It seems that all good things (like Summer) must come to an end – and our time with Popsicle out at the Filberg’s Hands-On Farm officially wraps up this Sunday.

We have totally loved spending the Summer getting to know this feisty friend who greets us at the barnyard door and nudges us into hugs and scratching.

His good nature has given way to adolescence a tad in this final week as he and Annie have parted ways a bit and his bullish nature starts to come through a bit.

But, Popsicle has won our hearts and those of a giant whack of tiny people around the Valley this Summer.

When the doors to the farm lock for the season at 4 p.m. on Sunday, we will be thinking about our farm friend with fond memories.

So, make sure you get out to the farm this week to say your goodbyes (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily) and wish him well on his journey.

Meanwhile, we’ve been beating the heat with some farm-focused fun in the form of paper quilts.

My mom is a magical quilter. She has stitched and patched and folded her way through many of the beautiful blankets in our house and I am a bit envious of her mad skillz.

Those skills skipped a generation thanks simply to my unwillingness to put the time into Home Ec. So our daughter is going to have to live with what Busha makes her and quilts that involve paper and glue if she is to hang with the mommy.

Quilting is one of those projects that just speaks to life on the farm for me. Maybe it’s all of those fairs I lived for as a child or the gorgeous folk art feel that comes from creating patchwork beauty with needle and thread.

I remember tieing quilts with my mom and loving the quiet time spent together on steamy Summer days as a kid.

So, as a last hurrah for the Hands-On Farm this Summer (which we have totally loved), I thought that a bit of a quilting bee was in order.

Here’s what you need:

- Wax paper
- bits of paper to cut up into triangles, squares and rectangles
- White glue
- a paintbrush
- scissors
- bits and baubles to decorate your quilt with (we chose beads, stickers and stamps)

Directions:

1. First, cut the paper into shapes and then rip off long sheets of wax paper to serve as the base for your quilt. They can be any size you want.

2. Get your glue and paintbrush ready. Paint the glue onto the wax paper in a thin layer.

3. Start sticking the shapes onto the wax paper. We made one quilt with tissue paper shapes and the other with foil, cardboard, craft paper and tissue paper shapes to see how different textures work together.

4. Take the bits and baubles and start decorating.

Hang them on the window and they are gorgeous for the sun to filter through or spread them out in a favourite spot to use for just about anything you can imagine!