Ohio Rose

Many years ago I purchased a vintage Ohio Rose quilt top. Mother was in need of a new bed spread so I decided, since she liked pink and green, this would do the trick. It wasn't quite big enough to be a bedspread so I added a green & pink print then a white border then hand quilted it. The quilt did the trick for many years, but the green stem/leaves faded and now no longer match the green/pink print border. And finally the inner pink hearts have suffered from age and the sun.

So, the quilt is now back at my place and I am removing those inner pink hearts and appliqueing a nice pink batik heart in their place. First batik heart done, only 59 more to go! I think they'll look good!

TTFN

Quilts from France

So my week off work is over :(. All in all is was a great week! I had a huge To Do list, and actually got through most of it - yeah. Including a trip to a local quilt festival, Quilts from France. Now that the show is over I can safely post some on my pics. Below is an interesting triptych.

I believe fabric strips were pulled through a muslin background and long threads layered over it creating an interesting waterfall effect. The first one was a lovely pastel, the centre was rather dark greens and blues and blacks, and the one on the right was a vibrant reds and pinks.



I rather expected to see several quilts with Boutis quilting, but I was disappointed. Below is the only work with this style.

There were several "traditional" quilts, all very well done. Unfortunately I can't provide attribution as I was too distracted in getting a good shot of the quilts I once again forgot to take a pic of the sign describing who did what - sorry!

 Of course I couldn't resist taking a pic of  this Hexie quilt ;)

 And then there was this wonder!!! I couldn't get far enough back to get the whole lovely!
Really like what she did in the centre.

 It seems the French guild which sent these quilts had an exchange with a guild in Japan. Their "challenge", I think, was to use some Japanese fabric (possibly old Kimono silk) and some french lace.

I really liked this one as I like the grey background (old kimonos I think), the straight line quilting. The hot air balloons were made of French lace.

The gold fish in the quilt on the right were very well done, and reminded me of our visit to a Japanese Tea Garden when we visited Japan many years ago.

Love the Cranes in this one, the fans and the Fairy (?) playing her flute.

And of course this quilt, also with musical notes, and flying Kimonos!


And finally, one with a Shinto gate. I really like the use of colours in the background, and the well placed stones reminiscent of a Shinto garden.

The Quilts from France show also had a challenge to use blue. Here is an eye catching example

The flowers here were lovely, I am partial to embroidery on quilts, especially well done ribbon embroidery! So here is a closeup.



And finally - this beauty !!!

Victoria Day - Garden time!

 

This was my front garden on Sat. morning. Mourning is a better word. My poor Weigelias at the front barely survived last winter - just like me! And to top it off, last winter was the first year  tented them - for protection! So, last week I gave them a good dousing of Miracle grow, and this weekend the nephew came over to help put my pation together (THANKS MARK!), so I had him tote a big bag of black earth and gave these poor babies some new dirt to live in.

We also moved the tower from the back yard to the front. Here's hoping these bushes recover this summer. Shall be babying them along! I moved the bird bath to the back - you know sometimes you just need a change! Those are decorative cement Mushrooms at the foot of the bath ...

My lavender from last year only half survived, so I lucked out and was able to purchase 2 small bunches to supplement last year's crop. Here's hoping it will be happier in its new location atop the bird bath, and produce some florets before the end of summer!

Last fall's garden work paid out and my White Irises are blooming! Last fall we (Mark and I, but mainly Mark) added some nice black earth and cedar chips. I guess this gave them the protection they needed.

My Caragana is in full bloom, and the bumble bees love it! While I sat and enjoyed the patio last night there were at least 5 buzzing around. What an extra bonus - I get a beautiful tree and the bees get much needed food.

Well, the wonders of the season never end, at last week's guild meeting I WON!!!! First I won a fat quarter - a rare, usually once a year event, then I won the door prize basket - an unheard of, never happened before event !! And indeed it was a basket, with a small cutting mat at the bottom, an "Elegant Quilts Country Charm" book, a charm pack, 4 fat quarters in matching solids, a tape measure, pack of flower head pins, a pair of snippers, a bobbin holder and a pack of Heat n Bond. Can't beat that eh!

WooHoo!!!

And last but not least of all the good things happening so far this month - I have this week off work - yeah - it's sunny and warm - yeah, and it's the Quilt Festival in Ailsa Criag this week = Quilts of France! Whoopee !!

I finished off the May Flowers door hanging for mother - finding the perfect scrap of blue for the binding ...

  TTFN

Pow!

Summer has arrived! Spring  is over ! Pow! It happened so fast I barely got a chance to enjoy Spring and now the heat and humidity are here :(.  The Forsythia has gone from brilliant yellow to green and both trees in the back have popped their leaves. The Bumble bees will soon make an appearance to get the nectar from the Caragana flowers. The nephew is coming over next weekend to help me put out the patio furniture just in time so I can sit outside and enjoy this season on my week off. YEAH! I am soooo looking forward to having some time away from work.

I've got some of my cooking mojo back and tried a new soup recipe last week - Russian cabbage roll soup. Verdict = YUMMMMMM. It made way more than I could eat in a week of lunches. I was afraid  it would not freeze well, so took some over to the nephew who also pronounced it Yummmmmy.

Still working on my May flowers wall/door hanging. Almost finished quilting the white background. Plan on doing some quilting in the borders, probably just follow the circles in the fabric. Hope to have enough done for Show-n-Tell @ guild this week.

TTFN