The Quilt Inn Country Cookbook

Aliske Webb

rolled on the ground to put out the fire, and then staggered to the front yard where help

finally saw him.

The burns and glass lacerations put him in the hospital for weeks. His hands

were the most severely damaged. He underwent several more weeks of rehabilitation

therapy. And another person was in the right place at the right time. His therapist nurse

happened to be a quilter and as a part of his hand therapy, she started him quilting to

regain strength in his wrists and mobility in his fingers. He found it to be a soothing form

of necessary exercise and just kept doing it when he returned to work. No one was

going to impugn this hero’s masculinity, so it became an accepted, if peculiar, thing

around the firehall.

Slowly, a couple of other guys became curious, then interested and finally

hesitatingly, joined in. Now it’s a regular clandestine part of their routine. Burly, gnarled,

scarred, big-knuckled hands around the frame. Add I’m sure their talk must sometimes

make the quilt blush.

Their quilts are usually appliques. Not flowers or gentle little things like ladies

might produce, but strong and bold like you would expect from men with hearts like

lions who face terrible, sudden, and terrifying dangers. Their quilts are full of movement

and life.

The problem became what to do with the finished quilts. Michael and I are

honored to be able to help. You see, when you visit The Quilt Inn, after you pass through

the front door the first thing you see is a quilt hanging from the railing of the landing at

the top of the stairs in the front hall. At the bottom of the stairs, Bruno, an antique

wooden carousel dog picked up at an auction, stands guard. The quilt is on display so

that guests from all around the country can see it and are able to purchase raffle

tickets. Each year, on the anniversary of the fire, Dan draws the winner, who receives

this wonderful gift by special delivery. All the funds are given to the local hospital.

Firemen, perhaps more than anyone in town, know the value of the care for human life

that a community hospital gives.

By the way, the children are fine now. The older boy wants to be a fireman too,

just like the hero who saved his life. And Sam and Jessie MacPherson are much

chastened and at least more attentive parents.

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Country Cooking