Hi, my name is Patti and I would like to thank you for coming to see my homepage. I like to think of this as an emporium because I am hoping that I have something here that may be of interest to everyone. I have tried to cover a wide variety of my interests so as to appeal to as many people as possible, both male and female. Make yourself at home, grab yourself something to drink, pull up a comfy chair, and hopefully, enjoy.

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this site, so please bookmark this one so that you may return easily***

I was born in Little Current,on Manitoulin Island and have lived in various parts of Northern Ontario throughout my 49 years. I have one big brother,Brian, and one sister, Mona. My son, David was born in 1970. Unfortunately my parents are no longer around to enjoy the next generations.

I am a retired bus driver with a lot of time on my hands for the various things that I enjoy even though I may not always have the energy for them. My arthritis severely limits my enjoyment of a lot of the crafts I enjoy, and sports that I was an avid participant in. These include my grandchildren, sewing, quilting, penguin collecting and shooting sports.

Nana's Emporium

My grandson Dominique is 10 years old and he created the house for Nana's Emporium on the computer just for me. Now that I have turned it into a .gif file I have moved it in here. The look on his face when he saw it was priceless. Of course, with grandchildren, priceless moments happen when there isn't a camera handy. I have a beautiful redheaded granddaughter, Kaitlyn, who was born 17 Sept 1997. I also have a new grandson, Nathan who was born on 6 Mar 2002.

Dominique has always been an inspiration to sew for, as he treasures everything that I make him. When he is told that I want to make a new outfit for him, he stands with his arms spread so that he can be remeasured for fit. I have always had a preference for sewing for boys, but now that Kaitlyn has arrived I have found that I'm still capable of making fancy little dresses. Dominique already has a collection of uniquely designed clothes, four quilts(two of them with dinosaurs), and a five foot long 'bearskin rug' that was resurrected from an old brown pile bathrobe. His newest treasure is a 30" tall frog that I had to make him after he expressed an interest in one that he saw on display last summer. He told me that I could do a better job. I couldn't let that one slide unchallenged. I even made them matching outfits. I guess I'll have to start looking for some lighter coloured fabric now that I have Kaitlyn to sew for. I've made her a beautiful two-piece christening outfit, and then made her the tiniest jean jacket imaginable. No stereo-typing here...

I'm not married anymore, but a special friend of mine is also a treat to sew for. He is a Rock Hound and is into Geological Engineering. Needless to say, he's the outdoorsy type. A while back I constructed a below-the-hip length vest for him with a multitude of pockets on it, including a built-in backpack with its own outer pocket. All four front pockets also had smaller pockets attached to them. He can almost get away with not having to take a suitcase when he has to go anywhere. It even has a fanny pocket across the lower back to put his rainsuit in. The sides are fully adjustable so that it can be worn over a jacket, or a snowsuit(we have cold winters up here), or just a shirt. I also constructed a full length coat based on the design of one of the 'Outback' coats. Then I outline-stitched a picture of an eagle on the back of the cape. I thought it would be a subtle addition to it, but it really stands out. Redheads really have a hard time doing anything subtle. On me the coat just cleared my ankles, and made me look like a homeless orphan. It looks much better on him as he is a foot taller than I am.

Quilting is my main passion when it comes to crafts.. I have been a member of the Sudbury & District Quilting and Stitchery Guild for about ten years now. So far, I have finished seventy-two quilts, but won't admit to how many UFOs(UnFinishedObjects) that I have on the go. My niece, Joanne, and my nephew, Jason, are also willing recipients of the things that I've made. They also have a collection of unusual goodies that I have made for them.

I tend to lean towards the traditional side of quilting, but have developed a distinct affection for Amish patterns and colours. At a recent showing of"Quilts on The Rocks" at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, a friend of mine asked me which ones were mine. I just told her that the easiest way was to look for all the ones that had black in them, only one wasn't mine.

Some of my favourite quilts that I have made include 'A Little Bit of Fantasy' which is a stained-glass picture of a unicorn that I made for #1 niece. 'Bearly Airborne' is a stained-glass picture of Paddington Bear in a hot-air balloon floating off over the country side that I made for #1 nephew. 'Dinosaur Land' was made for Dominique and I used scraps left over from clothes that I made him in it. It also has a couple of little extras on it like the 3-D buggy eyes on the biggest dino, and prairie point spikes that run down his spine. 'Togetherness' is a pair of black swans that I appliqued onto an Amish medallion quilt top that I had made. I have also made a Double Irish Chain quilt that took approximately 1400 hours to finish. There are over two thousand 1-1/4" squares in it, and it's all done by hand. They are mine and will stay that way. Dominique has also helped me with the designing of one of my quilts. When he saw all the colourful pieces of material that I had cut out, he was right in there laying pieces out on the floor to form the pattern for what ended up being a 'Trip Around The World' quilt. This one was made with brick-shaped pieces instead of squares though.

Cross stitch is another craft that I enjoy doing, especially pictures of wildlife. Some of the nicest ones include a wolf called 'The Watcher' that I made for a friend of mine, and a picture of a pair of black-footed ferrets. I made my son a picture of a bald eagle perched on a mountain-top. These ones I even framed myself. I also did a picture of a baby eagle with its mouth open on the front of a sweatshirt and gave it to David too. Kind of reminded me of him(mouth open!!) Right now I am working on a picture of a pair of African Wild Dogs and finishing up a baby sampler for Kaitlyn.

I have also done quite a bit of needlepoint. One of the first pieces that I made was a brick doorstop that was decorated to look like a school bus. I also did a picture of a sugar maple farm that I gave to my brother. After those, I got into doing miniatures. The first miniature rug is 7-1/2x4-3/4 and has over 11.000 stitches. The second one was a little smaller, anout 5"x 4", not quite as much work!! I also did a couple of petit-point seat cushions done on 40 sts to the inch canvas. A person could go buggy-eyed doing those.

Penguin collecting is something else that I thoroughly enjoy, some of the ones that I have are made of crystal, some are ornaments, one is sponge, some are stuffed. I even have a penguin screen saver. Some of them have been given to me by special friends. All are cherished.

Another passion that I had an interest in is cross-country skiing. I call it a passion, as one winter alone(1986-87), I set the club record at 2011kms. This was done in a three month period, as March of that year was mild and the trails were treacherous. It was nothing to go out and do 40 to 50 km. a day. It seemed that the more you did, the more you wanted to do. The more energy you exert, the more energy you have. It was also a productive way to wear off pent-up frustration when things weren't going well. Maybe it was just the fact that by the time you finished skiing that far, you didn't have the energy left to worry too much. Unfortunately, arthritis doesn't let me do this anymore.

I am also actively involved with one of the local handgun clubs and have a fondness for shooting sports. The club has about 110 members, of which only six of us are females. I hold the position of secretary, but the men are the first to admit that it's not a gender thing. I think it's just because of the fact that I can type with more than one finger. They don't argue with me though as they know I can shoot straight. Before my arthritis got the better of me and limited my mobility, I was actively involved in a shooting discipline called IPSC. I took the award for Top Female Shooter for Northern Ontario two years in a row, but shaky legs now make me feel not safe to be running around with a loaded firearm. Now I just stick to what I enjoy doing most...Giving the Orders!! But honestly, they won't trade me in for a new model, of course, they won't vote me out either. I have made a lot of really nice friends through all the competing that I've done. I am also a member of the Ontario Handgun Association. The NFA and IPSC Ont are some other interesting spots to visit.

In the last three years I have sure progressed on what I have learned to do on the computer. Especially considering that I have never had any training on them. Experience has been an excellent teacher, also a very frustrating one at times. Then to really add to the frustration, one day I decided that I would have to see if I could build one for myself. Now that was being a real sucker for punishment! That was the spring of 2000 and so far it hasn't blown up on me so I guess a little patience does pay off.

Now when the grandkids come over to visit they are both very avid at playing on the computer. And if by chance I have to open the tower up, little miss Kaitlyn is right in there to offer assistance or hold a flashlight. I am sure she is taking technical lessons and filing them away for one day when she has a chance to get inside a tower on her own!!!


For your viewing enjoyment, and to make viewing easier, I have
divided my photos into different categories.



This button will take you to all my links to other pages. These include
the quilting guild I belong to, some special people I know, and all
my super cyber friends and some fun easy reading.








This guestbook doesn't let you leave images in it, but the next one does!!!

Anyone that wants to sign my guestbook with a link to an image can do it here!!!