Wednesday, July 6, 2011

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

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Sharon i love that sunbonnet Sue quilt its gorgeous,well done on all your work

Sue Daurio said...

I absolutely adore the cookie crumbs quilt. I've never done a crumbs quilt and once again your quilts inspire me to try something new! Sunbonnet Sue is adorable!

Linda said...

The Cookie Crumb quilt is my favorite! What a great scrappy quilt!!

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

The Cookie Crumb is one of the best scrappy quilts I have seen. Congrats on both of your wonderful finishes.
The daylilies are amazing. How wonderful to have a sea of color to look at every day.

Belinda said...

I just love your posts. You are so imaginative! I wish I had some day lilies in my yard. They are so colorful.

Sheila said...

Love lilies :) Sue is sweet ;) Frog poem is funny :D
But, You know me well enough to know that I would go gaga for your crumb quilt! Are those 6" squares?
Ooooh. Very interesting brick block project...

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

I love the backing on your Sunbonnet Sue quilt. It looks so cool and refreshing. The whole quilt turned out nicely.

Michele said...

I love your finishes and your flowers :-)

Miss Hillbilly said...

Oh my gosh I remember that sunbonnet sue fabric from LONG ago!

Amy and I were driving down the road and saw a section with all kinds of orange flowers. I wanted her to stop so I could pick some but we never found a place along the highway that I could. I know nothing about flowers, I just know that this is the first time I had ever seen them. They didn't grow wild in the part of MO where I am originally from. I wonder, they must have been Day Lilies. I sure loved them!

Miss Hillbilly said...

Oh my gosh I remember that sunbonnet sue fabric from LONG ago!

Amy and I were driving down the road and saw a section with all kinds of orange flowers. I wanted her to stop so I could pick some but we never found a place along the highway that I could. I know nothing about flowers, I just know that this is the first time I had ever seen them. They didn't grow wild in the part of MO where I am originally from. I wonder, they must have been Day Lilies. I sure loved them!

Jenniffier said...

What lovely flowers and congrats on the finishes.

Anonymous said...

I love day lilies - it's that month of cheerful color that I am crazy about! I have a few beside my porch, and wish I could have more...think I'll divide those this fall and plant all over! Sharon, your cookie crumb quilt is absolutely awesome - love it! I think it may be the happiest scrappy quilt I have seen, and your backing choice is great! You made my morning!
Jacque in SC
quiltnsrep(at)yahoo(dot)com

Sarah Craig said...

That cookie crumb quilt is amazing, Sharon! and your Sues are sweet sweet sweet!! Whoop whoop!!

Paulette said...

Crumb quilts tell a history all by themselves, don't they? Lovely finishes, Sharon! Cute Sues!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful!

Kelly @ Vintage Fabric Studio said...

that cookie crumb quilt is great! Nice use of scraps ( I assume!) Whoop! Whoop!

Marsha said...

Love scrappy quilts and the Cookie Crumbs is a great idea. Sunbonnet has always been a favorite of mine.The one you are working on now I like. I just might try that one.
This is the 1st time I have done Sarah's Whoop Whoop and it feels good. See your work next week.

Marsha Cassetty

Brita said...

Are the cookie crumbs totally improv? Seems like that would be a fun, ongoing project for those in-between times when you don't want to think too hard. I'm always amazed at how much you get done. Whoop!

BunkHouseQuilts said...

I really like the crumb quilt, but don't know if I have the patience to sew all those bits together. Maybe I will try that next winter. Love all the tidbits of information you always share on your blog!

JudyCinNC said...

Great finishes, Sharon - love that crumbs quilt - love using what I have. Judy C