Zodiac Garland

Here's my latest little project. It was quick and fun - great for the last few days of summer.

I found a set of 12 squares of cloth at the thrift store, beautifully hand embroidered with a delightful series of astrological signs. They probably date from the 1970's, and needed a bit of cleaning to remove some rust stains.

I thought of piecing them into a quilt or wall hanging, but I couldn't arrange them so that the background colours were to my liking. So I went off on a completely different tangent, and added piping and backing to each one, then stuffed them to create 12 little pillows (about 7"x9").

I then sewed snap fasteners to the upper corners of each pillow, and the mate to each fastener on a length of tea-dyed twill tape. Snap them on and voila!

Summer Patchwork

I find myself with time on my hands but without most of my sewing tools, particularly my rotary cutter and mat. But I still want to work on a linen quilt top (cloth gleaned from thrift store shirts.) So I have taken a cue from Sherry Lynn Wood at Daintytime, and am working spontaneously, intuitively and without a straight edge!

I don't even have a steam iron with me, so I have just been dampening the finished squares and hanging them on the line. Seems to work.

Wish You Were Here

Yikes! I haven't done a posting for quite a while. I could offer all the usual excuses of summer, but there was a special event on top of everything else. It was a gala dinner to raise funds to build a community health centre. It took place in the Teapot House (check out the chimney), a landmark heritage building that is rarely used.

Chef Bruce Wood donated his time and talent to create a sumptuous six-course meal prepared with island raised ingredients.

The tables were set beautifully. Janine brought in linens, candlesticks, artwork and mirrors from her own home to create an elegant atmosphere.

Considering we are an isolated, rural island I think we rose to the occasion brilliantly.

Volunteer staff helped the chef create beautiful plates. Here is the seafood appetizer, with smoked honey mussels, cured salmon, marinated tuna, crab meat, and prawns spilling out of an oyster shell.

Salads of fresh greens and blossoms.

Oops, we're moving so fast things are getting blurry! Here's the roast lamb on a bed of oven roasted veggies and baby potatoes, dressed with tzatsiki and a red huckleberry relish.

Desserts from our talented island bakers.

The cheese plates that rounded out the evening.

After the dinner an auction was held that raised over $15,000. Incredible!

Abundance

I returned to my garden after a week away and was very happy to find my greenhouse full of ripening vegetables. Above are two Japanese peppers.

This was my first big harvest of the season. I have been picking cherry tomatoes since July 8th - the earliest I have ever had.

I made a sauce using a giant zucchini I found lurking under a leaf.

I went out after dinner and for dessert, stuffed my cheeks with the last of the black currants and the first of the blackberries. Bliss.