Our grass is growing and so are the dandelions right now- they are a bloody nuisance that I will be very happy to be rid of... Dandelions do have a pretty yellow flower - not as gorgeous as these yellow sunflowers that are currently residing on my table. My school children often like to bring in bundles of them from the school field. Perhaps I should bring them to my house as field trip and we can pick my backyard clean..
June is just around the corner and I am trying to keep up with things at home and school.. At present I feel just a little overwhelmed by it all..Good thing that I have some nice sunflowers to admire- they do make me smile...
Recently, I made a list of school things to do and then started to feel my blood pressure grow- I stopped to take a deep breath.... Does that ever happen to you- everything is happening at once and your not sure where to begin or what is the most important thing to get done first...
However, this weekend I tackled two kinds of reports that needed to be completed so that feels like progress...
This lovely collection of things come from a blogging friend's giveaway that I won last month. Terry of Aviya Glass sent me this gorgeous handmade pendant along with this collection of beading pieces ( two black hearts, a double glass heart pendant and some more toggles to bead with)It was a treasure trove of lovely things. Thank you ever so much Terry- you do beautiful work!
A couple of weekends ago I went to a quilt retreat and started working on this quilt. It is now a queen sized body (121 blocks worth) and I have the borders fabrics chosen. Ideally I would like to get it spray basted and quilted in the next couple of weeks but I am not too hopeful. I wish that I had magical powers to do it all, but right now the report cards have to come before my quilts..
The pattern of this quilt" Twisted Strips" is from Bonnie Hunter's website. She has a number of free patterns on her site. As well, she has published three books. Do check out quiltville if you are not familiar with her website- She has a great blog- hers was one of the first blogs I ever read. She spends a lot of her time these days traveling the United States, to share her talents and love of quilting with others.
You may remember me talking about making some baby wraps. Here are two that I have completed. The one above was given to one of my colleagues at work who had a beautiful little boy in late February. We had the baby shower last Thursday.
These two beauties are our niece Beth and her daughter Anni. They were here visiting a couple of weeks ago and I was able to see Anni all wrapped up in it.
There is lots going on in blogland these days -Quilters do have big hearts and are busy trying to help all those who find themselves affected by the natural disaster in Joplin.
Judy Laquidara of Patchwork times is raffling a quilt for donations to the Red Cross for the Joplin Tornado victims. Mary is also having her own raffle quilt to raise money for Joplin folk. Do check out these ladies sites and help out if you can.
In my home province of Alberta, there were some terrible wild fires at Slave Lake which decimated the area. Over 400 people lost their homes. The Red Cross is accepting donations to help these families. One of our local quilt stores Sew Divine accepted quilts as well, but I do not know if they are still accepting them or not.
Summer is coming and there will be time for other things. In the meantime, I best get back to the reports and the dandelions- not sure which are causing me the most stress right now.....
Warmest regards,
Anna
11 comments:
Love your sunflowers (of course!) I think you have a great idea- get those school kids over to your place to pick the dandelions. The stress level will go down.
Well...when school is over, you can get to those things that won't send your blood pressure flying.
What a cute baby.
O Anna!
I can certainly relate to having too many irons in the fire and not exactly knowing how to pull it off! One of my favorite inspirational sayings that helps me is: Start somewhere! LOL
I wish I had your dandelions! I love their pretty yellow (my favorite color) flowers and I have been reading a neat article on them about all of their healthy benefits. I meant to try some of the young ones in my salad today and I got sidetracked when company pulled in the yard just as I was about to hunt some! I don't drink wine - but I keep hearing how good dandelion wine is???
So much to learn and such little time to learn it in!
I love your pretties that you made! I wondered how you EVER have time to pull it all off! I know ! You are another one of those "Super-ladies" - hope you keep a good supply of vitamins to keep you going! :)
Oh dear. That pressure is awful, isn't it? I'm so sorry for you. Your concerns took me right back to the years when I worked full time, attended college part time, still had a child at home, and desperately wanted quilting time... but didn't get it. Do take the deep breath, and try to get your eight hours each night. Still, I know there's no overcoming stress when your mind won't let go. Gosh, I even had stress-induced gingivitis during that time!
It's wonderful to see what quilters are doing to help with tornado relief. You may know that I teach free beginner quiltmaking lessons through Stitchin' Mission (www.StitchinMission.org). The series of lessons I'll teach in July will result in quilts for tornado victims in Alabama and Missouri. It's just a small way to help, but more importantly, to let people know that others care.
I'm exhausted just reading all that you do get accomplished. School, home, quilts, and you still find time for so many others. You have a wonderful gift and you share so beautifully. I applaud you. Take time to smell those flowers, whether dandelions, sunflowers or roses. There is something about ' scent,' that calms the soul.
BlessYourGenerousSweetHeart
Hang in there Anna -- school will soon be out. The fun stuff can wait while you finish the work. At least that's what I keep telling myself while our house is in remodeling shambles! And at least dandelions mean it's not snowing outside!
Too much on the hop - sounds just like me. Holidays for you, soon, they seem to come around for you ever so quickly!
I used to love making dandelion chains to wear on our heads or around our necks.....at least they did not seed.
Love the twisted pattern.
You know, having been a teacher, what the pressures are. Just relax over the summer,and recoup.I loved the sunflowers!
Micki
Oh, those dandelions are pesky. Cute baby wraps.
Pretty sunflowers. Love the bloggy gifts too. Very nice.
hang in there. Hopefully your stress will be over soon.
Hugs
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