My mother gave me her fabric stash. She’s finding it too difficult to sew anymore. I don’t think she has done any sewing for several years but it’s sad to think of her not sewing anymore, ever. I can’t help but look back and think of all the clothes she made for me while I was growing up. By the time I was in elementary school I was picking out my own fabric and patterns and she would make anything I requested. She even made tiny clothes for Barbie dolls and I really, really wish I had kept some of those.

My mother and I have differing tastes in clothing and fabrics. She likes polyester knits. I’m a cotton kind of gal. I plan to make most of these fabrics into something for her. There are a few cottons that would be suitable for quilting. Like mine, it’s a relatively small stash. She also included some patterns and a lot of embroidery transfers. I haven’t done much embroidery and I really don’t know how to do anything other than the outline stitch, unlike my mom who used to do a lot of embroidery. Something else she did that I like but have never bothered to figure out how to do is smocking. That’s just one of those things that is probably simple if you know how to do it but seems almost magical to me.

Fortunately, right now I’m in a sewing mood. I’m making an apron that I’m going to give to my mom. I originally bought the fabric for myself. I bought two pieces to make aprons but after making one I decided that I had enough aprons. I actually don’t use them all that often so two are all I need.

I have a good start on another quilt that will be a gift. I need to start another top which will also be for a gift quilt but which I might not get finished this year. I have most of the stuff for another quilt for myself and my Other Half so when I get that one started I can show it off and talk about it. And I have ideas. Lots of ideas. As many ideas as I have I suppose I should consider machine quilting but the actual hand quilting is my favorite part of the process. Well… except for the planning and the buying.

Whenever I start on a quilt I’m always certain it’s going to go faster than the last one and that I will be able to finish it in just about eight weeks, give or take a week, but then other things start getting in the way. I find that I really can’t work on it for more than two hours a day and then I have to skip a day or two of quilting for one reason or another and it ends up taking five or six months to finish. But this time… well, you know.

Some of you are probably going to think I’m crazy but I love this time of year. I don’t even mind that it has been miserably hot lately, hotter than usual for June. Last year we had a relatively cool, pleasant summer and then look at the winter we had! So I’m thinking if the summer is hotter than normal maybe the winter won’t be as bad this year. Of course I could be wrong but why not hope for the best and look on the bright side and all that.

I meant to wax poetic (or something) back on the “First Day of Summer” but I missed the chance. It has always seemed a little strange to me that the solstice is considered the official first day of summer. By that time it has actually been summer for at least a month. Memorial Day is the day I think of as the “real” beginning of summer. But anyway… I love summer. Sure I spend most of it inside, in the air-conditioning but it’s my favorite season. Being outside early on a summer morning is wonderful. And evenings, the symphony of crickets, frogs and other night sounds. And just the long days, the many hours of daylight. The purely practical unpoetic thing I like best about summer is that dressing is a lot simpler. You don’t have to put on layers and think about what jacket to wear when you go out and you’re not burdened with carrying a coat around the store while you shop. Fall is a nice time of year too but the nice part of it is too short. Summer is long. It goes beyond the calender’s summer. From the middle of May to well into September it feels like summer and I guess that’s what some people hate about it but it’s one of the reasons it’s my favorite season.

I have almost completely ignored the flower beds this year. Busy with other things. The garden departments will soon be trying to get rid of the last of their stuff. There will be sales. I’ve been considering getting a few more things to plant – some heat-loving flowers like lantana. I understand those can be a problem in some areas but here they usually die in the winter. I once had one last for two years and it was HUGE the second year. I really should get one or two of them. The butterflies love them.