A quilt for Marme

My mom, (who goes by the name Marme) loves sheep. This started when my aunts (who go by the name of c.r.a.z.y), decided she needed to collect "something"...anything. It was an effort to make gift giving easier I believe. Crazy aunt Brenda collects rabbits and crazy aunt Peggy collects cows. I won't even say what my other crazy aunts collect. Anyhow, when Marme couldn't choose "something" to collect, the crazy aunts chose for her.

And our house was overwhelmed by angels, most of them naked, and very ugly. We had fat dimpled baby angels, whose perky heinies plumped out under soft real feather wings. We had snooty, tall and slender angels that had ceremic wings that drooped down their perfectly arched backs and puddled in the floor. We had pictures of angels watching people do all kinds of things...always watching us, those angels were. The problem was that Marme did not care for angels, especially the naked baby ones, and so in defense of her home being invaded by them, she chose to collect sheep. The sheep are cute, cozy, and all her sheep have such funny little personalities. Over Christmas she bought a porceline fatty sheep that is glazed in green and looks as if it weighs 400 pounds AND was sat on my a rhino. She has itty bitty beady eyes and in my honest opinion is the weirdest thing I have ever seen. But Marme loves her, and had been waiting until after Christmas (for Chrsitmas money) to buy her. Marme petted the ugly squatty sheep the whole way home and I swear I heard her mumbling, "I am taking you home now baby...taking you home." I think craziness might be a gentic flaw in that side of the family.

All that to say, my mother adores sheep. And my sister-in-law Carrie, knowing this, decided to surprise her for Christmas with this extrordinary example of beauty.


The top picture is my mother hiding underneath it because she is crying her eyes out and she doesn't want anyone to know it. Which is silly, because what else would she be doing under there...and she wasn't exactly quiet about it either.

Carrie is fairly new to sewing, and this is, I think, her second quilt. The entire thing is hand quilted, and is beyond lovely.

I am guessing my mother went to bed mumbling, half in her sleep, "Go to sleep my little babies, go to sleep." Because Marme is just crazy that way.