I've been missing in action!

YIKES!  It has been 4 1/2 months since my last blog post!  Mea culpa!  My apologies to those who have come to read my post and keep finding the same old thing!

Yes, I have been busy.  In February, hubby and I went to North Carolina and visited with his family who live in the Raleigh area.  We had a super time, and yes, I did visit a quilt shop!

This was located in the town where Fort Bragg is located.  Sorry, I can't remember the name of the town.  But the shop was super, as well as the staff!  Worth looking for if you are in that part of the country!

We also were busy remodeling our sunporch into a sunroom!  We added a Fujitsu mini-split HVAC system, took the siding off the walls (which had been exterior) and had drywall and trim put up, and covered the painted concrete floor with vinyl!

My HQ SweetSixteen is very happy in her new home!

Our beloved Scooter became ill.  We were his parents since he was 6 weeks.  He was 11 1/2 years old when the vet felt he had a liver and possibly a pancreatic cancer. With not much hope for a successful treatment, we elected to put him to sleep.  I stayed with him until his last breath.  Hubby was absolutely devasted.

So in March we adopted a 5 1/2 year old dog named Kelvin!  He is a mixed breed, toy fox terrier and lots of other breeds!  But he is very a good dog.

We enrolled him in manners class with our local humane society.  He graduated top dog with 5 gold stars!  I think who ever was his first owners must have trained him, as he quickly knew all the commands.  It really was a class more for us!

So back to quilty things.  My local guild holds an auction every February.  It is an opportunity for members to clean out their quilting studios and raise money for the guild.  I hit the mother lode this year.  I got this Ott Lite, brand new in the box, for $45.

The major find was this Euro-Pro steam iron.  It was in the silent auction, unbid on.  I got it for $30.  It was brand new, never used.  It retails for $250!  It is fantastic for pressing quilt tops.  The steam is great!

I also found this pile of signature blocks.  What drew me to buy them was the top block, which was signed by a member who had passed away last year.  I had a mystery to unravel (literally) as the blocks looked like they had been sewn together, then deconstructed.  Where did they come from?  Most, if they were dated, had 1999, although one was dated 2000, and two were dated 2009!  But all were the same style!

Using piecing skills I learned at a Kaye England  workshop, and a design I worked up on EQ7, I made this quilt top!  I showed it to a couple of guild members who said it was from a signature block swap done in 1999-2000.  The person who donated them no longer belonged to the guild, and it wasn't outside of her norm to deconstruct something.  The two blocks dated 2009 are still a mystery.  I asked the two ladies, and they don't even remember making them!

Finally, I have agreed to be a "ghost" quilter for my friend Mickey Depre!  Well, maybe not ghost.  I guess I could be called a stunt double quilter!  Anyway, here is one of her designs that I have stitched for her!  Please check out her Craftsy class if you want to learn more about Pieced Hexies.  But, BEWARE!  Hexies are addicting!

This brings you up through March!  Stay tuned for further updates!