Sorry to hear about your sore hip and back, Kasha. Hope the pain can be relieved while you are healing. Jerry, sorry that you suffer as well and hope your treatments are helpful. Having someone else do the chores around home can be a joy as I found with my back problems this past winter. DH has been a trooper carrying things here and there for me. Happily I have worked hard in the garden digging up sod and edging beds the last couple of days and haven't had any back pain. I give credit to the strengthening exercises that I have been doing. Perhaps I am cured! Well, for a while anyway. Next week I go in for total knee replacement so no rest for DH for awhile.

Thank you, everyone, and Yayagal, it's nice of you to put it that way. Barbara and I are one month apart in age and have always had a good relationship even though we've almost always lived in different states. Our contact got more frequent after we were both widowed--and more frequent still after we got phone plans that allowed some free calling! It even survived the Presidential election, about which we heartily disagreed. Trish, I have one stinky boy cousin. He doesn't paint; nor does he knit. I never hear from him. :-)

These little things that whip up fast are so satisfying when the appliqué goes so slowly. ;> Plus, handwork is new to me so this was a useful object that I wanted to have available. I like that it stands up by itself when it's stretched out a little. It took less than 2 FQs but if you used the same fabric for the lining you could do it with one. You could also vary the length or depth at will. I used one 7"x13" section for the back pocket so that the flap was long enough to wrap over the front. I interfaced the front piece (1/2 of one 7"x8" piece) and the back one for a little sturdier constitution but the original blogger just seems to have chosen a heavier weight fabric than quilting cotton. I like the softness of hers. Thanks for admiring the orange print. I just had to pick it up when I needed the aqua piece for my appliqué project. They just seemed to go together so well in the FQ bin I wasn't going to be the one to separate them. ;>

I am having the hardest time choosing a backsplash. I am looking for the exact style you have. I have New Venetian Gold, and first took home samples of Ivory tumbled stone, but for some reason, it looks like a pinkish tone in my kitchen with that granite. I think I need a little goldish tone with cream for a better combination with my granite, also what makes it hard is that my cabinets are ivory. I could not find any tumbles stone with a gold tone but I did see porclein tile, that looks like stone, with a goldish cream color. I think I am going to get that. It is sort of a mono-tone effect, but soft. I will put somekind of design throughout the pattern or little mosaic tile. Susan-What color is your stone, it goes beautiful with you cabinets. Coocombs-what color is your stone. The venetian gold is a goldish brown color and your colors look too peachy or busy for my counter.