July Lilies

July has two birth flowers - the larkspur and the water lily. The water lilies are just starting to open on our ponds. The Water Lily can be found throughout the world. They are divided into two main groups, hardy and topical. The hardy group only blooms during the day, while the topical group blooms night and day. Colors depend on the air and water temperatures, and type of soils - yes they root in soil and the leaves and flowers float on the water.

And the heat of July brings the hillside alive with these naturalizing Day Lilies. Gosh they have been on the farm as long as I can remember. From yellows, light and dark oranges, to rusty browns. It is a shame they are short lived, but with so many of them they are a sea of blooms for the next month.

REMINDERS

The Rockin Robin Quilt along has started - see side button
The Modern Quilt Contest as just announced the 4th entry - Express Yourself
Tonya's paper pieced Heart blocks
And Blocks for Kaaren

FINISHES

'Cookie Crumbs' - July's UFO for Judy's Challenge List

Sunbonnet Sue - UFO for one of my yahoo group's challenge list.

SQUARED UP

Our 'bricks' made from our 3.5" squares are now being combined with a solid brick - 3.5" x 9.5". I'm using from my stash and made 30 blocks. (180 squares) The solid bricks took a little more than 3/4 yrd so I would plan a yard for safety and errors.

I pressed my squares (when forming my twosie bricks) in one direction, so when I add the solid piece and sew, I make sure those seams run facing me to keep the seams from bunching when they run under the pressure foot and feed dogs. Smooth sailing!! Then I 'set the seam' with a hot iron - press the seam to flatten the threads and supple the fabric. Then I press the solid brick out. Makes for a flatter, smoother seam finish on your completed block. You have just made a variation of the Broken Rail Fence block. Play with lay outs - I will have my top sewn together for next post.

AND A BIT OF FUN

One day when I was feeling sad,
I found a little frog upon a lily pad.
I took him home and named him Tim,
I put him in the bathtub,
To see if he could swim,
He drank up all the water,
And gobbled up the soap!
And when he tried to talk
He had a BUBBLE in his throat!

Sewingly Yours,
Sharon