Dog Days

Is it the dog days of summer yet? Yes, July 3rd through August 11th are considered “the dog days of summer”. From Wikipedia:

The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Sirius (known colloquially as the “Dog Star”), which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

I think I prefer the Sirius reference, rather than the onset of heat and thunderstorms etc. The weather hasn’t been terrible in my section of California, so far. We had a few hot days right before the dog days started, but lately it’s been upper seventies and cool at night. No rain, but thats normal for here. After last winter, I am enjoying the dryness and sun.

I have made a lot of progress on the Nocturnal quilts. I finished quilting the twin sized Dwelling pattern one, and finished all the blocks for the SkyLights pattern one. I am in the process of putting all the blocks together. I am going to be so happy when these quilts are finished. I am itching to work on my own projects and get some more quilts into the shop for sale. Christmas is coming and I have one top that needs quilting, and another (SAL with Wendy Sheppard) in mind to stitch up. Not to mention, the last installment for the Message in a Bottle BOM arrived yesterday. I’m on the third block, nuff said.

My first longarm client’s quilt is on the frame now. It’s a pretty simple design, but I have been chipping away at it. The client contacted me through Etsy, her regular long armer had retired and she was looking for a new one. She lives in San Jose, so sort of local, and she is a fairly new quilter, happy to work with me.

Steadily working on Heaven and Nature, I am sure I’ll have it finished by Christmas. I kitted up my next project, “Consider the Lillies” by Heartstring Samplery. I am stitching along with Jo, at Jo’s Country Junction this year. She and her daughter started this piece about a year ago, and then she got distracted by a few other projects. The piece is large, and has lots of different motifs and flowers. If you break it down to pages to complete, it’s not so overwhelming, that is how she (we) is planning on completing it. Jo normally has a bunch of cross stitch projects going on simultaneously. I tend to be a one project at a time stitcher, (at least with cross stitch) but I think I may just start this one before I finish H&N.