this and that

I have a couple of "relics" to share with you again! I have been doing some rearranging of storage and closets,thanks to spaces opened up by the transfer of Brita boxes from here to her own home. During that process, I have come across some things that I made in years past.

This rug was my own design, it was made with a latchhook and hundreds (thousands?) of pieces of yarn cut about 3" long. I used to buy the canvas and yarn packs from the Lee Wards store that was in Columbia Heights in the late 70's. That was the first store I remember going to that would qualify as a "craft" store, and I thought it was heaven! Michael's bought out Lee Wards back in the mid- 90's, so it is no more. :-(

This next little gem is a reflection of my period of counted cross stitch obsession. This particular project must have been an omen of my cross-over to quilting! I learned to do counted cross stitch in the summer of 1976 when we lived in Tom's Place, CA. Bob's cousin, Sandy, showed me the way when we visited a little shop in Bishop to buy supplies for her needlepoint project. That got me hooked for a good long time, I liked the fact that it was relatively inexpensive and very portable, which fit well with our lifestyle at the time.

When I pulled this picture out of the storage box, I had to sit down and think for a bit about the memories that it brought back. This was done in 1986 during a very rough time, and completing it felt like I was finally pulling out of the crap and was able to create something pretty again. Do you have memories like that tied to things you made? To the casual observer, it probably looks like any old stitchery, definitely 80's (would look good with the harvest gold and avocado green appliances!), not very remarkable. I actually remember thinking that putting these stylized quilt blocks together was symbolic of putting the pieces of my life back together. It's good to have this reminder of the past.

Last weekend we visited my parents and I found our bed made up with this pretty antique quilt.

Really quite nicely stitched, but I don't know who made it. It was so soft and comfy. I'm glad I had the chance to sleep under it!

Just finished listening to Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, quite the story! Very long and detailed, describing life in medieval England. There is a TV mini-series that would be fun to watch now, after spending all this time (32 CD's about 1 hr each) absorbed in that world and the characters. Now I have no recorded book to listen to in the car so I will have to get to the library!