Summer Sunday

Here in Florida we are in our hottest, most humid time of the year.  Although it looks beautiful out, it is hard to be outside for any period of time because of the heat.  Except in the pool, of course !   Luckily it was not raining today, so I took advantage of the lovely warm water and floated for a while.  Even that was too hot after a time, so I came back in to get on with some Sunday afternoon sewing.

I have been sewing a little, but my projects are all big ones and take a lot of time before any progress can be shown.  I am stitching on my boutis a few times a week, but it is only progressing slowly.
Otherwise, I have finished the 24 middle blocks of the Kim McLean pattern Flower Garden.  Here are the last two blocks:

We have been trying to fussy cut the blocks so that we get a lot of different effects from the same piece of fabric - it is really amazing how different the Kaffe Fassett prints can appear.  I have found that the very large prints work the best for this.

 

Also, I have continued to work on the quilt I am designing as a 6 part block of 2 months - BO2M - for the Procrastinating Quilters in Clearwater.  I drew the center based on a picture I had seen of an antique quilt - the stiff stems appealed to me.  I drew pomegranates instead of the flowers I believe were on the quilt.  After that, the rounds have been based on either 3" or 6" borders.  I have just basted down this applique border.  Instead of sewing wool circles between the loops of the vine, I am using the hexagons I had left over from the second border of the quilt.  Please excuse the lumpy appearance of the vine - it is not yet sewn and the tight corners still look messy !

 The colors are really not good in these photos, the original quilt is a little darker.

 The next round will be 3" finished 9-patches.  The final round after that is still a secret !  But, it is planned and hopefully will finish the quilt off nicely.  This is the third year I have done this project, and it is the last. 

Last but not least, here are the first few blocks of an applique BOM I am doing from Common Threads quilt shop.  It is the Cousins Walk antique reproduction from the Quilted Crow ladies.  I love it - initially I thought I would not enjoy the chunky stems, but they go with the folky look of the quilt.  I still have to sew the small circles for the center of the flowers.

 

Again, sorry about the photo quality.  I think the outside light was interfering today.

 Winston is enjoying his last week here.  He is such a joy to have around, and is a great quilt helper - this morning he was chewing the basting thread as I was trying to attach the bias vine ......

My oleander in a pot has given us beautiful blooms the whole year, and is still blooming even though in this heat almost everything else has given up.

Happy Sunday Sewing !