Turning 20 again

 It has been so rainy here in Maine I have despaired of ever seeing the sun this summer. When I saw a weather map of the entire country it showed half the USA in wet weather and the western half in a heatwave. 117 in Las Vegas? I think I'll appreciate the wet and cold a bit more. Fortunately the sun came out Saturday afternoon when DH and I were in Freeport at LLBean (with all the tourists in Maine, I think). Last night was clear and there were stars in the sky (not that they weren't there all along). Here are the Stella D'Oro daylilies heavy with rain by the front steps.

Wild roses grow all along the roadside in front of the house. So pretty this time of year. I love pink and green quilts and here is the reason why!

One of the roses up close...with a tiny bee. 

This hawthorn was planted in front of the house many years ago. Its been pruned severely and it is still huge! Right now it is blooming and we love to stand under it and hear the bees buzzing. There must be thousands of them!

DH kindly bought me a blueberry bush after I remarked that I had always meant to plant blueberry bushes. One appeared at the end of the walkway one day this week. I was delighted. We bought another one yesterday, too, and I planted them both this morning. Blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, blueberry pie, blueberry buckle, blueberry jam? What's your pleasure? I especially love the blueberry cake recipe in an old Marg Standish cookbook my mother gave me. 

Okay, on to quilting. My friend Donna and I recently bought fabric to make Turning 20 quilts. This arrangement is from Turning Twenty Stained Glass & Scraps by Tricia Cribbs. Here are three blocks sewn together.

One block

I chose this Kaffe Fassett paisley for the center panel. I love this fabric but am not sure this was the best choice. It looks a bit too dark with all the white in the blocks. I auditioned a number of other fabrics but did not like anything else, either. I think something with a white background might be better, however I am sticking with this one. I think once it is all quilted it will look just fine. I also am not all that happy with the blocks. A lot of measuring and cutting and twisting and turning and really, does it look all that great? Well, I think this is still a kind of fun quilt, not everything has to be an heirloom. 

Yesterday I added the side strips of blocks to the center panel. This morning I was going to add the top and bottom rows of blocks. However, I realized that I had sewn the right hand strip upside down. Would anyone ever notice? Probably not, but it annoyed me so I took it out and turned the strip of blocks around. No need to be annoyed every time I look at this quilt! ha ha

Isn't this fabulous?