While I sewed this morning I had the TV on the History Channel. First I enjoyed a program about the brain, and why we tend to believe people in authority.  Pawn Stars came on next, and the first item up was a patchwork quilt for the nation's Bicentennienal made from autographs.  A woman had sent silk squares to famous people (entertainers, political figures, sports stars, etc.) asking them to sign the fabric.  Once the silk pieces were signed and returned to her she embroidered over the signatures before turning the blocks into a one-of-a-kind quilt. The man wanting to sell the quilt (for $50,000!) was (not unreasonably) asked to prove the authenticity of the 'signatures' since they could easily have been forged - at which point he offered the envelopes in which the signed silk blocks were mailed back to the quilt maker.  Not sure how he came to be in possession of such a quilt (assuming it's the real deal) since it seems to me that a piece of Americana like that belongs on display someplace such as the Smithsonian, or the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY. A handwriting expert spent over 100 hours over the course of 2 weeks trying to determine the authenticity of the quilt, and she said while some of the signatures were actually written onto the silk others were transfered.  Pawn Stars declined to buy it for $50,000 (unsure of finding a buyer for it) while admitting having no idea of its actual worth, guesstimating that to be "somewhere between $5,000 and $100,000".

I finished quilting one project late this morning (yay!) so now I just have to bind it.  Maybe I'll get that done this afternoon now that I'm home from from lunching with the ladies.  There wasn't really enough time to get started on the binding before Jeannie picked me up, so I used my time wisely <g> and unpacked much of my suitcase.  With a little effort I should be able to finish that up during one of my quilting breaks and then put the suitcase back in the garage today.

Also checked in with the computer repair folks before heading off to lunch since they couldn't contact me via the home phone number I had given them.  (Our land line always stops working when we get serious rain because the water pools in the low spot on the patio, right where the phone wires go down underneath.)  I gave them my cell number to use instead, and they called during lunch out to find out if I wanted them to now go ahead and fix the problems (to the tune of $60) - which was a definite yes!  Sure would be great to get the computer back today...

Lunch at Pita Jungle with Jeannie, Gina, her mom Marie, and Vicki was fun.  My falafel pita hit the spot, and Tom was happy to lunch on the cilantro hummus I brought home for him.  Sure smelled yummy when I walked into the house - his chocolate banana bread loaves were almost ready to come out of the oven.  Somehow he had spaced out one of the necessary ingredients, and thus had to make a last-minute run to the store for cocoa powder before he could actually bake today.  (Sounds like something I would do, right?) Boy did it taste good!!! When Tom told me I was supposed to let it cool before eating (I'd grabbed a chunk of the overflow from one loaf that spilled over onto another one) I in turn asked him how long he'd known me.  <G> It must have looked like a good idea, though, because just a few seconds later he was taste-testing a chunk also.

When it finally stopped raining this afternoon, I took the opportunity to do some weeding out front.  Not as much fun as sewing, but I've gotta strike while the iron is hot (or the ground is soggy!) The patches I cleared look so much better without foot-tall weeds sticking up.  Sadly there are plenty of weeds still left, but I certainly didn't want to over-do it (with regard to my back OR hand.) And just in case, I'm off to soak in the hot tub.