Lots of great ideas here, thanks! Yes, we are extremely lucky to live here. It took us about 10 years of searching to find a place that we could afford and didn't need so much work that it wasn't worth it. Flip flops! That reminded me, I have these forms to use to make flip flop stepping stones! I've updated my plant list, too bad some of the lilies are SO expensive ($40 for one-that would be Cottage On The Lake-yikes!!) "Nautical mix" petunias "beach comber" mix petunias Coastal Mist bearded iris Toy Boat dwarf Iris Sandy Beach Iris Beach Dance iris Ship Shape Iris Ships Are Sailing Siberian Iris Dover Beach Iris Lake Effect day lily Aye Captian day lily Beach Music Day Lily Moonlight Sail Day Lily Celestial Shore Day Lily Sailing Along Day Lily Aye Captian day lily Cottage on the lake day lily Gull's Way Daylily Queen O The Lakes rose Rosa rugosa/beach rose Cottage Rose Lake Ontario hosta Lakeside Breaking Waves hosta Lakeside Pebbles Hosta Lakeside Shoremaster Hosta El Capitan Hosta Summer Breeze Hosta Great Lakes Gladiola Sea Shell Cosmos Yellow Sand Coreopsis Sand Love Grass Lake Currants Cottage pinks (Dianthus) Splish Splash Larkspur Lobelia Regatta "Marine Blue" Lobelia Regatta "Blue Splash" Perennial Gerenium "splish splash" clustered bellflower "marine" beach pea beach bluebells I already have Dover Beach (iris) and Rosa Rugosa thanks to a plant swap over the past weekend.

So far, I like what you've accomplished. It's very effective and should be loved "til the guts fall out" (as my kids used to say). I am not a huge fan of the pieced corner blocks, although there is nothing wrong with them; they're just not my style. My first thought was to do applique on a solid square of red, white, or blue. How about one of these: a life ring, an anchor (with or without a piece of rope traversing across it), a bouy, a ship's wheel? Select one and repeat it or use four different ones, whichever works best for you. Did you get your waves done yet? If not, why not use freezer paper? Draw the waves on the dull side, cut them along the line and then make a strip of it about 2-3" deep, with one edge being the curves for the waves. Press this onto your block with the curves a bit below where you want the waves to lie. Use the edges of the freezer paper curves to guide you along as you stitch (satin stitch?) your waves in. Don't give up on that porthole, either! Use a little piece of fusible on the back of a circular piece of fabric, adhere it to the boat, and SLOWLY stitch around it by machine. You just have to work a little slower sometimes. Also, any time you are doing a bit of satin stitching, you should be using a stabilizer of some sort on the back side of your piece to help prevent wrinkling, puckering, etc. I think it's a lovely quilt already, but YOU CAN DO THIS! I have faith in you. Good luck! Odessa

I found a sailboat with navy sails at a consignment store near my home today. Also, I am attempting to paint a very abstract sailboat on canvas (I am no artist). We'll see how that goes!! I bought two small white lamps with red shades @ Target. They may turn out to be too small. I think I will get a couple of baskets or stg bins to put on shelf of night stands. Also thinking of buying one of those storage cube deals from Target and navy & red stg bins to put in them. Any thoughts?

thanks intially i planned for cleats but saw the rope in a blog and thought i would try it out but i should know better than to emulate blog deccor ;). The white box is my GC's idea to cover plastic plumbing while i wait for metal pipes to be installed. it slides in and out of place and is temporary. I think I might use the rope and cleat idea in my play room to clip art from because in the right setting i think it might be cute.