I'm Melting. . . .

It's waaaayy too hot here! I feel just like the Wicked Witch. Except with more whining, if possible.

Yesterday it hit 104.4*F here, according to my fancy-pants wireless digital thermometer (which I LOVE). Fortunately, DH insisted on dragging me to the river to cool off, with tons of other people. It was quite pleasant sitting on a rock, with my feet in the river, looking at all the beautiful trees, the totally blue sky and watching the bald eagle flying above. The best of the Northwest. Until I got out of the river! Yesterday was the hottest day. Today our high seems to be 95*. Not great, but definitely better. If only the humidity was lower. In the evenings, when it should be cooling off, the humidity skyrockets to 80 - 90%. Not so much fun.

My hanging basket is totally fried, and my hydrangeas are wilting badly in the heat. I totally relate.

The poor kitties are miserable. They keep coming to me and, essentially, whining. "Fix it, Mom!" Dunkel is currently flanged out on the stone entryway, and Shade is up on the bed, with the fan blowing directly on him. It's pretty funny. We had A/C in California, so they've never had to deal with this bad of heat. Poor babies!

There is no actual sewing or quilting here, until the heat subsides. (Maybe October??) But just so this isn't a quilting-less post, I thought I'd show you my string blocks.

Remember these string blocks? I started them back in April when I had to wear the brace on my thumb, due to tendonitis. Well, I've gotten quite a lot of them done. That was pretty much all my sewing in April, and I've also been working on them since then. Just sewing 4 at a time, when I wanted to sew but was stalling on the Color Challenge quilt, or couldn't think of what else to do. I now have 66 of these blocks sewn. It appears that I have enough for two quilts!

This is the first layout I tried. The blocks will be 4" x 10" finished. These blocks aren't running up and down the quilt, but sideways. Of course, that is subject to change. I haven't measured anything exactly, just trying to get an idea of the approximate size.

I found this great black & white fabric on sale, so thought I'd try it. It's pretty "Freddy", isn't it? It may be too much, but thought I'd see what it looks like, just for fun.

Here is Dunkel, helping me with a second layout, using the rest of the blocks. He was holding the blocks in place for me. Again, this is approximate. I still have more foundations and lots more strings, if I need more blocks.

This is fabric test #1. This is black dots on white ground. I found this good quality VIP fabric at W*lm*rt, for $4 a yard! I couldn't leave it there for that price.

Fabric #2, same great deal. Small white dots on black ground, but it's hard to see here.

And last, white dots on black ground, large version. Same $ deal. I'm kind of leaning towards either this or #1.

When it cools off, I'm going to start sewing these together. But since that will be awhile, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks for any input!