Mistake

It has been very hot here on the farm. Everything is still growing, but we are in need of rain and it does not look like that will happen in the near future. In March we had a very warm period and the roses started to wake up. Then when a severe frost came, the tender buds all froze of. I was sure my roses were goners, but to my purprise and delight, they all came back and have bloomed like never before. These roses were here, when we moved, so I have no idea what the names are, but I enjoy them and they do well, despite my lack of care. The flowerbeds also are looking good. On Wednesday I went with a friend to a few plant nurseries ( just as if I needed more plants). After a short visit to Evelyn we had our baby fix and the next stop was Wild Things near Mount Forest. As the name suggest, there are a lot of native plants there and it was very hard to choose. I was after some short perenials for the front of the flowerbed, but came home with larger ones. The next stop was Riverbend Nurseries. I have known Shirley and Allen for almost 40 years. I knew they had started a garden center, but had never made it there. And it was fantastic. Shirley took us on a tour through there gardens. They specialize in hosta's and have a very large variety around the property. And yes, I came home with more plants, still not the very small ones I was looking for. Most are still in the garage. I think that it is a little on the wamt side to plant them . They are fine, where they are for now. Next up is a load of 10 yards of mulch. I should be able to do that with my trusty tractor and new loader, but we will wait till things cool of a little I'm working on a new quilt. I have most of the designs done and I'm planning to applique one block a month. That way it should not take more than 11/2 year for the top. One of the blocks has apple blossoms and I have not been able to find the right fabrics. I did find an article in one of the Fabric Arts magazines, where it shows how you can dye fabric with ice cubes and a small amount of dye. This is my first try. Next week I will show the results. The first trial is on the line, drying, and I noticed, that I used too much dye, so tomorrow we will have another go at it. My applique block for June was finished 2 weeks ago and that gave me just enough time to work on the baby quilt I was asked to make for Jenny and Tony. The fabric and pattern she bought in Hawaii and now it was up to me to make it. And yes, can you find the mistake? It was all going so well, till I noticed that something did not look right and then it became very obvious. By tomorrow I should be finished with the blocks, right in time for me to applique again. I'm able to things again, but I realize, that things will go slower and as soon as there is some pain, I will have to take a break.

Another try

My friend Tamara was here on Wednesday and she helped me with all the new things on Blogger. Now I hope that it will work. At least the pictures showed up. Meet our first grandchild, Evelyn Mae Helmuth, born May 15th and doing great. She is our first grandchild and we enjoy being with her. I went over this morning to see if I could be of some help and took this picture of her. It seems that every time I see her, she has changed. Jenny made the blanket for her out of odds and ends of Koigu yarn. Emily liked it so much, that she is in the process of learning how to crochet. Below you see the quilt I made for Evelyn. Now I have to be honest, I started it, but a friend finished it for me. The multi colored fabric has small elephants on it and comes from Africa. The other fabrics I found at Greenwood Quiltery in Guelph. The time I was working on this quilt, my shoulders were still bad and I was scared, that it would not get done in time. Carol to the rescue. First of all she did the piecing. Than she phoned and wondered if I would mind if she did the (HAND) quilting. And she does a wonderful job. All that was left for me to do was the binding. It is not a fancy quilt, but it will be used and that is the main thing. Right now I'm working on another baby quilt, since Jenny is expecting in October. Next time pictures of that one.

A lot has happened since I blogged on a regular basis and over time I will tell about it. I think that this has already been one of the most eventful years of my life, both good and not so good.

After months of physio therapy I'm on my own. I still have some pain and will have to keep on doing excercises, but up to now I can manage.But it all takes more time.

One more update. At the end of May Jeanette, a good friend from our guild and I went to

Halifax, Nova Scotia. And there was a reason. This years Quilt Canada was there. I had decided not to go and had not put in proposals to teach. But finally I did end up going. Why you might wonder.

I received the 2012 Canadian Quilt Teacher of the Year Award!

It was an honor to receive this award.

I received a beautiful silver, engraved seam ripper and a certificate. Now I hope, that I'm worthy of the honor.

I have not done much teaching since the beginning of the year, but that will change after the summer. I even have some ideas for new workshops.

Here you see Jeanette and me out at Peggy's Cove. It was a cool and blustery day, but that also meant, that there were not too many people around. We had a wonderful time at Jeanette's sister's Marjorie's place. She was a great hostess and tour guide. The time was too short there.