Not really MIA!

I haven't posted in a long time - just busy buzzing around!  I sandwiched a sweet little quilt made with "Scrappy Star" blocks, some made by friends in a block lotto.  The pieced back has some Paddington Bear fabric (do kids still read those books?), but after I had it pin-basted and quilted a few lines, I noticed quite a bit of puckering.  So I took out all the quilting and now have to re-baste.  But it's been muggy and I need a day when I'm feeling ultra-positive.

So I moved on to other projects:  washing the [vinyl] house, visiting Jim at the nursing home, roaming the town forest, taking a quilt to be quilted by the longarmer, taking the Opera House exhibit down, working on a round robin.  I decided to applique my round, so that is taking some time.  It's relaxing, though, and the Christmas theme offers an opportunity to use a favorite green and red color combination. 

I'm also working on a new sampler, through a swap I'm coordinating.   All the blocks will have navy Moda Marbles for the background.  When I picked my fabric up at the quilt shop, I was a little uncertain about the color.  It's motley with a grayish cast.  But after I made a couple of test blocks, I think it's going to be very nice.

I finished the six 9" Ohio Star blocks I planned to make, have cut out all of the Grandmother's Fan pieces and need to applique them, and made one Pieced Tulips block.  The navy looks really nice with a lot of colors, especially pastels.  Not too many people have signed up for this swap, so I am thinking of sending a couple of yards around for the guild Square Robin this year.

I've also been cooling my heels, waiting for Louise Penny's latest mystery to arrive.  It was just published, so maybe it will arrive before I start something else today.  This morning I finished the latest in the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths.  Ruth is a English forensic anthropologist who specializes in ancient bones and is a good character - overweight, a single mother, and with a few odd friends, including a Druid who always seems to be on the spot when she needs help.