Ann (with an e) for the Day

It has been a lifelong dream of traveling to Prince Edward Island to experience life as Anne of Green Gables for the day.  I read all of the books when I was in Middle School, and loved all of the movies, including the Avonlea TV series.  So, my mom planned a trip for the girls in the family to travel to PEI.  I left my babies and husband behind for the week (for the first time ever) and set out on the road with my mom and 2 sisters.  We stayed in a 2 room bungalow that wasn't more than 500 feet away from Green Gables.

 L.M. Montgomery based her description of Green Gables after real locations she grew up around. 

If you know about Anne of Green Gables then you will love this place.  We walked in the Haunted Wood:

 Walked down Lover's Lane:

   
And of course, we drank some Raspberry Cordial. (It tastes like Strawberry soda).
It started to rain on the way back to the bungalow, so I'm a little wet.













We also visited the birth place and burial grounds of L.M. Montgomery.

 We then headed over to the Village of Avonlea.  It's set in 1908, and it's adorable.  It had a ton of things for children to do as well.

 My favorite part was probably this folk band that sang songs from the Island.  The song we listened to over and over in the car was "On the Red Dirt Road."  And yes, the Island is full of red dirt roads.

We played a little dress-up. :)

 Mom and Stina on the wagon ride:

 It had a complete farm.  Little Man would of loved it. 

One Morning in Maine

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Have you read this book?  It was one of my absolute favorite books as a child, and after spending a day in Bar Harbor, Maine I love it even more.  I was completely enchanted by the coastline.  I can see why my husband loves Maine so much (he was born in Bangor, Maine).  I thought of him a lot as we explored Acadia National Park.

Downtown Bar Harbor

The town is adorable and during low tide you can walk along the tide pools to Bar Island.

The tide pools were a lot of fun - they were full of oyster shells, barnacles, tiny crabs (they're the brown spiral shells in the picture above), seaweed, beautiful rocks, and we even found a live starfish.  I didn't expect it to be so prickly and spiny.

Some of the tide pools

A view looking back from Bar Island

Christina posing on Bar Island

We then headed to Acadia National Park.  You could spend a whole month just exploring that place- it's huge! We drove the park loop, and then walked down to Sand Beach (very creative name, I know).

I thought it was a little cold for swimming, but that didn't stop quite a few people that were there.  Ang and Stina headed straight for the rocks. 

We hiked the path along the rim of the coast and it was one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever done. 

Thunder Hole:
















Otter Cliffs are in the background:

 You can see Sand Beach in the distance behind us:

It was a lovely hike, but I think these two had the right idea.  I could have sat there and read a good book all day long, but alas, we needed to get going to Canada.

Good Reads

I absolutely loved the book we read for Book Club this past month.  It was so witty and very unique.  It's called:

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Here's the summary:

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

At first I was a little skeptical about the book, because I knew that the book was composed entirely of letters sent from character to character, but it got more and more interesting as the book continued.  I loved that the book was about a pretty heavy topic and yet the book wasn't depressing at all.  I found myself laughing out loud a bunch of times.  I fell in love with the characters, and I loved that there was a love story intertwined into the story.  I can't tell you how fun and distinct a lot of the characters are that live on the island of Guernsey.  I loved them and almost felt like I could travel there and meet all of them- the small town humor was fabulous.  I'm so sad this author pasted away, because I would have loved more books from her.    

Sock Monkeys Have Never Been So Cool

I love this quilt - the design is simple and it really brings out the fun prints. 

 I loved the loopy lines so much I did 3 different sections of loopy line quilting all over the quilt. 

 A little close up...














I kept the back simple and fuzzy, comfy cozy.  It is for a baby after all. 

Winnings

I'm a little late to the party, but I'm finally getting around to posting about the Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew.  I was able to give away a mini-quilt with some scraps, and was lucky enough to win from 2 people!!

The first was hand-dyed fabrics from the Quilting Gallery.  How fun is that?!  I'm already planning on using them for the next project at the Free Motion Quilting Project. 

The second is from My Creative Corner all the way from Norway- how cool!!  I am definitely going to have to make a few of these oven mitts - they're so cute!  And I'm still debating about what I want to use the fabric for - I really like the colors.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend- I have 2 quilts to bind this weekend, so I'm pretty pumped.  I should have a couple of finishes to show you next week.  :)

Quilting Away

I am super pleased with myself- don't worry - no sense of false modesty here!  My son pulled some "interesting" pieces/parts off of my sewing machine over the weekend, and I somehow managed to put it all back together by my lonesome.  It took some finagling, but she's up and running again.  Don't ask me how I did it, because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to replicate it again if I tried.

This week has been rather productive even with the machine hiccup.  I started a baby quilt for my cousin.  The Sock Monkeys still make me smile.  (Full post here) and it's now layered, pinned and all ready to be quilted.

 I also finished quilting my Skill Builder Quilt #2.  I'm in love with it - I'm not going to lie.  I practiced the Loopy Lines for the Free Motion Quilting project (full post here), and then finished up the rest of the blocks.

  Other projects
Skill Builder Blocks- I'm behind a block
Christmas blocks - no progress
Halloween Wall Hanging- no progress

Blogger BOM - Up to date

Do.Good Stitches - Up to date

Stats for the Week:
New projects - 1
Completed projects - 0
WIP- 7

Check out what everyone is up to this week over at Freshly Pieced.

Loop De Loop

This week's Quilt Along design is SO much fun!  I giggled a little when Leah asked if we were alright with crossing lines, because I'm always crossing lines when I'm not supposed to, so I was thrilled that not only can the lines cross, but they're meant to be crossed.

I did one of the inner borders with the double loops that we practiced:

I love using it, but my question for Leah is:

What's the best way to maneuver in the corners with these loops?  

As you can see I had some issues with my corners, and I would like to improve them for next time.

Here are a couple of blocks that I did with Loopy Lines:

 My personal favorite:

 And a picture of the back: