Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Visiting a Quilt Store in Cape Breton

Anne (right) and I throwing autumn leaves
What a colourful day we had finding Anne Morrell Robinson's Quilts and Fiber Art Store on Cape Breton Island. http://www.kingrossquilts.com/ I was told by a friend, before I left home in BC, that it would be a road trip into see Anne's Store but that it was well worth it. Isn't 'word of mouth' from quilters wonderful. Without the quilter's recommendation, would I have ventured so far a field to find this little gem of a store in the highlands of Cape Breton? On our map, Kingross, the region the store is located in, looks to be the end of the road into the Margaree Valley but our drive was well worth it. Click here for more information about the area.
I called stop at this stretch of the road. Can you see that each tree lined up along the side of the road was a different colour?
The drive in the Margaree Valley of Cape Breton had some of the most colourful autumn scenery we encountered on our visit to the Maritimes.
This photo was taken twice as the colourful maples grabbed my attention both driving into the store and on the way out.
It felt like we were going through a tunnel of yellow and orange just before turning into Anne's driveway.
Anne designed this quilt for a block of the month challenge for her quilt group. It will be made into a veteran's quilt for donation. When I said I always have trouble drawing maple leaves, Anne replied "I just ran out and picked up a maple leaf to draw from. I like that it is so representational of the area.
 
Visiting Anne (on the right) in her shop was that a treat. Not only were there quilts she had designed and created herself but I was surprised to find she had many other talents from creating original pieces of textile clothing, to felting brooches, to hooking traditional rugs with strips of wool fabric, to fabricating dolls.
 
Look for more photos of quilt shop visits, waterccolour sketches, and colourful landscapes of the Maritimes in upcoming posts. Thanks for stopping by.
 

4 comments:

Win Dinn, Artist said...

What a fabulous post, Eileen, and the colour!!! I can see it was a real treat to visit there and bask in all that lovely autumn colour, to say nothing of the creativity!

HollyM said...

Wonderful pictures! I know the Margaree Valley. I drove through it a lot on my way back to my teaching job in Pleasant Bay. I also taught in Mabou which is not far. Once after a snow storm in the valley I went off the road, probably along one of those picturesque curves. There was enough snow for a soft landing and I got towed out and continued on my way.
It looks like a wonderful shop. Rug hooking was really a big part of the fiber community when I was there. Lots of talented artists and crafts people. It must have been such fun.

Laura Leeder said...

Fabulous photos Eileen! Always a treat to meet new artisans and be inspired by their creativity.

Watercolour and Textile Artist, Eileen Gidman said...

Holly that is interesting to hear you write about the places we saw. I would love to do an artist residency in that area. Lots of places I would love to paint.