric, so back she went. All told, she went back three times to the booth for fabric to be certain that she had enough.

The Mary Englebright quilt

And this was the result of her efforts. Isn't it beautiful?

Mom made the same pattern but had gone totally scrappy with lots of bright, primary prints and a different border. They found the pattern in a print quilt mag of one sort or another and for some reason I think this was one by Mary Englebright.

It is all stitched by hand and also hand quilted.















And it is fast becoming everyone's favourite!

Mom's has just come back from the quilter so I'll share that with you next time. It is amazing how different the same pattern looks so different depending on the colour palette....M