This was suppose to be a low demand summer

with lost of time for me to be in the studio working on some large pieces.  My to do list for next year included plans to enter a couple of quilt show,  but I've made very little progress in getting one let alone several large works done.  To date I have only one large piece painted and just a square foot of it quilted so far.

     I've finished a dozen or so small pieces (12-15 x 18-24" inch) range to fill out my vendor booth supply.  I have developed a new pattern (see below)  and I have five pieces waiting to be quilted.  Four on the design wall and one under the needle of the HQ 16. 

 I have painted the above design it in several color ways and with different backgrounds.



     My summer calendar is filled with one day teaching engagements in locales I can drive to, teach and drive home in the same day which has kept me busy as well. 
     I've been watching the flowers bloom in the area beside my back door (slider) to my little patio.

And I discover a flowering tree growing on the adjacent property to my condo community that is visible above the brick wall that I did not see last summer. 

Of course this time last year I was not venturing far from my bedroom because of health issues.  What a difference a year makes.
     Just got back from  San Juan,  Puerto Rico.   My daughter Rene', granddaughter Olivia and I flew down to enjoy the sun, the sand and some down time.  I lost $18.00 of the  $20.00 max I allowed myself in the casino at the hotel/resort where we stayed while I waited for Rene' and Olivia to get dressed for dinner after coming back from the beach. 

 Views from our room and from the roof top restaurant where we ate a late lunch on the day we arrived.  The resort was ocean front and we had our toes in the sand and the water with only a short walk through the garden and pool area.  Because I love flowers I was struck by the fact there were orchards attached to the trunks of the palm trees on the property.

This is a view of the smaller of the two forts we visited with the adjacent grave yard.

  Olivia on the street in Old Town and in the turret of the largest fort.

View looking down one of the streets in Old town. 

On the way home our plane got diverted to Tampa because of a severe summer storm over Orlando.  That said the landing in Tampa was bumpy as was the one in Orlando once the airport was open again.  The pilot and crew were applauded for getting us down safely.  They would have gotten a standing ovation had we been allowed to unbuckle our seat belts :).

       Going back to Port St Lucie on the 11th of July to teach a one day class and I have one other trip planned for this month that I will tell you about later.  Now it is back to work.