I've really been a bad blogger this summer, but it has turned out to be an incredibly busy summer and something had to give!  It's a shame when you're so busy with things to blog about that you don't have time to blog!  It doesn't help that many activities have taken me off the island and away from home.

Last weekend I took the bus down to the ferry and my sister picked me up on the other side.  We drove into Seattle for the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters Show.  Talk about sensory overload!  There were so many incredible quilts.  I took a ton of photos, but here are two of my favorites:

This quilt is Summer Afternoon by Connie Ayers and won Best Hand Workmanship (deservedly so!)

Hanging by a Thread by Bonnie Keller won Best Use of Color.  This quilt was mind boggling!  All of the shading in the women's faces was done with the use of fabrics, not thread painting.  Of course, I came home incredibly inspired and determined to create something to enter in their next show two years from now.  However, I had a deadline to finish a current quilt that has been promised for a show next weekend and really had to put my nose to the grindstone – or fingers to the frame as it were.  I finished it last night while watching the Olympics and it's in the washing machine soaking now.  Next weekend is our local guild's show and I should be able to get a good picture of it for you then.

Sis and I came back to the island on Saturday and were treated to a whale watching cruise by hubby.  It was actually my sister's Christmas gift from hubby, but I got to go along for the ride:

The day turned out to be on the drizzly side, but the Orcas didn't mind the wet and came out in force.  At times we didn't know which side of the boat to look on, there were so many!  However, for big creatures, they're pretty quick and it was almost impossible to get a good picture.  This is the best that I managed – I'll never be a nature photographer!

As a special treat, we did get to see a mock battle between the Lady Washington (featured in Pirates of the Carribean) and another tall ship:

And a fuzzy photo showing that knitting was indeed accomplished on the cruise:

Unfortunately my driver's license was a casualty of the trip.  I think it now sleeps with the fishes at the bottom of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Just to show that I have indeed been creatively busy, here's a photo of a quilt top that I completed for Quilts of Valor – an organization with the goal of giving a quilt to every wounded soldier:

And last but not least, yesterday I paused at the end of my driveway to chronicle the road construction (yet a whole 'nother story!) and was greeted by this little visitor:

This was one of a set of twins, but I couldn't get them both in the same picture.  He (or she) was quite inquisitive and let me get pretty close.  I didn't see mama, but I'm sure she was close by.  We've seen them up in my yard and have provided them a tasty meal with my rose bushes (sigh!).  Hope to have more quilty pictures next week from our local quilt show!