Jul 9, 2018

Anne of Green Gables book club

I hosted book club at my house way back in January.
The book we read for the month was "Anne of Green Gables".
Both of my parents are from Prince Edward Island, and their forefathers before them :)
I could say that I had been waiting my whole life to host bookclub for my friends, for Anne of Green Gables!
I sent them all personal, handwritten invitations which read:

Dearest Emily,
On the very occasion of our most beloved book club, I, Anne-with-an-E, cordially invite thee to a most exquisite evening, hosted by Cynthia at "Green Gables".
Delicious "island" food will be served.
Please attend, lest your life become 
"a perfect graveyard of buried hope."
Your kindred spirit,
Anne Shirley Cuthbert

Well, everyone attended my book club that night, lol!
I made raspberry cordial and in true "Anne" fashion, I ruined it!!!
The recipe called for 1 cup of sugar and 4 cups of water.
I measured the opposite!
The raspberry cordial was like syrup, but everyone was too polite to say anything :)
It sure looks good though, doesn't it?


I had so much fun decorating the dining room table!
I used my civil war reproduction quilt to cover the table.
I had a vintage suitcase (like Anne's) which I partially covered with a crocheted cloth.
I set my tea set on top of it, and used a lot of silk wildflowers to add color.
I have some first edition Anne books which I displayed, 
my mother's painting of a lighthouse on the shores of the red island cliffs, and some "Anne" dolls.


 I even had rosebud dishes, thanks to a sweet friend of mine who lent them to me for this special occasion.
Remember the fateful story where Anne invited her best friend Diana over for tea?
She wanted to use the rosebud tea set, but Marilla told her no, she was only allowed to use the brown one!
Then Anne served Diana wine instead of Raspberry cordial, and got Diana drunk!!!
Anyway, I was able to serve my guests raspberry cordial in rosebud tea sets, and no one got drunk :)


I gave everyone a necklace to remember their evening.


 I dressed up as Anne, red braids, freckles and all!

 I served scotch shortbread cookies, butter tarts, cherry balls, carrot sticks, cucumber sandwiches and egg salad sandwiches, and raspberries.




Lori dressed up as Anne too :)


Fun was had by all, and I fulfilled my dream of hosting an 
Anne of Green Gables book club :)


Jul 2, 2018

Appleicious, Quilt Fun!

I have loved this quilt since the day I saw it in Lori Holt's first book, "Quilty Fun".
I made this quilt a year and a half ago, you can see the post here.
I love the simplistic look of the crosshatch machine quilting.
I think that it's a really great modern look.
I'm going to hang this quilt up in the fall, even though I don't think there is a fall season in Arizona!
I'll just have to think back to my years growing up in Canada.


I love this quilt so much, that I have a board on Pinterest, devoted to this quilt!
I love the back!
Lori Holt's "modern minis" mason jars and at the bottom, I put of strip of her "bake sale" cookie recipe fabric.
When I see apples, I sometimes think of canning applesauce, hence the mason jars.
I also think of apple pie, hence the cookie recipe fabric :)
That's how my mind works, lol!


I didn't use a scrappy binding this time, because I thought there was enough scrappy going on.
I made one of the apple leaves aqua colored instead of green, just to add some interest :)