Early in April of 2020, my husband was 'at work' over Zoom in the family room. My son was 'at school' over Zoom in his bedroom. I was sobbing as quietly as possible behind the sewing room door, the room in-between. I had to go to the grocery store, and I was terrified. Shortly thereafter, I read a post by Carrie Nelson on The Moda Bakeshop blog. She was giving away her pattern, The Village, for free and she encouraged readers to, 'draw strength from each other, and to find comfort in knowing we are not alone.' After weeks of sewing nothing but protective cloth masks, I decided it was time to quilt. I had a big bolt of sparkly, white fabric. Couldn't use it for masks. Maybe it would be a fun background fabric for a little house block or two? It was so uplifting, I made a bunch more - then dozens. I resolved to make a house with every happy scrap of fabric I owned. I added trees. I made one red tree, because there was one on the nearby hill - bright red - just visible from the sewing room window. I asked my best friend to leave some favorite scraps of fabric in a Ziplock bag in her mailbox. I couldn't visit her house in person, but I needed her in my 'neighborhood'. I thought a lot about the phrase, 'Make America Great Again.' What, exactly, would that look like? Coretta Scott King had just the right words. I drew them in huge colorful letters and embroidered them for the back. I added a seek and find. Because they're awesome. I named the quilt Quarantinewhile, after Stephen Colbert's bit on The Late Show, which kept my family smiling despite our difficult days. As I was stitching out the title, on the left side I made the letters green. My son was still safe in his room Zooming through school. On the right I made the letters green. My husband was still safe working in the family room. In the middle, there 'I' was. Loud, bright, in-your-face pink. The heart at the center. Still beating strong.