I’m happy to report that I am caught up with all three of my Block of the Month (BOM) projects, that is until Tuesday when April blocks are available 🙂 Below are the Frightful Fun blocks designed by Kristy Lea of Quiet Play Designs. Toil and Trouble measures 18.5″ square unfinished and the six Dem Bones that are 6.5″ unfinished.

This is the first time that I am participating in a Murder Mystery Quilt BOM hosted by Deborah Moebes. She’s been doing this for several years, and the locales change every year. Last year it was set in the Greek Isles. This year’s  expedition is in Machu Picchu, and the protagonist, Dr. Kitty Campbell, is a botanical archeologist who reluctantly solves crimes on her expeditions. The chapters have been fun to read especially since I’m a murder mystery junkie. I particularly enjoy books that are written in series with characters that I get to know and care about. Some of my favorites are Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache books, Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series, Cormoran Strike books by Robert Galbraith (pen name for J.K. Rowling), The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman, and Sue Grafton’s Alphabet series which unfortunately ended with Y is for Yesterday because she died before she was able to finish Z is for Zero.

Earlier this month, I completed the Murder Mystery February’s block as well as March’s block. For both of these months, there were three options, and not surprisingly, I chose to paper piece both blocks. What is much more surprising is that February’s block also had some raw edge applique which is definitely not my forte. I used a blanket stitch to sew on the circle in the middle of the paper-pieced sun. It looks okay, but don’t expect to see a bunch more raw edge applique projects any time soon! Though come to think of it, I’ve been wanting to make a sea glass applique quilt for awhile. So we’ll see! The block below measures 18.5″ square.

I felt much more comfortable paper piecing the 9.5″ square llama option for March for the Murder Mystery quilt.

This month’s block for the Starry Signs BOM is the constellation, Pisces. The block below measures 15.5″ x 12.5″.

It was fun joining the SAHRR 2025 Quilt Parade. Below is a photo of my friend, Sue, holding her new quilt.

I also worked on a Tree of Life quilt for my best friend, Mary, that I sent off to Sew Colorado Quilting. I didn’t take great pics of the quilt top or quilt back. I’ll share photos after I finish the quilt and can hang it outside on my shed.

For next month besides finishing Mary’s Tree of Life quilt and working on April BOM blocks, I plan to make a baby quilt for Stacey Lee’s Quilt Donation Drive 2025. I have a couple other quilting-related things going on which I’ll share about in my #2025QuiltingQ1CheckIn post that I’ll be writing in the next week or two.

Circling back to some of my favorite murder mystery books, I’m wondering if you have any recommendations for good books to read–mysteries or other genres. I belong to a women’s book group, and we read a wide variety of books. Currently we’re reading Frozen River, a historical novel by Ariel Lawson. Other recent books include Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout, and The Backyard Chronicles by Amy Tan.