hobo quilt

if any of you know me you know that i am really close to my granny sue. my granny is one of the funnest, funniest , um naughtiest and most creative and giving people that i know. one fun little quirk i love about her is that she gets " stuck" on things. for example her love of pirates truly developed about 7 or so years ago... now every year we have a pirate party that includes any and every imaginable pirate thing ever created. well lately she has been stuck on hobos. apparently they have some sort of code that they would scratch into things so that the next hobo to arrive would be wiser to their surroundings. read more here. when i was trying to come up with the perfect christmas present for granny and grandpa it all of a sudden hit me! i needed to make a hobo quilt. what exactly is a hobo quilt you ask? well since hobos were kings of recycling a hobo quilt is also recycled. i used old cord pants, some of james old work shirts, cloth napkins, place mats and anything else that looked good. the next step is to embroider and applique hobo symbols onto the quilt. next step will be to have my ever so generous and kind to offer mother in law quilt it to the soft and cozy flannel backing. then comes the worst part, the hand binding... oh how i hate binding, oh how i hate hand sewing, but i'd do anything for grandma, so i guess it must be done. here is the first step- finding the right layout. more to be added later...