Summertime Stitching

I was thinking about what stitching in the summertime means to me. Do you ever think about things like that when you are sitting quietly and stitching on your latest project?

I think about how nice it is to sit outside and stitch and listen to the birds and the outside traffic.... sipping a favorite cool drink and feel the soft summer breezes on your face while you focus on your stitching.

(Now I'm not going to mention all those pesky bugs or triple-digit heat or the phone that rings just as you get comfortable or the barking dog next door that won't shut up.... well, you know those summer irritations well enough, don't you? This is a nostalgic look at how summertime stitching is SUPPOSED to be.)

And I think about certain colors that seem "summery" to me. Now that it's "high summer" I think of bright yellows - and what could be better than pairing yellow with sky blue? Just like my SUMMER DAYS quilt design, shown above.

Or how about sunflowers? Aren't they the perfect summer flower? Tall and sturdy, big, bright and cheerful, faces always optimistically turned towards the sun... Here's another yellow quilt design of mine called SUNFLOWER STAR, which is could be a stylized version of a field of sunflowers, don't you think?

When I look at this design I imagine a group of midwest quilters working around a large quilt that depicts the farmland all around them. Maybe they're making it for a friend who's getting married soon or as a raffle quilt for the county fair.... and speaking of county fairs, what about this golden design called STATE FAIR that has lots of red/blue/gold ribbon motifs woven throughout the pattern:

(I don't know about you, but thinking about fairs makes me think about corn dogs and cotton candy and ice cold lemonade...)

But my all-time favorite summertime design is AMBER WAVES, with the rippling patterns throughout the piece in rich golds and greens and a hint of rose as well. I have this piece hanging in my hallway and when I look at it as I walk by, I remember how much I enjoyed stitching each of the patterns in this piece:

I hope when you're stitching this summer, you give some thought to what your favorite summer pieces are. Do you have them hanging in your house? Did you stitch them for friends? And what colors do YOU associate with summer? Do you crave certain colors when you pick your projects for summer? Anyway, I hope you are able to get outside and do some summertime stitching real soon!