My sewing has been progressing at a very slow pace this summer...even though summer itself is moving along at breakneck speed.  I am still poking away at the little silk New York Beauty blocks. Despite the fact the blocks are only about 2" wide where they narrow, they take much longer to piece than a "normal" sized block...especially worked in silk.  This one is just for me though, so no deadline other than I would love to have it finished in time for my show at Fibre Arts Festival.

I also succumbed and bought some of the Hoffman "Narumi" which I have been ogling at Mrs. Pugsley's Emporium.  

How best to use the border print puzzled me for a bit but I like how it is working up into the spaces between the gold spikes.  There are three different gold prints being used for those.

The colour for the centres is still undecided.  My plan is to piece the blocks but not join them, then take them to the quilt shop to audition different fabrics for that centre spot.  Sounds like fun, wouldn't you say? :)

Don't Forget!!

The quilt show in Saulnierville is now on!

The Quoddy Loop

After leaving Grand Manan we headed to L'etete for a ferry across Passamaquoddy Bay, an arm of the Bay of Fundy.  Our destination was Deer Island.  As the trip is only 20 minutes long we had a much smaller ferry.This is a government run ferry and is free of charge to ride - amazing!

 We took our time exploring all the nooks and crannies of this peaceful island.

Then we headed to the terminal to catch the ferry to Campobello.

This ferry is privately owned and operates for a very reasonable fee.  For two people plus the car it was only $24.00;  again the ride was about 20 minutes long.

We sailed past the town of Eastport, Maine and although we had our passports with us in case we felt inclined to enter the U.S., we decided it was just easier to stay on the Canadian side.

We headed for FDR's cottage, which is an international historic site, funded and maintained by both the Canadian and U.S. governments.

Technically, Campobello is in New Brunswick, Canada but it's so close to Maine that many Americans have summer homes there.  (Spectacular summer homes, I might add.)  It's a beautiful island and no wonder Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose to vacation here...in the humble cottage pictured below (18 rooms, 6 bedrooms, plus servants quarters on the third floor).

 Here's the view from the back porch.

 You can walk down to a lovely beach.

This is from the beach looking towards the house. I could picture Eleanor Roosevelt making this trek daily with her kids.

 Next door to the Roosevelt's is a cottage owned by their friends which is also part of this historic site.  (Have you visited here, Linda?)

 It's unbelievable.

 So much carved wood - chestnut, oak and maple.

It's an actual gingerbread house.

 The picture window in the dining room was custom made in England;  it's like capturing a piece of real life to hang on your wall, as the bay ebbs and flows and sailboats breeze past in the animated scene.  I was awestruck.

The upstairs was closed off to visitors but we were told it is used for conferences of Rhodes Scholars, politicians, etc.

 Imagine being under this covered verandah during a rain storm.

We went out the Friar's Bay Road where there is another lighthouse...

 ...and the FDR bridge which crosses to Lubec, Maine.

 At this point it was time for a feed of lobster :)

 This is East Quoddy Head Light Station.  It's a steep climb up to the lighthouse at low tide only.

We retraced our steps and took the ferry back to Deer Island.

 From Deer Island, we crossed back to the mainland.

Our souvenirs were plain and simple:  tons of pictures of all the beauty we saw, sardines from Black's Harbour for the kitties...

...and Grand Manan dulce for us!

 As it turns out...Polly preferred the dulce over the sardines - she won't leave it alone!!!

More Trippin'

Our Bay of Fundy adventure took us to Black's Harbour where we caught the ferry to Grand Manan.

The very pleasant crossing took about an hour and a half.  There was wi-fi on the ferry, but we spent our time on the top deck enjoying the spectacular scenery (and taking way too many pictures!)

The Bay of Fundy is dotted with lots of small rocky islands, each with a lighthouse.  

Needless to say, we saw a great many lighthouses.  This one below was the same design as Cape d'Or.  We saw lots this same utilitarian style around the Bay.

We drove to the very tip of the island to see this light station. It reminded us of our visit to Cape Forshu a couple of years ago.

The island certainly had its charm. Our printed map showed what we thought to be a town named Flock of Sheep.  As we approached, this was painted on the road.  Stopping to follow the arrow, it took us on a path to a look-off on the side of a cliff.  We believe the flock of sheep refers to a group of rocks in the bay, but it was too foggy to see them.

This is a gate to a tea room we passed.  I love it!  Now I want a gate...

The big draw for me was to see Dark Harbour as this is where the world's best dulce is harvested.  I am a big dulce lover!

Here are nets stretched over stones where the dulce is spread to dry.  (At home we always did it on sheets on the lawn.)

We enjoyed our stay on the island very much.  The ferry took us back to the mainland and we continued on the next leg of our Bay of Fundy cruise *-)