Fellow Quilters,

Happy June!  The calendar says it’s June but the weatherman’s reports sound more like April – it has been one of the coldest, wettest Springs in memory.  In fact, we still had frost warnings a week ago!  Hubby and I are usually returning from our Spring travel around this time of year, and I am madly dashing from one garden center to the next, searching for flowers and herbs from the picked-over meagre selection in most shops.  This year, however, I still have my pick of the crop.

Part of our Spring travel included a trip to the Eastern Seaboard, visiting the Canadian Maritime provinces and a couple of New England states.  As is typical in this region, the weather was mostly cool and rainy but also foggy.  In fact, all-night fog horns were a common sound for a week or so.  Lobster season was just opening up – yum! – and the markets and local restaurants had fresh fish, shellfish and chowder.

A classic yellow sou’wester

In the local souvenir shops I even spotted some sou’westers, the iconic yellow oilskin wide-brimmed hats still worn by fishermen today (they’re also available in black).

A sou’wester would pair perfectly with my block for the June quilt Block Mania – the theme is “water” so I was inspired to design a block showcasing a classic yellow rain boot splashing in – yup, water!  Here is my Splash! block.

My Splash! block for the June Quilt Block Mania blog tour

You can download it here.

Rubber boots now come in a wide range of colors, so wouldn’t it be fun to use several colors in a quilt?!?

A colorful lap quilt with a rainbow of rubber boots

Nine other designers are participating in the Water blog tour this month and you can find the links to their free water-themed blocks below:

Bottled Water Quilt Block by Carolina Moore
Sea Star by Scrapdash
Dolphins by Inquiring Quilter
Stream by Memory Barn Studio
Water Bottles by QuiltFabrication
Water Lily by The Quilted Diary
Waves By Studio B Quilting
Splash! by Patti’s Patchwork
Planet Earth by Patchwork Breeze
Surfing USA by Appliques Quilts and More

This week I’m busy prepping for A Mountain Quiltfest in Pigeon Forge TN next week.  Please stop by and say hi or, better yet, come to my inspiring trunk show on Monday June 8^th – you’ll leave itchin’ to stitch 😊.

I hope to send another blog post in a couple of weeks with deets on some terrific quilt shops that I found on my travels last month.  If you’re not already a subscriber, please see the side bar on my blog page for the sign-up form.

Chat soon,

Patti