Midnight on Mars...
involves a really cool bed. This bed was made by one of my brothers, Craig. He cut down the trees and dried them and peeled the bark off, and tada- after many hours, produced a very fine bed for my sweet SIL. Now that wasn't a bed, I mean bad, anniversary present! Craig has always like carpentry, I think. This the point in the blog that, if you are squeamish, you ought to slide down to the next paragraph. One day, about 15 years ago, I was paying my parents a visit, since my other brother David and his family were in town. We arrived at the house together and I didn't notice how quiet David had become when we started walking towards the door. David is a carpenter and he immediately noticed some things amiss. Like the garage door still open and the blood on the deck. A friend was home to greet us with the news that Craig had cut his thumb and another finger off. Beccie and I burst into tears and David quietly got up to clean the deck off before my mom got home from work. I think that was the most thoughtful thing I can remember David ever doing- not that he isn't very thoughtful, but I know he was just as upset as we were, maybe more, and that he was thinking of how upset my mom would be and was doing what he could to make it easier for her. Craig came home, minus one thumb and a whole lot of stitches in another finger, looking pale and stunned. My dad looked absolutely grey. It's hard to see your children hurting. I think Craig was 20 and he was making a new pulpit for the church. He is quite recovered, now, and when little children ask him what happened to his thumb, he just says, "Didn't you know? This is what happens when you pick your nose with your thumb." And he demonstrates.

The blue and white quilt was made by a dear family friend, Miss Darla, but it has served as the main quilt in the house for 15 years, and the binding has been replaced. It's time to put it into semi-retirement. The "twisted sister" quilt above, was made by my mom and is called Midnight on Mars. You see, she had all this fabric that she had been collecting for a quilt called Picnic on Mars... but in the end, I suppose she changed her mind. I'm glad I never do that. ahem. She added some of the blacks and darker colors and said that it looked more like Midnight on Mars. She picks very good names for quilts. (Judy, you should ask her for ideas for your quilt names.) I keep getting these pictures from my SIL, Lisa, of the finished bed- think they are hinting that they would like the quilt to be finished, too. As the weather doesn't allow me to get out and about, today, I'll be working on it and seeing if I can't finish it before my mom comes to visit- so she can do the binding! Can you believe it is snowing after all that sunshine? I have started doing one of Darcie's topography meanders in the two outer borders. Only mine looks more like burled wood- I obviously need to spend more time studying Darcie's fine examples. It always amazes me how each quilter's work has characteristics unique to the quilter. A meander is one of those simple designs that looks very different depending on who did it. Some have very short waves, some look like puzzle pieces(mine to tend to be this way), some have long lines in them. So Darcie's Maps look more like wood when done under the Nines interpretation- but I still think I could get closer to the look of hers- if I got a closer look at it- hint hint. But since the burled wood look is already in, I'll just finish with it. It looks nice, anyway.