And showing off the friendship star quilt that Karen made for Luke, too!

For even more (what? Didn’t that tell you everything you needed to know?), read on.

So, you know you want to see it again:

Skulls! On! Fire! Fayah, baby! (Yes, that is the actual name of the fabric. Minus a few exclamation points.)
Okay, it’s out of my system now. Actually, since we last drifted past one another the quilt has undergone quite a lot. This, for instance:

Many pieces add up to many strips. Ben thought it made a keen maze and wanted to step on it, but Chris wouldn’t let him, so instead he jumped from hole to hole. Ah, it took me years to understand negative space…

Then I put them together, the motley crew of ‘em, into a quilt top (which took a while) and began roping them in with Skulls! On! Fire! Um, actually, sculls skulls on fire became the inner border. And to finish with something totally not nautical, the outer border is Supernovae! Really. See?

Supernovae and Skulls! On! Fire! Warrant well for a newlywed nuptial quilt, don’t you think? I do.

So then I thought, why not show you the whole completed top? Okay.

What’s that, you say? Looks odd? That’s because it’s the underside! Ah ha! This is my exploratory voyage and you don’t get any quickie endings. You have to hang out with me until the end, when it is all quilted and bound and such, before you see the top of the top and the bottom of the bottom. Leviathan, bring it on. Deana and Glen have their love and Skulls! On! Fire! to keep them warm and you at bay. And Supernovae. They are warm too.

The work on this quilt is done in fits and starts, but I think it is really striking when a new stage is finished. Yay! The fishie path is a difficult one, but to those who can keep the faith the reward is quite nice.

Two small bits of stuff meet, greet, and make something bigger (perhaps better?) than their own small individual selves. Turn a corner, new perspective, trim off the unnecessary, take on new partners, become something larger or sleeker or more useful or stronger or more likely to survive. A 3″x3″ scrap of fabric may be destined for the scrap pile, a bird’s nest, or the trash, but a 3″x3″ piece may join others to become a 14″x24″ piece which joins others, and that is just too big to toss. And too pretty. (Who says beauty isn’t an evolutionary trait?) Warm is nice too…

Let’s all put on birthday cake hats! And eat some of this fine birthday cake quilt!

Fabric was, in fact, harmed in the making of this photo. I admit it.

Don’t you like the way the strips curl up on themselves as they feed through? Like seaweed, curled and waving in the water as your submarine slowly drifts down past it. DIVE! DIVE!

There are too many kinds of freaks.

That’s ordinarily not a problem for us. We protect our freaks, no matter what kind. But I’m having trouble thinking of a complete list, let alone designs for them all, so I need your help. Where should I start? What kind of freak are you?

• Transit Freak
• Neat Freak
• Sci-Fi Freak
• Space Freak
• Plant Freak
• Super-Freak
• Geek Freak
• just plain Freak
• other (specify)
• some kinda freak, i’m not sure what
• I’m not a freak, freak!

And remember, this is for posterity so be honest. Include as many categories as you think apply. For instance, I’m a Transit Freak, a Sci-Fi Freak, a Space Freak, a Science Freak, and a Geek Freak. Like they say: I’m not just the founder, I’m a client.

So let your freakness shine. What kind of freak are you, anyway?

UPDATE: Just to be clear, I’m looking for your complete list, not just the freakishness that isn’t on the list yet.  Be complete!

The rules: Inspired by the works of Jules Verne. Photos have been sent to me to give the feel which interests them. Think From the Earth to the Moon, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I have found fabrics that I find to be rich and interesting, that remind me of the journey from our iron-rich core to the stars. The names I have given them for reference: deep red, molten brown, Asian flowers, Tron. There are skulls and novae and sharks.

I give you the first photo:

These are the candidates. Who gets included? Left behind? Stay tuned… though I’m pretty sure the blond kid and the train will be axed. From the quilt, that is.