Trip to Newfoundland

After all the work of the Salon, a well needed break came with our trip to Newfoundland. Timed, of course, around a quilt show - that of the CQA - in St John's. It was fun to be there, and see friends and check out what is being done in Canada. St John's is a visually delightful city with all the brightly painted houses. We also were able to watch the fog roll in over the harbour from our hotel.

We spent the next week touring around, and probably like most others, reined in our plans when we realized how big Nfld actually is! We had a lovely time staying at B&B's and exploring the the Avalon, Burin, and Bonavista peninsulas. We also made it up to Salvage and enjoyed the scenery there. We did lots of walking and were impressed with the trails - the Skerwink out of Port Rexton, the Sandy Cove hike, the Eastern Coast walk out of Quidy Vidi, and the walks around Salvage.

We chased icebergs by boat out of Bulls Bay, and saw the puffins, kittiwakes, and murres amonst others. No whales unfortunately - too early for the capelin we were told. And saw lots of other icebergs from various points along the way. Everywhere we went people were most friendly and helpful.

The scenery looking over the bogs and rocky landscape is stark on the one hand, but teeming with interesting plants on the other. My big regret is that we weren't there to see the fields of lupins in bloom or the masses of wild rhododendrums that looked to be a week away from blossoming. But we managed to see lady slippers on our Eastern Coast walk.

Challenges

The month of May has been incredibly full. Our Beaconsfield Guild had it's first formal show and for the challenge which was to produce something in the style of another artist, I made Barn with Yellow Roof. This was based on the style of paintings by Ton Schulten of the Netherlands. His canvasses are in the range of 10'x8' so fitting it into a perimeter of 100" was a challenge in itself!The subject is based on a photo that I took of a barn in the Stratford, ON, region last fall. The roof was an electric yellow, and with storm clouds over it, really stood out. And it won a second place ribbon!

Our Provincial Quilt show was two weeks later and I was looking after all the workshops. I am glad to report that it was a huge success - both with teachers and students. All of whom want to come back another time. And the show itself was fabulous - over 500 quilts showcasing talent from all over the province. As well as the main display there were sections showing an exchange between the Laurentian guild and a guild in France, an under 17 display, celebration of Quebec City's 400th anniversary, and lots of vendors. Please look out for Salon 2010! And check out our website at www.cqq.ca. And of course, to add to the pressure, my hard drive packed it in a week before the Salon. Thank goodness for backing up!

Now it's time for gardening and quilting! It's still cool, but even at the cottage the plants are getting ready to bloom. Lupins in both places are looking terrific this year. After seeing all the lupins in New Brunswick several years ago and taking copious pictures, I think that there must be a quilt in there somewhere!