Ugh...

Remember when I said I had to finish my Bliss quilt before I could work on anything else?  Francine, my persnickety Bernina, decided to foil my plans!  I was happily free motion quilting along and it was past my bedtime, so I put things away and turned off the machine.  The next morning, I go back to work, and it starts skipping 5 or 6 stitches in a row!  I hadn't fiddled with anything!  So I tried everything I could think of to make her work again with absolutely no luck.  So Francine is at the Bernina store 4. hours. away!!  I've been without her for over a week now :(  I really wish sewing machine repair shops were like car dealerships - when you take yours in for work they give you a loaner.  

I've cut a few projects out and now I'm trying to work on a fall/autumn themed mug rug for a swap with my new Modern Quilt Guild.  I love squirrels and wanted to applique one holding an acorn onto my mug rug.  My problem is, I'm not sure it's as adorable as I was hoping, nor do I think it looks very modern.  This is my current layout.  Would anyone in a modern quilt guild want this in a swap?  What suggestions do you have to make this better?  To me, fall/autumn reminds me of traditional harvest images, etc and I have a hard time incorporating modern elements.  Oh, and yes, it looks like I'm hand sewing this puppy.


Thanks for any suggestions!