A few quick updates...

Bessie Jane arrived today. In an odd twist of fate, given the [likely] maker's maiden name -- Spurlock -- she was probably a distant relative of Jacob's. Yeah, Jacob, my quilty co-conspirator. Now, admittedly, when I bid on this quilt top on ebay, I felt confident in its quality, but I can tell you that when I opened the box today, I was delighted at its condition and quality.

After six nights in the dark, my power returned last night. I am immensely grateful that my house escaped the widespread devastation that can be found in my community. I've posted my photos of the devastation and its aftermath to Flickr; I did not seek out damage for photography purposes, but it was everywhere I went. it took a few days to rescue Tenzing from the vet's, thanks to this mess in front of their building:

I've set up a page at http://domesticat.net/quilts/consult for some of the questions I get over and over when I'm working on quilts for someone. I wanted to demystify a bit of the terminology and process of making one. I've told people that for te most part it's more painstaking than difficult. You don't have to be a technical master, but you do have to be accurate in your cutting and sewing.

The correct answer to "How much did UAB bill Blue Cross Blue Shield for Jeff's stay?" was $557,501.66, which means our winner is Susanna Leberman, assistant archivist at the Huntsville - Madison County Public Library. Her guess: $550,013. Well played!

Susanna works on the same floor of HMCPL as I do, and has followed a lot of my quilts from beginning to completion. Since she works in the library archives, she has a strong interest in historical preservation, and says that she didn't get a quilt when she got married ten years ago.

Thank you, all of you, for helping turn $557,501.66 from a jaw-dropping, heartbreaking number into something that has good connotations for me, for Susanna, and for Jeff's family. I could TOTALLY be convinced to do this again when the HealthSouth tally arrives. :)

I've needed care labels for some time, so I decided to do something that would work for both new and old quilts alike. I've ordered a yard of quilt-weight cotton to be printed at spoonflower.com with this repeat: