Recently when I wandered over to Pinterest (as we all are inclined to do occasionally), I spotted something that I totally fell in love with. Surely that has happened to you, too, right?
In this case, I read about a build-it-yourself quilt ladder which I promptly shared with the woodworker in our family. And...I just happened to mention to Tom that I would love for him to build one for me, but not just for me, but also one as a gift for a friend's birthday and one for my sister's birthday.
In other words...three quilt ladders! Tom's Honey-Do list all of a sudden became much more than one simple ladder. And this didn't end up being the quickie Saturday afternoon project I had envisioned...these ladders took on a life of their own!
Here he is after getting the wood cut to the exact dimensions suggested on the blog where I originally saw the ladder and then carefully measuring before installing the rungs:
Back into the garage to get started putting it all together:
Did you notice that the ladder has moved from the garage workshop into the living room?? For some reason, I've become quite accustomed to this practice! Ahem... 
Below you can see all three ladders being worked on...Tom's delicately putting wood glue into the pocket holes on the back side where he'll place wooden plugs over the screws that hold the rungs to the legs:
Time to put on stain! Thankfully the ladders are back in the garage for this step: 
And then outside on the deck. Notice Tom's high-tech system of juice bottles for holding down the drop cloth on this windy day:
This last one below is my ladder. Tom's re-sanding some imperfections in the stained legs and then will re-stain. I can hardly wait until it's finished so I can put some quilts on those rungs:
Like I mentioned, one ladder was for my sister's birthday. So when we went on our Spring Break trip to Georgia (Day 1, Day 2, and Days 3-4-5), it was the perfect time to bring the ladder to her.
The girls rode 8+ hours with the ladder between them stretching from the trunk to the front between me and Tom. After the History Tour in Georgia, we brought it back to South Carolina. Here's a picture my sister sent me showing her ladder already laden down with quilts:
The next quilt ladder made a journey to Richmond this past Saturday when we met with our dear friends Fred and Chris for a double date at Whole Foods:
Here's Chris after I gave her the quilt ladder. I think she liked it!! 
Since we only get together once or twice a year, she brought me an early birthday gift--a Colonial Williamsburg bird bottle! I love it!
Here I am with Tom on our double date. We had a very fun time with our friends.
When my quilt ladder is all finished and I've figured out where I'm putting it, I'll have to show you a picture!
~Deb
Tom-Your weighing down the tarp with juice bottles, was such a "Dad thing" to do. :)
Deb-The Williamsburg bird bottle brought back many happy memories, and 1 scary one. One of my co-workers told the story of when she was on "line duty" at one of the buildings, and was told to look up at the bird bottle. There was a large black snake wound around it. She was out of there, faster than you could say-peanut soup.
Posted by: Toots | Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 12:28 AM
Aren't talented craftsmen handy! Great job Tom! I love the photo of the two of you in blue.
Posted by: Rose | Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 07:05 AM
Love the matching shirts! Tom's ladders are a work of art. I still admire your whole family's willingness to sit with a ladder between all of you from your house to here and then back up to South Carolina. Looks like your sister and friend loved their presents.
Victoria
Posted by: victoria | Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 09:57 AM
Good job Tom!
Look forward to your ladder in use.
In the last picture I could really see your mom in you.Nice shirts.
Posted by: Tammy C | Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 10:36 AM
You are looking great and healthy these days. How did you loose your weight?
Posted by: Linda Gilless | Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 10:58 PM
Deb!!! I have been so busy I have not read your blog in a week or so...and then today I read this post!!! LOVED revisiting our lunch "double-date"!!! Always such a special FUN time when we get together. My sister in law saw the quilt ladder tonight and 'oooed' and 'awwwed' over it. She was impressed at Tom's excellent workmanship. Please tell Tom :) Those blue shirts show up so nicely in the photos, you couldn't have planned it any more perfect. ;)
Posted by: Chris | Sunday, May 03, 2015 at 12:10 AM
Tom is so inventive! What a fantastic job he did on those ladders and it's so awesome to see how much they are appreciated!
Posted by: Eryn S. | Friday, May 08, 2015 at 09:45 AM