Entertainment in the sudden summer heat - and a new book.

Last week came the summer's heat - perhaps a little faster then most people were expecting. In the mornings the heat was already closing in on or passing 20 degrees celsius - the week before it barely reached 12 when I got up to go to work. Luckily, the place where I work is pretty cool (old building), but the heat outside was almost unpleasant when the time came to go home. Not to mention our furry little friends felt it worst.. Luckily, we have ways of cooling them down. ;)


First, take a caged-in bird bath..

Fill the pool area with water and add some frozen green peas.

Attach to the side of the cage (most effective when there is a small hatch, so that he critters can access the "tub").

Sit back and enjoy your view to pea-diving creatures and lots og chewing.

And, yes, I did mention a new book in the topic field. :) And here it is:

It's a book filled with japanese block designs, appliqué and sashiko designs - and I love it! :D

I mean, who cannot be fascinated when flipping through these pages filled with beautiful pictures, designs, tips and ideas? There's even a separate section about japanese fabrics! (I didn't know there were such differences.. I mean, here they sell japanese fabrics as "japanese fabrics", without separating them into kasuri, shima, yùzen and many other names). Fascinating!

I even recognize certain blocks from my mother's american block books, but with other names. :) Like the Manji - or buddhist symbol - shown on the top right side here - also known as Card Tricks.

I love this book - and can't wait to start working from it - I just need to find just the right fabrics.. Many of the patterns in this book are made with either very bright colors or with shades of blue, black and white. The japanese fabrics I've seen here in Norway just aren't the right ones.. they used to have a lot of blues, but now they're more.. pink-ish.. (I'm not a very huge fan of pink..). Oh well, I can dream about this book for quite some time I think, before I start working, so I have all the time in the world to find just the right fabrics. ;)

Btw, I've started working on the BOM that my mother and two of her friends are working on too - it's called Annie's Calendar Quilt. I can't wait to see them finished - all four of them - and seeing them together. It's fun to see things from the same pattern, but all colored by the creator's way of doing things. The differences can be huge! sometimes.