Switching gears from travel to being home, I looked over my list of August goals this morning. I made a good start before traveling last week but there’s still lots to be done.

• Quilt 4
• Assemble 9 patch and hearts top
• Start piecing a bowtie quilt
• Bind 3 quilts
• Finish the seashell stripe blanket

I started by working some on the seashell stripe afghan – I finished up the 3rd Big Cakes today and I’m thinking I’ve got at least 3 more to go before the blanket will be long enough to have the length to width proportions I want.

I was just about ready to go into the sewing room when I heard a bit of distant thunder and thought I’d better check the weather forecast to see what I need to work around this week … looks like lots of storms but at least the temps aren’t in the mid 90s!

I’ve also got a couple appointments this week including one to check out a new longarm. I’ve been waffling back and forth about replacing my longarm for a year now and I think I’m finally ready to do it.

Keith met me at the airport and took me right to dinner! PF Chang’s!

Maureen was busy today too and already has her binding made and sewn on … let’s see how long it takes her to hand stitch it down!

I drove Mom home today. I don’t fly home until tomorrow so I had time for dinner out with my brother, brother-in-law, and Mom.

But, before and then after dinner I coached Maureen through making a Quick Strippie. I let her choose her fabric from my stash (FaceTime!) and then I cut and kitted the project to bring with me. She has made quilts in the past but it’s been a while so she needed help.

The top was done before I left for dinner and I’d gotten her started on pin basting it so she could quilt it when I got home.

I’m kind of shocked that she got it all made today but she wanted me to trim it for her before I left so she kept working until it was quilted. It still needs to be bound but lucky for her, she has Mom here to help because I head out early in the morning!

Mom and I head back to my sister’s house tomorrow and then I’ll fly home on Sunday so I’m starting to think about what I’m going to work on when I get home.

I know I want to get three more tops quilted this month so I was looking at my quilt photo album to see which ones were waiting. I love picking 2 colors (sometimes with the addition of a neutral and sometimes without) and making a scrappy quilt and brown and green are a favorite combination for me.

I have this Flock of Geese waiting for quilting but I haven’t decided yet if it’s going to get done this month.

This Carpenter star also uses a neutral along with the brown and green and I love how it turned out. (This quilt and the next one have already been finished and donated.)

My Forest Bricks quilt uses all different shades of green with a single brown fabric and again , it’s one of my favorites.

What’s your favorite two color combination?!

Doesn’t Mom look happy to see everyone? That’s her sister and brother with her in the top photo.

Nope, I’m not choosing countertops … I decided it was time to do some funeral preplanning. About a year or so ago, I decided I wanted our cremation remains to be interred at the cemetery in Newport News where my Dad is. Keith agreed and one of the purposes of this trip was to make arrangements.

They have separate areas in the cemetery for cremation remains but I kept asking about whether we could have a bench (it holds the ashes of 4 people) in the section of the cemetery my Dad was in. At first they said there was nowhere in that section that a bench could be placed but after some back and forth they came back and said there was a space. They said they will remove the bush in front of Mom, place the bench, and then re-landscape around it.

You can’t tell in this photo but Mom is looking right at Dad’s grave just a couple rows away (it’s hidden behind the bush in the photo). I’m so happy, I never thought I’d be able to get so close!

We visited Dad’s grave while we were there and placed flowers. My sister-in-law is buried nearby and we put flowers on her grave and my sister’s husband’s parents are there too and we put some on their grave also.

After we were done at the cemetery in Newport News, we drove to North Carolina and visited the cemetery where Mom’s parents are on the way to our hotel and left flowers at their grave.