A Whirlwind Tour of Southwestern Ontario

After a few days of what turned out to be a whirlwind tour around Southwestern Ontario, I rolled into my driveway around 12:45 a.m. this morning. I decided to drive home at 4 pm after my class finished in Kirkton, Ontario ended. It proved to be an eight hour drive with stops for dinner and coffee, and more coffee to keep me alert. Normally I would stay over another night before driving home, but I am now in a mad panic to get everything in order for France (where it is unfortunately cold and raining :-( )

On my trip to visit the Erie Shores Quilt Guild in Leamington, Ontario, and the Huron-Perth Quilt Guild in Kirkton, Ontario I drove through a lot of beautiful countryside. Lilacs and horse chestnuts were blooming. Cattle, goats and sheep were grazing in the fields. The landscape was lush and I saw lots of attractive old stone farmhouses and barns. The only problem is that I did not have any time between or after my bookings to stop and take photos. I'm cheating a little bit here because I took this picture of a horse chestnut tree in Prince Edward Island in 2007. I'm including it here just to add a little "mood" to my story.

I was only 2 km away from Lake Erie, and very close to Point Pelee National Park, where people from around the world flock to bird watch and witness various bird migrations. I realized again on this trip how large and diverse Ontario is, and I hope to return to this area to explore further. 

My lecture took place Tuesday night, with my workshop "Liberated Radial Piecing" on Wednesday. Below meet Jackie and Jackie! Jackie Cooper at front, has just finished her strip sets and is starting to cut wedges for her radial design. Jackie and I go back a long way. She and I were members of the same quilting group here in Ottawa about 10 years ago before she moved away. I enjoyed staying at her home and meeting her husband and many pets, including a visiting neighbour's dog who sometimes drops in for a nap or visit. My stay was so brief I did not get my usual photos of the pets I meet on the road. 

We had 20 students in the class. 

Here are a few photos of students starting to form their radial designs in the afternoon. 

After that workshop I drove three hours to my next booking. Thursday I taught my "In Full Bloom" class at the Huron-Perth Quilt Guild. We had a full class of 20 again.

You can see some wonderful roses developing here.

 

 A lily started ...

 A poppy in purple.

This is Janice, whose home I had the pleasure of staying at a second time. Last year I stayed with her when I delivered a lecture/trunk show to this group.

Cheating again here! Lilac photo from the 2007 trip to Prince Edward Island. But hopefully it will impart the beauty I saw in Southwestern Ontario. The hospitality also rivaled that of the Maritimes!