Just plain busy

Since we got back from Provincetown, we've been on the run most of the time.  I am falling behind in my Austen Family Album block of the week, and I decided to wrap up my Loyal Union Sampler  with just four blocks to fill in what I had.  I knew I would tire of this project, so early on I resolved to make a Nearly Insane block each week, too.  Now I have 48 blocks, set diagonally with solid gray fabric in between the blocks.  This makes them really show up.  Here's my final block, A House Divided:

I spent the last few days putting all the center blocks together, and finished today.  It took some concentration!  I put a 1.5" border around and am now working on "piano keys" for the outer border.  That takes some time and quite a bit of cutting.  I need to cut a little more tomorrow so that I might actually get one side on.  It's turning out quite nice - think I'll take it for long arming, though, since the plain blocks need something curvy.

I'll be teaching an applique class on vines, leaves, and circles next Saturday, so the rest of the week I'll need to spend a little time pulling things together.  It should be fun, and offers some motivation to work on the appliqued border for my "ocean" quilt.  I have three quilts waiting for borders.  That seems to be where UFOs are born in my studio these days!