Turkey Tracks: Megan Brun’s First Ribbon

Turkey Tracks: August 1, 2016

Megan Brun’s First Ribbon

Some of us had to make a lot of quilts before winning a ribbon.

Not Megan Bruns of Coastal Quilters.

This past weekend, this young woman WON a third first time out–at the Maine State quilt show: Pine Tree Quilters’ Guild:

Megan began this low-volume quilt with the hand-appliquéd colored circles you see here. Then she surrounded the circles with lots of low-volume blocks. See the “natural” circles at the lower left of the picture? And, of course, the fabric she found with circles included.

I’ve seen this quilt. It is yummy, yummy. Alewives Quilt Shop in Damariscotta Mills, Maine, did the modern quilting, and that’s yummy too.

Congratulations!!! Megan!!!

Can’t wait to see the quilt you are working on now finished–a very, very intricate English Paper Pieced millifiore quilt with tiny, tiny pieces. (You can see some of that quilt in earlier posts.) And, of course, hanging at Pine Tree next year.

PS: She made her dinosaur shirt too.

Turkey Tracks: Home Again From the J&E Riggin Sail

Turkey Tracks: August 1, 2016

Home Again From the J&E Riggin Sail

What a terrific six days!

The music, the music, the music! Geoff Kauffman, who has forgotten more about sailing music and maritime history than most will every know, beguiled us once more.

The laughter–big old belly laughs at times–the kind where you get tears in your eyes.

The beauty. The gorgeousness.

The food. Fresh, local, varied, tantalizing.

The visits with passengers I’ve sailed with many times now and the meeting of passengers new to the Riggin.

I’ve already signed up for next year’s “music” sail: July 24-29th. And if you want to come, sign up now as the roster is getting full.

http://www.mainewindjammer.com/schedule2

* * *

I decided early on that I did not want to spend the week taking pictures and involving myself with much technology–beyond the book I had downloaded on to my ipod touch. After the election turmoil on tv, I just wanted a break away from everything. I just wanted to read, nap, sew, lie in the sun, enjoy the sailing, and laugh. But not to worry, one of my sailing companions was taking some pretty nice pictures, and she has promised to send me about 10 of her best, and I will post those when they come.

We boarded Sunday at 5 p.m. This year I took a picnic supper and read until the light faded. I was tired from all the organizing to leave the house for six days and an afternoon of heavy duty weeding, and it was so nice to just sit on the boat and rest. Above, on the dock landing, an osprey nest contained two babies–about half grown. Would they be there when we got back?

Monday morning was bustling as supplies for six days came aboard, including boxes of organic local veggies from my CSA, Hope’s Edge, delivered by Farmer Tom Griffin. Captain Annie Mahle served us a huge breakfast. Then we were off, sailing past the Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse and through the Fox Island Thoroughfare. We had great wind and made it all the way to what we call “Wooden Boat Harbor,” off Brooklin, where the Wooden Boat School is. As soon as we anchored, our boat swimmers jumped into the water.

Tuesday night saw us anchoring at the mouth of Sommes Sound, up on Mt Desert Island (Acadia National Park) just off of Southwest Harbor. I have not been up here in years in the boat. But I had sleeping sickness and missed the trip up part of Sommes Sound (a natural fiord) and back.

Wednesday, after folks went ashore at Southwest Harbor, had us anchoring off of one of the “Dark Islands”–there are several “Dark” islands–and having a lobster bake. The water off the little white crescent beach was turquoise blue and crystal clear. I found a whole cluster of Golden Chanterelle mushrooms in the woods, and Annie cooked them up Thursday night. She took this picture.

Thursday we sailed through Eggemoggin Reach and under the bridge. In the afternoon late, on the way to Belfast, storms threatened, so we all donned our foul weather gear. That cured the problem, and dry, we sailed in to Belfast to anchor next to the Timberwind, moored dockside. The Timberwind is working as a day sailor out of Belfast. The crew joined us for dinner, and after we did get some rain (the tarp was up by then), a music festival happened on the Riggin with visiting singers from the Belfast area. It was a lively, fun time. Everyone sang. A lot.

Friday saw us enjoying a leisurely sail back down the coast toward Camden and a night in Pulpit Harbor, which I have never visited. Pulpit sits just across from Camden and Rockland on North Haven Island. It’s a beautiful little harbor. Of course, there were lots of swimmers, as there have been every day.

Saturday‘s boat held a lot of nostalgic and sad folks. We had had such a grand time. Annie made her famous sweet rolls for us and, later, served a grand brunch to send us on our way. And Geoff Kauffman did some last minute entertaining on the way back to Rockland.

I took this picture of the Victory Chimes with what was left of my phone battery. The VC is on the Maine quarter (25 cents), and this straight-on shot of her is unusual. She docks on the same wharf as the Riggin, and she is HUGE.

Here’s Captain Annie as we near Rockland Harbor:

Here’s Geoff teaching us about Appalachian music fun with a little wooden dancer and a flute:

Here, I was able to pan the deck so you can see the size of this boat. The rear of the boat is straight ahead:

I did not knit this trip, but took two English Paper Piecing projects. The quilt-let centers, and the one-inch pentagons to make spheres that will be stuffed with smelly plants, like lavender and balsam.

These centers are ready for the next step in the quilt-let project.

Ready to be stuffed:

In progress:

The osprey babies were still in the nest:

And when I got home, Linda McKinney had left me a bouquet of flowers from my very lush (and now weedy) garden:

Turkey Tracks: Windjamming Days on the J&E Riggin

Turkey Tracks: July 24, 2016

Windjamming Days on the J&E Riggin

The house is organized.

The garden has been weeded…mostly…and watered.

My bags are packed.

AND I AM OFF TO THE J&E RIGGIN windjammer later this afternoon for six days of doing nothing but what I absolutely want to do. Hot weather, Jon Finger’s quiet friendship, Annie’s fun conversations and fabulous food, being with their daughters Chloe and Ella, sights to see, a clean wind to feel, the swish of the boat flying through the water, books to read, a book downloaded from the Maine State Library system, sewing to enjoy, naps to take, former travelers to see again, and an abundance of laughter and fun.

Last night, this…

…turned into this…

…as I tried to use up my veggies from Hope’s Edge CSA last Tuesday.

I froze half for the night I come home.

I also processed some kale and washed some sweet peas in the shell to eat with my picnic supper aboard tonight. I weeded heavily this morning–HEAVILY–and treated myself to lunch out and a coffee from Zoots. So I want a lighter supper tonight.

I finished two more quilt-lets in the past week at night:

I made up a few more to do on the boat, but mostly I’ll work on the lavender sachets. I’m now thinking of green ones (balsam), rose ones (rose geranium or roses), and yellow ones (lemon verbena???).

Did you know that if you squeeze a lavender ball when it no longer smells that you will release renewed smell?

Hugs to all of YOU!

Books, Documentaries, Reviews: Elisabeth Ogilvie

Books, Documentaries, Reviews: July 24, 2016

Elisabeth Ogilvie

I’ve heard Elisabeth Ogilvie’s name since I moved to Maine twelve years ago. And saw her books in book stores off and on.

But I’d never read any of her books until this spring.

There are A LOT of her books, but at least seven of them take place on a fictional island, Bennet’s Island, out near Matinicus Island somewhere. And, “Limerock” is certainly Rockland. Camden appears as Camden from time to time.

The first six books comprise two trilogies. I am on the sixth book, and it is going with me to the J&E Riggin later today.

I am a sucker for books set in or about Maine, so I’m not sure everyone would like these books. Ogilvie died in 2006 in nearby Cushing, Maine, shortly after we moved up here, and started publishing in 1944. Her books were very popular back in the day. Today they read a bit old-fashioned, but I bet back then they were a bit racy in ways.

In any case, I am enjoying them a lot. As I have moved through them, I can see that her books get more complicated, have more depth, are better written. The characters are interesting and compelling. And I am loving reading about lobstering and drag seining back in the day on a virtually self-sufficient island.

Ogilvie was born and went to school in Massachusetts, but summered in Maine. As an adult she lived on a 33-acre piece of land on Gay’s Island, and, I think, wintered ashore in Maine. She fostered children.

Another interesting thing to note is that she had a “significant other” woman companion. So, in that, she joins other writers who lived in Maine: Willa Cather, Lura Beam, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Mary Ellen Chase.

This wiki link lists Ogilvie’s books:

Source: Elisabeth Ogilvie – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Turkey Tracks: Lavender Sachets

Turkey Tracks: July 22, 2016

Lavender Sachets

It WORKED!

On faith, I ordered a pound of organic dried lavender flowers, glued up the 1-inch pentagons, and started sewing.

It didn’t take anytime to make the little sphere, no time to stuff it, and a bit more time to sew the final seams–but I assume that part will get faster as I make MORE of them.

I’d also like to make some green ones with dried balsam, which is the quintessential smell of Maine.

AND, it would be fun to find some dried Rose Geranium, but so far no luck on that. I might have to fall back on rose petals stuffed into rose-colored spheres.

The pattern came from ALL POINTS PATCHWORK, see below.

Turkey Tracks: Hope’s Edge: My CSA

Turkey Tracks: July 22, 2016

Hope’s Edge: My CSA

Hope’s Edge CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) is in full swing now.

Going out there each Tuesday is one of the highlights of my week.

Last week, the road was lined with a wildflower in the Valerian family–which is also sometimes called “Wild Heliotrope,” which it is not. It is, however, very fragrant.

I picked two quarts of strawberries that smelled and tasted like sweet perfume. Delicious!

Farmer Tom was haying–and we were meant to have some hot, clear days in a row, so that was a good time to hay.

I look for this bunch of wild flowers on the paved road every year.

I think they are in the “fireweed” family. I’d have to look them up again to be sure.

Turkey Tracks: My Garden in Late July

Turkey Tracks: July 22, 2016

My Garden in Late July

I wish I could bottle the smell of my garden and put it on this blog or Facebook.

The garden is now a mature garden, which means moving some things around each year and filling some “holes,” but mostly it just needs mulch, fertilizer some times, weeding, and watering.

The white Annabelles are just crazy this year.

After mowing in the cool of the late afternoon the other day, I took pics of them and then could not stop.

So here’s my garden in late July:

The far “hedge” is a mixture of raspberries (up front), Rugosa Roses, Bay, and wildflowers.

The veggie garden is struggling this year with the cool weather and more shade as the trees below have filled out even more.

I weeded the rock paths yesterday. Weeds LOVE rocks.

This garden needs weeding and some deadheading.

Work of the gold bug beetle. See an earlier post for a picture of one.

Turkey Tracks: July 2016 Quilty Update

Turkey Tracks: July 19, 2016

July 2016 Quilty Update

The design wall craziness is getting bigger–which means some projects are close to being finished.

I still have not quilted the blue/neutral quilt on the long arm.

Amy Friend’s design–“Tell Me A Story” quilt–is ready to have the block papers removed, the blocks sewn together, and the border attached.

You can find this pattern in Amy’s book INTENTIONAL PIECING.

The block count that four of us are making for a fall “improvisational” quilt that will include blocks from all of us is growing. Here are some of my recent blocks. We are each making four blocks of anything–one to keep and three to give away.

Here’s one of Becca Babb-Brott’s set of blocks. (She has an Etsy store, “Sew Me A Song.”) She made these when we sewed on Monday at her house.

How fun are these!!!

The summer is going by sooooooo fast!!

But I’m SEW HAPPY.

Interesting Information: “I Wouldn’t Feed This Stuff to a Dying Animal” – Terminal Hospice Patient Exposes Truth About Ensure Nutrition Drinks”

Interesting Information: July 18, 2016

Ensure “Nutrition” Drinks

I hope none of you are drinking, or have a family member or friend drinking, Ensure “Nutrition” Drinks.

If so, please take a look at this information.

Here’s a quote from the beginning of the article, and the article includes information from the label of what is in these products:

Carrol Krause, a former reporter for the Herald-Times of Bloomington, Indiana, had to retire from her journalism career because of an ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2014. Before she passed away in February, she wrote a blog titled ‘Stories by Carrol’ highlighting the best and the worst of her last days.

A few months ago she started having digestive issues and could no longer eat normal food. What hospice workers brought her as meal replacements horrified her.

Krause writes: “Hospice had the very best of intentions, [but] the stuff they sent over was not real FOOD. In fact, I’m outraged at the idea that they feed this stuff to dying people.”

What the hospice provided to Krause was a bag full of products by Ensure: pudding, shakes, and a drink that pretends to be apple juice.

All three are full of chemicals with about as much actual nutritional value as most commercial junk food (my emphasis), and these drinks are meant to be the nutritional lifeline for people who are extremely sick.

Ensure is owned by Abbott Nutrition, one of the worst examples of a Big Food corporation masquerading as a healthy alternative you’ll ever see. The company has deep ties to the medical industry and as such you can find their products in just about every hospital today, which is bad news for millions of patients who are just trying to get healthier.

This story is another example of how industry has us all by the throat and is choking the life out of us. For profit.

And this is another example of how mainstream medicine ignores one of the most important chemical reactions we all have every day: the interaction of what we eat with our bodies.

Source: HealthFreedoms – “I Wouldn’t Feed This Stuff to a Dying Animal” – Terminal Hospice Patient Exposes Truth About Ensure Nutrition Drinks

Turkey Tracks: More Quilt-lets

Turkey Tracks: June 2016

More Quiltlets

Here’s what they look like together…

I think I worked out a way to do a “half quilt-let” to fill the gaps top and bottom. You can see it on the upper row.

I’ll add a row to the left. I don’t mind the zig-zags left and right.

I don’t know. This project may be a wall-hanging. Or left narrow and used as a bed or table decoration??? Or, maybe an actual quilt. I’ll know when I’ve finished it.

I’m up to 40+ blocks out of 52. And, making them is addictive.

	lynettecw on What Bird Is Making That …
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	StitchingGrandma on What Bird Is Making That …
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M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30