finally a blog post

OK--I confess. I just have not had time to write a blog post for quite some time. Indeed quite frankly I am not sure how anyone has time in the summer. After all, I can't resist the lure of my garden. What is new? Any tomatoes yet? Yes. A few cukes too. And even a baby pumpkin or two. And of course my flowers. This is peak season for the daylilies. How brief that time is. I must inhale all the colors as deeply as possible.

Then I also have a couple of craft fairs to prepare for. The Berkshires Craft Show August 10-12. Oh I do love that show. Put on by the teachers at Monument Mountain High School in Great Barrington. I do hope to see many of you there. You can learn more on their website here: http://www.berkshirecraftsfair.org/ Then the American Craft Exposition in Evanston, IL. Such awesome work there. Their web site is http://americancraftexpo.org/ But more details in my newsletter which I promise to get out soon.

For now I need more rolling hills. I sold a couple at the Guilford Show. Send another couple to the People's Place Quilt Museum in Intercourse, PA. Visit them here: http://www.ocsquiltmuseum.com/  You know the design. Almost like little movie scenes. I start with a wonderful fabric or two. This one is particularly dreamy isn't it?

Then I cut a lot of fabrics that go with this fabric. The same intensity of color. Just the sparkle of the blue. The dusky grey accent colors that add the depth.

And start to piece. Slowly at first as I explore exactly what the fabrics can do. Note how I tie off the threads if I stop the piecing in the middle of a block.

And I pin it up on the design wall.  See the sparkle of the wave fabric. That wonderful hint of bright blue that almost glows. Little by little it grows. Sometimes so fast I forget to take pictures.

Don't you just love the sweep of colors in this quilt?

Then I sew it together. I am always amazed how much more finished it looks, doesn't it?

And another very soft rolling hills is done. This one I call gentle ocean though it could also be the rolling hills of the Berkshires in the mist. I can't wait to show it at the next fair.


And you--do you find the demands of summer hard to balance? Are you lured outside by your garden?  How much time do you spend on the internet when the weather is lovely?