Cindy has been holding down the blog while I wandered away on my summer vacation(s). Don’t hate — my vacations of late have been rare. But luckily, in the last month 3 weeks I’ve been to Austin, Anaheim and Hilton Head. In the process I got my fix of barbecue, sand (from both the Atlantic and the Pacific) and the grandbabies (to whom I am Grandma Ishi — as in “is she or is she not grandma”) — long story. Nevertheless, I’m claiming them because they are flat out adorable! Evidence here:

What all this lovely travel did  was take me away from my sewing machine. Finally, in Hilton Head, I could stand it no longer, I needed to touch, see and smell some fabric. Island Quilters delivered my fix; well, they didn’t really deliver, I had to go to them, but you know what I mean….

Owner Clare Jones was efficient and patient as I wandered around her store searching for my happy place and a project. Her store is filled with bright and unique prints and lots of fun dots. Her Christmas and Halloween fabrics were both classy and fun. I had a hard time resisting them.

Finally, I settled on the idea of a log cabin quilt pattern and Clare and I pulled from her excellent selection of fat quarters (on sale, no less) to come up with vacation-inspired color palette. 

I think I’ll cut out the pieces and then sew the blocks in the winter so it will remind me of my whirlwind July.