Treasures

I have lots of family treasures in my home.  Lots from my  family and quite a bit from my husbands.  Many are on display but some are hidden here and there in little drawers or closets.  I came across  a plastic bag filled with some of my Grandmother's things the other day.  I carefully took them out for a photo shoot then put them all back.  Some are stained, I did not want to take the chance of them getting more damaged, so it was a quick trip outside.  Want a quick peek?

 This must have gone over a little dress, it is open in back.  I imagine it was for someone in my Grandmother's family, possibly her youngest sister Rhoda, probably made by my Grandmother's hands.

 This is my Grandmother at the age of 14, the other girl in the photo must be her younger sister Ruth.  Her much younger sister and her older sister died of the flu, 10 days apart.  My Grandmother came home from nursing school to tend to her family.  She must have been devastated at the loss.  I am not sure she ever got over the loss of her sisters.

If you could just see the detail in these pieces up close, of my!  My Grandmother was unbelievably talented with a crochet hook or thread and a needle. 

 I didn't even want to iron these, so they looked beautiful and flat.  A quick peek in the sun was all that was allowed.

 

I remember her  slips and pillow cases all had beautiful crochet edgings on them.

My Grandmother also was a quilter, I think my sister Claudia was the only one to inherit that skill from her.  She made us all quilts and  crochet afghans. They were plentiful in my house growing up, but where are they all now I wonder?  I have one quilt that she made me when I was just one year old, it was my wedding quilt.  I'll show you pictures of that another day.

My Grandmother was a force to be reckoned with.  She was fiercely proud and independent, in a time when women were not meant to be so.  She learned to drive later in life, and her 5 foot tall body could walk faster than me with my long legs.  She always let us have chocolate milk with our dinner, and she never made us eat our vegetables.  She always had a jar of sour lemon candy in her house, they was so rough they scratched the roof of your mouth when you sucked on them.  And she taught me how to crochet when I was just a little girl.  Of course I promptly forgot and had to be taught again by my sister, actually several more times.  Finding these little works of art made me remember what a great woman she was.  Yes, there was some difficulty with her too, but I like to remember all the good stuff.