"Summer at the Turners" by me.

 This one is for our friend Tom, the police officer who was killed in the line of duty.  Tom passed on the same day as my dad, but several years apart.

When I was a kid, my parents put a pool in the backyard, and this quickly became the summer hangout.  I found this panel in August of 2015 at a quilt shop in Coos Bay.  I knew that it would become a charity quilt, but didn't know when.  Finally, I pulled it out, cut the blocks apart, and added that Friendship Star block.  I knew when I was making it that this quilt was for Tom, so that block was appropriate.
 As I was piecing and quilting this quilt, I was able to recall so many fond memories of summers.  Floating in inner tubes down the Clackamas river and having "Boarding parties" to the other raft.

Since the pool was heated only by the solar tubing dad had put on the ground and the water ran through, it wasn't usually terribly warm in the pool.  Consequently, the best way to get in, was to simply suck it up and jump, and get it all over with at once.  Then there's my oldest brother, Dave.  One toe, then another toe, up to his ankles, slowly to his knees and so on.  Since he's 6'6", this took a LONG time!
 No surfboards in our area, but lots of dogs, and many really wild pants/swim trunks/shorts.
Yep, this is pretty much just exactly what it looked like.  Thanks mom and dad for the pool, and for putting up with all of us and our friends.

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