After a day filled with code that didn't work and deadlines that aren't budging and phones that just didn't stay quiet when I needed them to, I present this response to a question that was innocently asked but just irritated me:  "What does modern quilting mean to you?"

Soapbox ACTIVATE!

If you go by date, I am a modern quilter, because I am doing a craft that my great-grandmother did, but I do it after a day of working on databases and writing code.

The 'red librarian' started out as a joke between Jacob and me. There's such a stereotype surrounding librarians: buttoned-up, prim, proper women. You know the type: butter wouldn't melt in their pursed mouths, nor would a sheet of paper wedge between their knees. But there's also the stereotype of the "lipstick librarian" -- the flamboyant, reactionary woman who rebels from that stereotype and creates her own look.

So, want to feel like you've done a Mariner's Compass star block, and an obnoxiously complicated one at that, without actually going through the effort of doing so? Thanks to my handy-dandy digital camera, now you can! (Full flickr photoset is available here.)

Some people have a bucket list. I get the general idea but I find the approach depressing. I'd rather think of the process of life instead of focusing on its endpoint; as a result, I refer to my list as a Life List.

#5: Successfully complete a Mariner's Compass quilt.

Definitely progress. It lacks horizontal sashing, and the final border, but this is very nearly a finished quilt top:

Sunday afternoon. I've done almost no sewing this week; I've been mentally drained out of proportion to my actual physical tiredness. Jeff and I took our first stab at geocaching yesterday with mixed results, but we intend to try again; today we caught a morning matinee of 'Sherlock Holmes' and then made a quick grocery run before heading home.

Jeff sleeps right now, having stayed up a good chunk of the night while the storms were rolling through. The cats, fed, are hunting for warm places to nap. A good Sunday, overall.