IN MY CADILLAC
of Dollarddes-ormeaux, Que., perfectly captured the sleek lines of this 1964 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. “I took this pic at a classic car show held every August in nearby Beaconsfield, Que.,” says Maryse.
MARJORIE CRIPPS Born in Saskatchewan, Marjorie has spent most of her adult life in Ontario with family nearby, including her grandchildren. After retiring as a school librarian, Marjorie turned to writing and quilting as pastimes. Her two grandchildren inspired her to write children’s stories—although those grandchildren are now teenagers! Marjorie is grateful for the support of her local writing circle. She says she wanted to share this story in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday and hopes Canadians of all ages will enjoy it.
over the rushing Fraser River. He touched the square again and the quilt dropped to skim the surface of the water. A salmon jumped onto the quilt and then flopped back into the water.
Amanda touched a purple mountain square and they found themselves flying over the Rocky Mountains. “Mountain sheep sure can climb,” laughed Amanda, “I can’t believe they don’t fall off!”
The children kept touching squares of different pictures and being whisked off to new locales: A dinosaur square led to soaring over the barren Badlands of Alberta, while a wheat sheaf had the magic quilt circling over the bright yellow fields of canola and golden wheat in the Prairies. When Mitchell touched the picture of a polar bear the quilt sped north to the icy waters of Hudson Bay, where the treeless tundra stretched as far as the eye could see. “Look at all the polar bears!” shouted Amanda. “They look so cuddly!”
Touching a picture of a tent and campfire took them to Algonquin Park; a waterfall led to Niagara Falls; and the Parliament Buildings brought them to Ottawa, where the quilt dropped low enough for them to salute a Mountie.
The journey continued with squares featuring a loaf of bread, a basket of blueberries and an apple, leading to visits to Quebec City, where Mitchell grabbed a fresh baguette from a busy market, the Saint John River Valley, where they nose-dived into a blueberry patch and grabbed a handful of berries and the apple orchards in the Annapolis Valley, where Mitchell snagged a couple of crunchy apples from the trees they skimmed over.
Squares featuring a picture of rocks brought them to the Bay of Fundy; a lobster to the seashore in Nova Scotia; a little red-haired girl to the Anne of Green Gables house in Prince Edward Island; and a lighthouse to the Cape Breton Trail.
After a square featuring a puffin had the quilt soaring over an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean, Mitchell and Amanda decided they were hungry and ready to go home.
Searching the quilt, they spotted a square with a house on it. Tapping it, the words “home sweet home” appeared and in a flash, the quilt propelled them to their very own backyard. A pitcher of lemonade was waiting on the picnic table and Gram came out carrying a cake. “What’s this on the quilt? A blueberry stain? An apple core? Are these breadcrumbs? And is that a lobster clinging to the edge? Where have you two been?” Gram asked with a grin. Mitchell and Amanda smiled at each other, but all they would say was, “Gram, it’s been a real adventure!”