MAY

Welcome to my blog for May.

 

Recently a good friend of mine (an amazing quilter!), treated me to this useful gadget called a “Board Buddy”. There is no need to remove the spray head when filling & pouring, and you can use it as a spray, or for filling your steam iron. Another one of those gadgets you shouldn’t be without in the quilt room or just ironing in general.

 

 

Well, not a lot has happened since my last blog. I have been doing quite a bit of patchwork and also rehearsing my dancing.
Earlier this year, I joined my daughters dance school adult dance classes. Her website is:
etoileperformance.co.uk  
I have never danced in my life (so where my daughter gets her talent from, goodness knows!)
We do tap & ballet. I find the tap dancing hard, as I can't seem to co ordinate my feet & arms with the music. Ballet is slightly better, and we are doing a short routine in her mid year showcase on June 8th.
I am very nervous, but will do my best not to let the side down. The other ladies in the class are great, and we have a real laugh. Wish me luck!

On then to my quilting blog for May:

“The wind at North and East
Was never good for man nor beast
So never think to cast a clout
Until the month of May be out”

 

This month was named after Majores, the senior (or major) branch of the government assembly or senate in Rome.

The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom. It is when people celebrate the coming of summer.

FESTIVALS:

May Day

WEATHER:
Cold dewy, misty mornings. Warm days. Now having 16 hours of daylight.

EVENTS:

May Day (May 1^st), used to be celebrated by people dancing around a flower bedecked maypole.

A May Queen would be elected.

Well Dressing (mainly Derbyshire).

RHS Chelsea flower Show.

SIGN OF THE ZODIAC:

Taurus the bull, (21^st April – 21^st May) Gemini (22^nd May – 21^st June).

BIRTHSTONE:

Emerald.

IDEAS FOR QUILTING BLOCKS:

May basket

Mayflower

Around the world (maypole dancing)

IDEAS FOR QUILTING BLOCK FABRICS:

May blossom.

Cowslips, (a later flowering cousin of the primrose).

Early in the month, the bluebells appear.

The first baby birds are hatching.

Kentucky Derby.

Oak leaves.(Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day was a formal public holiday celebrated in England on 29^th  May to commemorate the restoration of the English monarchy in May 1660. The public holiday, Oak Apple Day was formally abolished in 1859. In some parts of the country though, the day is still celebrated).

The yellow flowers of oil seed rape is a feature of the countryside.

My block:

 

There seems to be several poems about May. This is by Robert Browning, Home: Thoughts from abroad:

                                                                   BLOSSOM

“And after April, when May follows,

And the white throat builds, and all the swallows

Hark! Where my blossomed pear tree in the hedge

Leans to the field and scatters on the clover”

 

                                        Well that's all for now. See you soon!