Fishing, not Quilting!

 Wow... I didn't get my list of August goals added to my blog.  Where have I been and what have I been doing? 

Fishing!  I went fishing on the west coast of Vancouver Island on Quatsino Sound.  It was a fishing trip that my husband really wanted to go on after watching many hours of fishing shows on tv and he really liked the sound of the place we decided to go to.  We were gone a week because we stopped on the way there and back at really good and very long time friends in Courtenay.  

Because of COVID, my husband was leery of going with a fishing buddy and he convinced me I would enjoy the luxury of this resort.  He was right!  It was fabulous and there were only 5 of us in the entire place plus a few staff and the fishing guides.  They treated us very nicely, fed us well and were friendly and happy.  All the rules were followed and temperatures were taken every morning as well as before letting us board the boat that took us from the parking lot to the resort.  Self distancing was in effect which made us all feel comfortable and our rooms were lovely and included satellite tv plus wifi... what more could a girl ask for?  Of course, my husband was happy since he got to watch the Canucks play.  But, who knew I would have to be up, have breakfast and be on the water by 5:30AM?  But, I did it!

    The last morning was lovely... a sleep in and a great breakfast of eggs benedict, cooked to perfection! And then saying good-bye to a very different vacation. 

Of course, I have to brag a bit... I did catch a salmon, first morning on the water and the only salmon caught by any of the boats that were out on the water for the duration of our trip.  Apparently, the salmon decided to head down the inside passage and not the west coast of Vancouver Island.  Lucky me! 

Yes, I am barely touching it... I didn't want to have to lean over the boat to wash my hands and forgot to bring hand wipes with me!  Icky!! Our great guide, Rooster.  A fun and patient man!!

We had fabulous weather and a first for me was taking the ferry from Duke point. 

And back home to reality... meaning laundry and another Moh's skin cancer surgery for my husband the next day.  But, lots of fish, all neatly filleted and vacuum packed as well as frozen for us in the freezer.  Mainly white fish (halibut, ling cod etc) but also my salmon!And the weather has been good so playing tennis every morning and it has taken me a few days to get back into my studio and accomplish anything. 

However, since the beginning of August, I have been working on my goal to get 9 quilts quilted... these have the batting and backing ready so I just have to 'do it'.  I have 6 of them quilted but they are waiting for binding.  I also have 6 preemies waiting to be layered and I will quilt them on my domestic machine and might wait until I am at retreat next month. 

The rainbow scrap challenge for August is purple so I made my purple bin plus a brown one since it is easier to make two at a time. 

Then I got to work on making my purple string blocks:

Plus I made the other two blocks that I am also doing for the RSC for 2020.  All are done and am ready for September's colour. 

I dug out my fabrics for my granddaughter's Harry Potter quilt.  Her birthday is coming up quickly and I need to get to work on this. 

But first... I read a blog this morning that was chatting about the Rainbow Scrap challenge and how they never choose brown as the monthly colour.... since I had made a brown bucket earlier in the week, I dug out my brown strips and was surprised that I have way too many for my container.  So, time to make some brown strip/string blocks to go with the others that I have done so far this year.  I think I could probably make an entire quilt out of brown strings! 

So, for the last week of the month:

- quilt flower garden

- quilt for Jane for QOV

- quilt for Darlene for QOV

- make binding for 9 quilts

- layer preemie quilts, ready for quilting

- make brown strip pieced blocks

- get going on the Harry Potter quilt 

If I can get this all done in the next 7 days, I will be very happy.  It looks like a full week of tennis, plus a haircut (yippee) and all the other usual things like meals, grocery shopping, housework, laundry and hoping that our new roof gets finished this week.  We have had a dumpster in our driveway for over 2 weeks and am tired of parking on the road.  

August and that means summer is on the way out.

The heat from the last couple of weeks has been a little too hot for my liking but we switched to playing tennis at 8am rather than 9 and that hour really helped.  By the time we finish at 10, the sun is starting to really heat up so a good time to quit.

Temperatures are supposed to be a little lower and maybe even a bit of rain.  If this was a normal summer, we would predict rain for the start of the PNE but since there are no fairs happening, who knows what the weather will do?

My July list ended up like this:

1. Quilt and bind Saratoga batik quilt
2. Quilt and bind Town Square #1
3. Piece, quilt and bind Town Square #2
4. Quilt and Bind Stepping Stones #1
5. Piece, quilt and bind Stepping Stones #2
6. Finish RSC blocks for May, June and July
7. Quilt and Bind 16 patch #1
8. Quilt and Bind 16 patch #2
9. Bind a quilt for my quilting buddy
10.  Trim and figure out how to make a quilt from leftover 16 patch bits
11. Finish Jelly roll ripples.. UFO This is now a strip block quilt top
12. Quilt for my granddaughter
13. Batik 2.5" strips kit #2: needs piecing quilting, binding
14. Batik strips #2: quilt top made - needs quilting, binding
15. Batik strips #3: quilt top made - needs quilting, binding
16. Red and white quilt top made - needs quilting and binding
17. Floral blocks made, need to be put together into a top, quilted and bound
18. Funky house block made for a block swap that I am NOT swapping .. just one block swapped

So actually, I accomplished most of what I intended or hoped to do.  That feels good.  I am leaving my list for August as I am behind on my organizing.

Some of the finished quilts: The Stepping Stones and Town Squares are quilted and bound.

All of the other projects on my list that were finished quilt tops are now with their batting and backings ready for quilting.  Not so sure I will get 9 quilts finished but they are ready to go when the mood strikes to load the B-line.

Two stacks of projects ready to quilt. 

I also pulled out my containers of Aunt Gracie /30's fabrics and sorted and tidied and then I began making some preemie tops.  I ended up with 5 preemies and one larger kid's quilt... again, more projects for quilting and binding. This is an August project and will spend a day cutting batting and backings and will spray baste these and quilt them with my walking foot on my domestic machine. The following pictures show my fabrics all organized, stacked and tidied and I felt totally overwhelmed with what I have.  I will admit that I have added in a few fabrics when making my quilts that sort of go with but aren't exactly Aunt Gracie's.  But that is ok with me if it means a finished top! I found half square triangles and flying geese blocks started plus a layer cake and 3 sets of charm squares.  So, a lot more projects with these fabrics in my future but I know where they are and what I have.  I am thinking that it would make a good retreat project?

So, that is my August so far... organizing quilt tops for quilting and getting some small quilt tops made.  I feel like I am stitching like crazy and not that much to show for it... but I did have some finished quilts in July so that is productive!

Time to sit and make my August list of goals.  Some other activities happening this month including my husband's birthday and roofers will be arriving any day to start replacing ours and that means a lot of noise.  Plus, of course, daily tennis and dreaded housework and laundry.  I also have some lovely cabbages to deal with and that means cabbage roll making but only when the weather cools off a little. 

Happy August!  Autumn is coming so enjoy our longer days with sunshine and happiness.