Distracted by magpies

Before we left on vacation, I made a few string quilt blocks.  The basket that I throw "strings" into was overflowing.  I sorted them between neutral and colored, and I cut some cheap newsprint-like paper into 8.5" squares for foundations.  When we got back, I made a bunch more squares, some all colors and some just neutrals.  Now I'm putting them together into a resulting 50" x 50" scrappy quilt top.   It's looking good and won't take long to finish.  It'll be another project to practice machine quilting on.  I'm waiting for my Craftsy order to arrive with backing fabric for a couple of quilts, but I think I'll go to Joann's for some wide higher-quality muslin, too.

Meanwhile, yesterday I just couldn't resist sitting down to read a good book I started over vacation.  It was getting really good.    Anthony Horowitz' Magpie Murders is a story-within-a-story, and several murders need solving by the end.  A book editor, Susan Ryeland, starts reading a manuscript by an author who has recently committed suicide... or was he murdered? 

The manuscript ends abruptly without a conclusion because the last chapter is missing.  When Susan goes looking for it, she finds that the author's life and the story have quite a bit in common.   Did the author really commit suicide?  It's a super story, or rather two stories, and as a result, I spent half the day finishing it.  I even delayed dinner because I had 5 minutes left in the book.

Today, I'll get back to putting the string top together.  I think I have enough large strings to cut out a binding, too.  My order of battings arrived before we left, so "all" I need are the backings.  But maybe I'll start another book this afternoon.  I have two new ones waiting on my Kindle - To Die But Once, by Jacqueline Winspear and Just in Time, by Marie Bostwick.  They are both favorite authors' latest books that I ordered pre-publication.  There are only a few authors I do this with, so the choice of which to read first will be a toughie!