According to Nova Scotia's Archives of place names, the name Brighton may have come from the words "bright town". Located in Digby County on the east side of St. Mary's Bay on Nova Scotia's Scenic Evangeline Trail, prior to 1861 Brighton was known as Head of St. Mary's Bay.
While in Brighton you can shop in Quilts by the Bay, owned and operated by Debra Howard. She says she sold her first quilt to put her kids in hockey (how Canadian, eh?) and her home's garage is not used for cars, it is used to store her quilts, of course! Debra has had several quilts published in quilt magazines and says, "I recently won a contest for northcott fabrics. That quilt is now traveling around the world in their trade shows, I’ll receive it back with a diary of where it has appeared around the world."
After the shootings in Nova Scotia on April 18/19, Quilts by the Bay collected quilts for the Quilts for Nova Scotia drive. Debra Howard also created quilt kits, donating the material for 10 of them and preparing and selling 150 of these kits, that included a pattern supplied by Karen Schindler from Bialik in Lethbridge, Alberta, who has Nova Scotian roots.
If you are interested in Debra's quilts but cannot make it to Brighton just yet, you needn't worry as Quilts by the Bay now has an online shop as well!
Another shop to visit while in Brighton is Forgotten Memories Antiques and Collectibles. With a large lower level and two upstairs lofts, there is lots of space to move around. Keep up to date with their new vintage finds on their Facebook page!
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