Family Time in Cozumel

This has been my view for the last 9 days...

Our little family had a wonderfully relaxed vacation in Cozumel, Mexico and we spent so much time in the water! We snorkelled and snorkelled some more. We swam in the big waves off the west coast.

We snorkelled off a dock, off a boat, along a shore, and over coral reefs. We snorkelled in shallow water and in water 50 to 60 feet deep. We swam in the fresh water pool.

After diving for 25 years along the Atlantic Canadian shores, my husband did his first tropical water dives and I think he kind of liked it.

Cozumel is a scuba diving and snorkelling destination, and really suited us, a family of water babes.

We saw sea turtles, a live conch, schools of tangs of all colors, clown fish, schools of triggerfish, stingrays, lobster, and so many barracudas. The waters there are so warm and so clear, it was simply wonderful.

So wonderful.

A refreshing breath of spring air in a customer's quilt

It felt fitting to quilt this beautiful top as the snow fell and while I was wishing and hoping for spring to hurry up and arrive!

My friend, Maureen did a lovely job appliquéing and piecing the top for a customer and I was lucky enough to get to quilt it.

Originally we had discussed some pebbling or cross hatching in those flower centres but as I worked on it, I quickly realized it wasn’t required.

So I stayed with my meandering leaves and loops with bead board on the two outside borders.

I used an neutral shade of my favorite Glide thread for some added sheen. I am very happy with the result and more importantly, so is Maureen.

A comfort quilt

This is a lovely quilt, as well as a lovely gesture. A member of my quilt guild pieced the top with this myriad of plaids, all from clothing gathered from her former boss’s grandfather who had recently passed. She took all the shirts that had been saved, opened then up to get the fabric she needed and then pieced the top. I used an open quilting design to enhance the well worn softness of the cottons and brushed cottons. Wrapping up in the quilt is like getting a big soft hug.

And because I am so, so tired of snow, here are some photos I took at the Joshua Tree National Park on our recent trip to California..

Joshua Tree National Park

Now that is a sunset..

A quilt for an old friend

When our young teenage kids were dating, and they still needed drives everywhere, we hit it off immediately, with our first hellos in the driveway. Gradually our conversations carried us into each others homes. We would talk and talk until the wee hours of the morning, laughing, always laughing, with the kids hanging around, listening in. I can’t remember specifically what made us laugh so hard, so often, but I know we usually kept the kids waiting for us to wind down, way past a reasonable hour. 

Sadly the teenage romance didn’t last and we no longer had those opportunities to see each other. When we ran into each other, it never seemed to be a convenient time to stay and talk longer. The effects of that broken love reached far beyond our two teenage children..

A lot of people dislike Facebook for what are probably valid reasons. But, I am not one of them. I have reconnected with so many old friends because of this form of social media and I am grateful. One of these is my dear, dear friend of my son’s high school days. Lately she is being kept busy with more health issues than any one person should have to handle.

I love her and I miss her and because of that, I made her this. I haven’t delivered it to her yet, but when I do, I hope she likes it.