Shedding a Light on Countdown

My short blog from Monday evening was my attempt to let everyone know:
1.  They arrived.... C, H, and juju used 5 weeks to get to San Francisco.  Mick flew out there on Sunday afternoon, and arrived back 31 hours later.  For the latest highlights and advice on travel see:  Juju's Story.
2.  The quilt that needed to disappear by Labor Day... is finished put away.  I tried.  Really, but I overestimated my abilities.... (Maybe in November... or... who am I kidding?  It will be lucky to surface again in my lifetine!)
It's a "real" scrap quilt.  I'm making it because at a weak moment I decided to bust my fabric stash. I don't know what size I'm making or why or for whom, and no pattern--I'm just throwing pieces together.  Well, if that throwing bit were true, I'd be finished by now, yes?  So instead, I cut some pieces and look at it, and I look at patterns, and I sew and I move it around and... can you see why I'm not done?  I really put time in yesterday, as in 12 hours with a few hours off, and I added one (ONE) strip on one (ONE) side.

When I got the call that my family would be arriving in 4 hours, I put it together enough to make sure that when I get it out again, I'll have a plan to duplicate, and no more thinking involved. Now it's all nicely stowed in a tub to be forgotten  for just the right moment.  Good: There were lots of fabric removed from my stash. And snippings got thrown OUT. Bad:  It's in another sort of stash, labeled "UFO's".
2.1  The room needed to be useable tidied up to prevent a 14.5 month old from doing real damage to herself (i.e. ironing board, scissors, pins) or to me (i.e. unsorting of piles of pieces, and a place to sleep).  Here's before:

And after:

I like before and after pictures that have a happy ending!!

3. Will have to wait.  The dress that fits.... Juju is wearing it! Sans button:  See Princess Top.

Now do you know why I'm smiling??