Catching Up!

I’ve apparently been AWOL. But I’ve been…summering. And, yes, always, sewing.

First, look at my beautiful Crepe Myrtle tree. It just bloomed, and it’s growing and filling out now. It seems so happy.

On the gardent front, the grass is thriving from the rain brought by the thunderstorms we’ve had, and the Japanese Beetles are slowing way down for this year. I think I picked a thousand off of my roses and adjacent plants like the now-blooming Vitex (a drought resistent Mediterranean plant).

Second, my 16-year-old (almost 17) granddaughter starts TODAY sailing across the Atlantic to Spain from the British Virgin Islands in a 2-mast wooden boat–after a week of preparation and sailing refresher days that also included scuba diving in the BVI islands.

This young woman LOVES sailing, and this trip meets educational requirements that will serve her well if she pursues this interest as crossing the Atlantic in a sailboat opens all sorts of doors. The boat is the ARGO, and we can track the route online at seamester.com, which many family members and friends are doing. The “first stop” across the Atlantic is the Azores, which will be reached after 18 or 19 nonstop days. The students and crew will sail the boat, night and day. There is no “parking” this boat. The students will have harnesses on at all times (whew!) and have come equipped with all the necessary foul weather and foot gear.

Here’s the Argo at rest in the BVIs:

What an adventure! I am of course glued to the online interactive map of the Argo’s progress, reading the daily blogs, and looking at all the pictures. The students will rarely have access to their phones until they reach the Azores and, later, when they get to Gibraltar and then go on to the Spanish coast.

Three, “Dancing Kites” is now finished. It is a baby quilt for an upcoming little girl, arriving sometime in July.

I used a 5-inch Kites ruler, and I will be using it again. There are so many blocks one can make with a kites ruler–and they come in many sizes. The fabrics all came from my stash–but I did buy a backing fabric. I quilted with a pale pink thread, using the “Folk Hearts” pantograph (Urban Elementz: Beany Girl Quilts / Benay Derr).

For this quilt I wanted lots of kite movement, so I contrasted the groupings/rows of 4 kites of the same color with up/down “sashings” of single kites in downward rows of 4 kites and sideways rows separating the 4-kite groupings. Truly, these kites ARE dancing.

I am in total love with this Tilda backing fabric:

Could it be more fun or more perfect for this quilt?

I don’t think so.

Have a wonderful weekend folks. ENJOY summer!