Quilt Ladder

Quilt Ladder, a photo by Life on the Selvage Edge on Flickr.

While at the quilt retreat with friends, we got to talking about ways to display our quilts that still leaves them accessible for use... I want to snuggle in my quilts! And that wasn't your traditional quilt rack sort of deal.

On the long ride home all by my lonesome, I got to thinking about ladders. But not leaning up against the wall as we didn't have space in our house for something like that. How about hung sideways, up on the wall??? Hmmmm!

Before I started looking around at antique stores, estate sales, Craigslist, rummage sales, ect,  I called my dad the next day to see if there happened to be an old ladder laying around down at what used to be my grandparents farm.    He said "I don't think there's one down there, but actually I just walked outside my workshop and I happen to be holding one in my hands right now."

Wow, Dad. You're good.

Ends up it was the ladder from the loft bed in my dorm room, freshman year. It was a homemade set-up that I inherited from my cousin. And since 1997 it's been sitting outside, getting all weathered up. Just waiting! ;) And bonus, FREE and IN MY HANDS!

It took a little bit of elbow grease to get it cleaned up.  For some reason, laying in a yard for 10 years things get dirty.  Go figure.

Then became the dilemma on how to hang it. Something to support it, but something that can hold it off the wall so that the quilts could be looped over. Menards to the rescue! In their shelf stuff there were the perfect brackets - they angle off the wall.

Armed with them, some special screws so we didn't have to try to find studs underneath the plaster and lathe, and my willing husband, we got that sucker hung up!   Thank you, honey!

YAY! My quilts have a home!

(And my dad said he was keeping close tabs on his 15 foot extension ladder. He knows the rate I've been quilting these days, that I'm going to run out of room awfully quick on the one we've got up there now!)

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