Where has the Summer gone?

My, but time has just flown by this summer.  Between a bit of  golf, a bit of camping and generally being lazy, my best laid plans to quilt and dye all July and August have 'faded' away (ha ha!).  Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the view.

In July, Rebecca's best friend Sasha came for a visit from Ottawa.  Talk about `two peas in a pod`.  They had a blast, but like all visits, it was just too short and it was soon back to work for both of them.  But, Sasha had a great souvenir to take away - her very own quilt, pieced by Sasha and quilted by Barb!

July also marked the start of 'fruit season', starting with Cherries, then Apricots and now Peaches.  Apples will come later during September.  We are surrounded by Cherry Orchards and they had a bumper crop this year.  The sad thing was that the bottom dropped out of the local cherry market as fruit was being imported from the USA cheaper than could be picked here.  In this orchard close by, almost a quarter of the crop was left unpicked to dry on the trees!

Earlier this month Sam and I were 'fill-in' drivers for the Quilt Guild's entry in the Penticton Peach Festival Parade.  What a hoot - and not a little bit embarrasing (NOT!)!  The Guild are proud owners of a 'car quilt' and we were the only members available with a car to fit when Marilyn and Gary decided to head up to Babine Lake to go fishing.  So, Saturday morning we popped downtown, registered with Parade officials, moved into position and dressed up our little Escape SUV

The Quilt Car

Then two weeks ago we were introduced to my niece's new baby Abigail Rae. Of course, I got to play on a new 'project', a whole cloth baby quilt on white satin with an angel motif.

Abigail - a little angel!

I did finally get to try out my new dye house today - actually its my second batch as I tried out several new dye colours in light medium and dark combinations earlier this summer.  Now I have to order more dying fabric and start assembling kits for the fall quilt shows at Kelowna and Penticton.

My Dye House

Mixing the dyes