Saturday 27 July 2013

Summer Road Trip!

Hubby and I just got back from a 12 day road trip, new camper in tow. We drove from our home in southwestern Quebec through eastern and central Ontario to cottage country. We visited family, camped, hiked, cruised, duck and rabbit watched and discovered several terrific little quilt shops. It seems Ontarians (or is it Ontarioites?) are big on quilting! A happy discovery!

Heading west on the 401 our first stop was Presqu'ile Provincial Park,
right on Lake Ontario and 5 minutes from Brighton, Ontario.
Lake Ontario from Presqu'ile Provincial Park

Nice campground, beautiful scenery, and lo and behold, The Robbins Nest, a great little quilt store. And there I was in need of purple fabric. Coincidence? It really was. Not sure DH was buying it.
This shop is also participating in the annual 401 quilt run October 1 - 31st, hmmm. Another road trip? Who knows?

I found a few fat quarters of purple fabric that are perfect for my quilt guild summer challenge:


Next stop, Indian Lake Campground in Brampton, billed as the closest campground to downtown TO. It was close for sure and not exactly wilderness but it was very neat and clean. After cocktails with family, including Don the cat (who loved his new cat quilt) we had a wonderful dinner at the Mandarin Buffet (Oh boy, what a spread!) Then we relaxed and had a laugh or two at a local pub. We were even chauffeured to and from the campsite. How nice!
 

                                                    Don, the cat trying out his new cat quilt!

The next day we were off to Owen Sound to visit and do some camping with children (2 out of 5) and grandchildren (2 out of 5) I like to keep things even, LOL. And,  of course Molly, the cat! Musn't forget Molly!


 

What a fabulous area. Every time we went out we "bumped into" a quilt store.
Now don't get me wrong we saw some amazing scenery too.
Owen Sound is a beautiful town and the Bruce Peninsula is stunning.

                                         Rising of the Moon - Owen Sound

Flower Pot Island - Georgian Bay

And then there were the fabric shops!

First stop: The Fabric Center, a friendly shop in Owen Sound where I indulged my love of cat novelty fabric. After all,  I do use a lot making cat quilts for www.etsy.com/shop/pieceandtranquilty :


Next stop Wiarton, Ontario, home of Wiarton Willie, our country's famous groundhog! We went on a 3K hike in Wiarton, not my usual form of activity but very rewarding to see the ruins of a stone house, an incredible view from the lookout and an interesting local legend.



But best of all in Wiarton: Mothers Fabric, where I made another addition to my fabric stash. A bit more purple and another cat print:



Another day, off to Lion's Head for an afternoon at the beach and a stop at Greig's Fabric, a cute quilt shop and another purchase:


Back in Owen Sound the local Fabricland was a good source of fabric and supplies for a budding quilter. And I couldn't resist just a couple more pieces to add to my collection. Well everything still fit into the car at least!


We were reluctant to pack up and go before at least one more quilting session which resulted in a beautiful first quilting effort by my daughter! Isn't that a great start?
The weather cooperated on the way home so we took a little side trip to Saranac Lake, New York.
It's nice to be retired and able to do things spur of the moment. 
 Camp fire in Buck Pond State Park. You can almost here the crackle!

And what did we find there?......You guessed it, another quilt shop. Brand new, Piece by Piece Studio and Quilt Shop opened on July 1st this year. How lucky was that? And they had some nice prints and a great polka dot extra wide quilt back fabric on sale for 5.25/yard. Well I couldn't leave that behind now could I? I'll take 3 yards please!

Oops, I forgot the ducks and rabbits! We saw plenty of those as well. Even some that swam right up to us.

Ducks at Lion's Head
Canada Geese at Indian Lake Campground
 
Feeding the ducks at the beach - Lion's Head

Backyard rabbits in Owen Sound
 
We had a wonderful trip! It was great getting together with family we don't get to see very often and to share the quilting bug with them too! I sure hope it's catching!

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