A rainy week meant some finished sewing projects
It was back to the Huntsville area this year for summer holidays at my brother and sister-in-law’s cottage.
Just like last year, Kathy and I brought our sewing machines to work on a few projects. With several varied projects to complete and a forecast of rainy days for the first week, we decided to bring the sewing indoors this year and moved all of our paraphernalia into the lower level walk-out basement.
The weather for the first week did consist of more rain than shine so we were glad we brought lots to play with.
Outdoor fun
My brother likes to explore lakes and rivers that he’s never been on and in the spirit of adventure we tackled the Magnetawan River between Burk’s Falls and the town of Magnetawan on one of our sunny days. This route was used for many years by steamers to transport people and goods through the area. Kathy, our motorboat driver, was a bit of a speed fiend at times and we greatly enjoyed zipping over the mirror-like waters.
When travelling at a more sedate pace we saw beaver, deer, herons, ducks and turtles. It’s a gorgeous river.
Baking
With more rain in the forecast, we planned on doing a lot of yeast-based baking and invited my childhood friend Ingrid who lives in the area. But before Ingrid stopped by I taught Kathy how to make cranberry almond buns in the style of cinnamon buns. She’s a quick study and had no problem turning out a baker’s dozen.
Conrad, Rob, Kathy and I also had no problem eating them.
Next, the three of us, including Ingrid, made Streusel Küchen together. This is something my Mom made frequently. I used yellow plums on mine and the girls used cherries. Here they are rising before the bake-off. That’s a lot of cake!
Kathy celebrated her birthday while we were away so I made her a special breakfast of French toast on Portuguese-style bread with blueberry sauce and warmed maple syrup.
Then we spent the day shopping in Huntsville to walk off the calories. It would have helped had we not stopped for Thai lunch and ice cream.
Visits
Ingrid invited us to her and husband Karl’s home on the next lake and there we furthered our weight gain by sampling Ingrid’s Peach Cake with vanilla sauce – delicious. I think I had gained 5lbs at that point of the holiday!
There was also still time to make the four-hour trip to visit the kids and grandkids who were visiting a camp between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie. I presented Ada with a cute dress I had recently made on my Triumph Serger. Besides finishing the seams with the serger, I used the ruffling foot to quickly make the ruffle and created a decorative red rolled hem on the lower edge of the ruffle. I’m new to serging and had a lot of fun learning those two techniques.
The dress is big enough to fit Ada for a few years don’t you think? The boots are a fun accessory too!
At the end of the trip, along with achieving unheard of weight gain, I had two finished quilt tops, one of which is a new pattern called Panel Play – One For All. This pattern (coming soon) is a setting for a standard vertical panel measuring 36 ½” x 43 ½”. Watch the newsletter for its release. Now I’d best start that diet!
Join our newsletter
Get our weekly newsletter and find out when the Panel Play: One For All pattern is released. When you join, you’ll also get a list of handy tips that will help you create a bag that’s perfect for you.
It all looks and sounds amazing, Brenda! While the baking looked delicious, I’m madly in love with Ada’s dress – beautiful work Grandma! Glad you enjoyed some much deserved time off!
Thanks Catherine! It was really fun making it. By the way, you are the winner of the August Show and Tell draw for your Around the Block button bag! You get a free pattern.