Lots of gardening

Regular readers of our blog know that we have lots of gardens, and that means there's lots to be done in the spring to get the gardens back in shape.

Fortunately, our friends, Monica and Karen, came to give us a hand and spent the whole sunny Saturday with us.

Monica tried out our new hand clippers on the grass around the water lily pond.





Karen was weeding around the yarrow and Russian blue sage and peonies.


















In the meantime, Bill had gotten the ground in the vegetable garden ready for planting and was digging holes for the tomatoes and peppers.

We also planted onion sets, basil plants, spinach and four kinds of squash seeds.









These iris used to be around the house, but they don't seem to mind having been moved.

Take Down

Today was the last day of the Peeps' Night and Day exhibit at the Wayne County Council for the Arts in Newark.  (Hope you were able to see it!)

Bill and Mary were on hand to remove each quilt from the wall.











Mary and I rolled each quilt on a "pool noodle" and covered it with a piece of cloth.

















Then the roll was wrapped in plastic and tied to help keep the quilt clean and wrinkle free.

Mouse hunting

We have a pergola in our gardens completely covered by an autumn clematis.  It is a nice shaded spot with a nice view of several of our developed areas.

















Our feral cat, Millie, spotted a mouse nest and moving targets in the brush ceiling. 

She went up a post to see if they were a possible treat.
















She achieved her upper-reaches goal and pondered how to get around the beam which separated her from the tasty meal.












A real dilemma presented, and Marcia approached to offer assistance and/or advice -- and our friend wanted neither.  Marcia went to the barn and brought back a step-ladder to climb to the rescue.  

Millie refuses any human touch and took a flying leap through the foliage and scampered away -- free again!

Baby shower

Zac (Bill's nephew) and Sarah are expecting a baby and were home from Montreal for a family baby shower.  Doreen and Jim hosted the party on their lovely pergola-covered deck.














Zac's sister, Jennifer, made this wonderful baby quilt.
















I'm sorry I got Jen's back in this picture,  but I wanted to capture Dylan's bubble machine and all the colored bubbles he was making. 

Sewing Day

Jeanne, her friend Ann from Toronto, and Bev were at the studio for a bit of sewing time.












Ann whipped up this cute bag, which could be used as a purse or a small tote for knitting supplies.  



















When Nancy was at the studio a few days ago, she showed us two quilts that she finished recently.  The first one is a baby quilt that incorporates some hand-dyed red fabrics.















And Nancy made this quilt for her bed from some Kaffe Fassett fabrics that she won at a raffle.

Clifton Springs

Our visit to Clifton Springs last week included a walk on the grounds of the Clifton Springs Hospital.  The walking paths include a tour of the healing garden, herb garden, flower gardens, gazebos and swans.













Bev checked out the Peace Labyrinth, which unlike traditional labyrinths, offers an exit directly from the center.














The sulphur brook is usually a small slow stream, but is really full now from all the recent rain and flooding in our area.










This mother duck was not happy that we were getting so close to her family, but the water was too fast for her to consider as an alternative route.

A visit to Priscilla

I stopped in to visit Priscilla yesterday.  It was a lovely spring day, so we checked out her new patio area.













Her new home includes a large back yard.














She's pretty well settled in and has much of her mask collection installed on display in her office area.












Priscilla said that she'll soon be incorporating these two superior molas into a new blouse or jacket.

Quilts across Cortland

The YWCA of Cortland presented their "Quilts Across Cortland 2014" show on May 17 and May 18.

I was pleased that they selected several of my quilts for a special exhibit. 

Here are members of the committee hard at work during the set-up, organizing some of my smaller quilts to fit on the drapes.

Meeting day trip

Since we were in Phelps for the quilt show, we also stopped to visit the Phelps Art Center, located in a beautiful old church.
















Currently on view are fascinating pieces in the Toothpick World exhibit created by Stan Munro, the "Toothpick Engineer."














Then we visited the Main Street Arts gallery in Clifton Springs.  Currently on display on the main floor is their first juried exhibit, Flora.

There were more exhibits on the second floor, including this display of competition pieces done by area students.

Peeps meeting day

The members of the Art Quilt People decided to forego their usual meeting and spend the day on the road instead.


The first stop was to visit the quilt show sponsored by the Lake-to-Lake Quilt Club held in the Phelps Community Center.





Nancy and Linda












Jeanne and Bev













And one of our agendas at the show was to check in on Pat, who had a vendor booth with her wonderful hand-dyed and printed fabrics.  We caught her taking a little break at lunch time.

My Night and Day Quilts

I had a request to show the full pictures of the two quilts I made for the exhibit.  You can still see them in person until the end of the month at the Wayne County Council for the Arts in Newark, NY.


Daybreak   (66h X 57w)











Red Twilight  (65h X 58w)

Night and Day Opening

 



My friends and I in the Peeps group (The Art Quilt People) hosted the opening of our Night and Day exhibit at the Wayne County Council for the Arts in Newark, NY.











For the "gallery talk," each artist spoke about the pieces she created for the exhibit -- the inspirations for the works and the materials and processes that were used.

This is Anne Anderson, talking about her piece, Explosion.

This is Pat Pauly and her pieces on the left, Dusk / Dawn.

My pieces are behind Pat -- Red Twilight and Daybreak.

Nancy Hicks talked about her pieces, Soweto, South Africa - Then and Now.














This is Mary Wieser, talking about her piece, Hostage of the Night.

Behind Mary are the two pieces done by Linda Bachman, Light of Day and Calm of Night.











Our wonderful spread of "goodies" furnished by the Peeps and the Arts Council featured a nice variety of snacks, which were very popular and well received.

Here some of our visitors pay rapt attention as another presentation was being made.

GVQC meeting

The program for the May meeting of the Genesee Valley Quilt Club featured a presentation by Karen Eckmeier, who is well known for her top-stitched piecing techniques.  Karen also offered her workshops for Happy Villages and Accidental Landscapes.











This is Karen's Scrappy Layered Log Cabin quilt.