...And back on the horse again

I have been remiss lately.  No sewing....no posting.  Yikes.  Finally organized my super-hectic life enough to dive back in this weekend.

First up, I finally got around to doing the practice block for the Lucky Stars BOM - you know, even though I did the Jan.-Mar. blocks.  What can I say?  I'm a rebel.  Ha!  I still need to do the April block so its on my hit list for next weekend...or this week....maybe.

I'm really liking the fabric/colour scheme I chose for this.  Can't wait to have enough blocks for a full top in December

Then, I REALLY had to get on quilting the Keystone Lodge quilt.  I'm running up against a deadline in early May and as much as I want it to, this thing isn't going to quilt itself.  I chose to piece the back.  This is the reverse side of it on my living room floor.  I had to move all my furniture to make enough room for it.  I used some of the scraps from the top (mostly since I will NEVER use it for anything else...if you can't tell, I still harbour some thinly veiled hate for this thing).

Step one of basting included ensuring my dog was firmly ensconced on the couch...sleeping.

Can I just say for the record, that I DO NOT comprehend how folks pin baste.  I spray baste....and I still think its too much work.  You people who use safety pins deserve some kind of patience award.

There she is - all ready to get quilted.

Then acting on a tip from my quilty friend A, I decided to measure and grid my quilt using painters tape.  I want to create 2-inch squares as the quilting but to avoid crossing into any of the circles.  This will be an exercise in patience, hopefully made more simple by doing this:

I'll letcha know how it goes as I go along.

Next step is quilting.  I think it will be relatively straight-forward.  Just straight lines using my walking foot.  However, if there are any tips as to what to put in the borders, I am all for it.

Let me know!