APPLIQUE PAINTBOX-I LOVE APPLIQUE

IT HAS BEEN A LONG HOT WEEK HERE IN THE BACK OF BEYOND!     
              I have mostly been laying low and staying cool. I have been working on Stonefields blocks.  The top two are from the Stonefields pattern, the ewer is from Chuck Nohara's book and the sailboat floated in on my imagination.  
                                                   
 Not too exciting but pretty French General fabric.
  
          This one is straight from the pattern   It is a charming pot of buds.
I love this one.  The combination of ewer and bowl and tulip is lots of fun.  I added the extra tulip.

This one is my favorites right now.  Notice the racing strips on the sail.  When I was a girl, we sailed on the San Francisco Bay.  My father's hobby was building sailboats.  He build a lovely 27 footer when I was about 5 or 6 years old.  I used to help him by handing him tools or holding something or stirring glue.  My father was great.  He was so empowering.  I asked him if he thought I could build a sailboat when I was older and he said "Yes.  Just get a pattern and follow it".  You must understand was in the 1950's years before Betty Friedan's first cry of feminism.  He did not think I was handicapped by not being a boy.  It was this far-sighted and generous thinking on my father's part that enabled me to undertake any number of activities other girls felt they could not do.

Anyway, we kept the sailboat in a marina on the bay and went there every Saturday.  We either sailed or did maintenance on the boat (wood hulls required constant upkeep in the days before fiberglass).  I loved tacking with the breezes as the side of the boat dipped close to the water and we flew along with the sea birds.  When I was older, he built a 37 footer where he lived for a few years.  Sailing lead to a life-long love of the water.

This is a photo of the fmq sampler from the Sit Down Free Motion Quilters facebook group.  We are on week two which I have completed not to my complete satisfaction.

Week two is the orange peel.  There are some wobblies in there.  I thought I would have done better on this as I used a stitch like this on Mountmellick which I finished last month. Here you can see the orange peel quilting.    

                       

I decided since I have shown some of Mountmellick, I will show you some of the border applique made from Petra Prins Dutch chintz and is perfect for broderie perse which is one of my favorite things to do.  The original border was composed of stars and the little pots of flowers are mine.

          

      

      

 

Here you can see how the border fits together: 

HAPPY QUILTING

AND

STAY COOL!

Linking with MCM, Moving it Forward Monday, Oh Scrap!, Monday Making, Easter's WOW, NTT and Low Stitching Sunday.  Thanks for hosting ladies!