QUADRA ISLAND QUILT AND GARDEN TOUR

I was on my way to participating in Quadra's Quilt and Garden tour, an amazing event held every two years. You see, Quadra is the home of some truly amazing quilters and many truly keen gardeners. Saturday and Sunday saw the marriage of both and invited the public to share in this scene. Happily the weather cooperated! Twelve gardens were featured, and of those, six included quilts. As guild members, we acted a hosts. "My" garden was at the home of Chris and Margaret Rose (such an appropriate name for avid gardeners!), a lovely property on Quadra's south side. Chris, a professional artist (soapstone sculpture), also opened his lovely gallery that day and allowed us to include quilts there. Sadly, my camera batteries were on their last little bit of ooomph ( after the tour I was heading to town to buy some new ones, but little good that did me then!) so I was only able to shoot 4 photos....only 4 photos! All of the photos here are from the Rose garden, but my mind holds other lovely images of a living roof, fabulous ponds, lasagna (layered) gardening, unique scarecrows, bonsai trees and of course exquisite quilts blowing in the wind, adding color and grace to already glorious settings! And of course I can't forget the garden that featured 40 of our little journal quilts. It was a fantastic event and I dare say you better not miss it in 2012. Or better yet, be on the lookout for other local garden tours and take one in! You won't regret it!

Carol Perry's iris graced the Rose's entrance.

Barb Round's seagull hangs next to a traditional mask.Kate White's quilt became the backdrop for the vegetable garden.

  Kate White's quilt was the backdrop for the vegetable garden.

SPROUTING SEEDS

Seed and plant images are often times associated with the promise of growth, life and new beginnings. This sprouting seed image, taken from a Cretan seal over 4,000 years old, certainly indicates new growth and beginnings for me. Now back at Refuge Cove for two weeks, I am daily reminded of summer's new life. The weeds have abundantly taken over my garden, and slowly I remove them and give them their own new life in my burn pit. My old crooked and toppling fence that protects my garden from deer has just been taken out and is being replaced with a new, straight and secure fencing system. My boxes are full of small lettuce plants, waiting to be thinned and cared for. Old friends are being reunited after a long winter, for another summer of activity. The potlucks are starting and for once the wild salmon are seeming to be standard fare. Perhaps this is a positive sign!

I hustled and hurried to get my summer sewing work completed while in Mexico. I knew my spring would be swallowed up with waiting for Canadian immigration to do it's thing (our issues aren't over yet). But now, for the first time, I am free and able to pursue my OWN work, without the thought of production or sales or inventory or the like. So, off to try something NEW...

Colour: A Workshop for Artists and Designers by David Hornung has been sitting on my shelf for a year now, waiting for a moment such as now to get into it and see what evolves. I was attracted to this book initially because it was referenced in Nancy Crow's website, and I certainly love her color work. So assignment one titled Chromatic Gray Studies, set me off to dyeing a set of monochromatic swatches, all with a heavy dose of black to hopefully move them towards the gray side. Perhaps there's not as much gray as I'd like, but I'm more than happy with the results and know I'm going to have lots of fun with these.

For now, slowly getting into my summer pace of gardening and creating and renewing friendships, I feel a bit like the sprouting seed. With trust and patience, I know my harvest will be abundant.

BACK AT IT

Sometimes my life feels like when you're in the middle of a good read and somehow you lose the book, or have an emergency occur that pulls you from the book, and when you do return or find it, you wonder "what was happening here?" or "what was this all about?". I'm feeling very rusty after a 2 month transition from Mazatlan to Refuge Cove.
So I set up my machine to look at it and remember how it feels to have it around again. It feels like an old friend.
Then I thought I'd look at my blog, reaquaint myself here...