I wish you a good trip Jerry. I reckon it's one of those journeys you have to make but wish you didn't. I hope you are able to get there in time to see your mother one last time.

On other matters. I gave my wife the Gee's bend link; she recognised some of the quilts as there had been an article on the Gee's Bend quilters in one of the quilt magazines over here.

Here in North East England, there is also a distinctive local tradition. Quilts were often made out of a single piece of material - "whole cloth quilts", or of strips of material sewn together "strippy quilts". In either case they were quilted with a series of traditional designs and patterns which are very much regional in style - often known as Durham quilts. There was a similar tradition in South Wales but the patterns were different. In Durham quilts the patterns are very flowing where the Welsh quilt patterns were more geometric. We have a strippy quilt made by my wife on our bed at the moment, it consists of alternate strips of purple and white materials and the strips are quilted with a series of feathers and whorls. I had a picture of a small wholecloth quilt my wife made but I think it is on a CD somewhere.

By the way, I thought a saw a rabbit eating a carrot disappearing round the corner.