Heirloom crochet WIP gift

Hello Lovelies :-)

And welcome to Angela of Cottage Magpie (here) and to my Mum and Dad

who are new followers.

I had a fabulous surprise on Saturday when the postman made his delivery....

...a package from my mum :-)

Thanks so much Mum xx

I have no memories of this project and I would love to know if it was before my time or when i was very young.

Mum has always been a crafter of all sorts but I cannot remember seeing her crochet except for when mum taught me as a teenager.

So here it is...

...and some closeups of those tiny wee stitches...

...and the matching thread plus a yummy yellow ombre one (you know how i have a thing about yellow at the moment!)...

The ecru is...

Shade 609,  dyelot N564 

I don't think Coats produce cotton thread like this anymore.

I think I may make another cushion to go with the cushion I'm going to make with this.

Maybe I'll use it with the yellow fabric...

I know...another excuse to play!

(Oh, I nearly forgot....the pattern is lost but I may be able to figure it out.)

I will, of course, show you what the outcome is but it might be a little while as I am trying to finish the hand quilting on the vintage hexie quilt.

I'm making good progress.

********

Thank you all for your comments and emails on my last two posts :-)

I wasn't happy with how the last post turned out...

I was stressing over it and pushed myself to publish it in the early hours one morning

....not a good move as it caused me even more stress later that day when I realised it didn't read the way i had intended..

Oops!

Thanks for bearing with me.

Ttfn xxxx
Tracey

Rag or treasure

Hello lovely followers and visitors,

After reading Jacquie's blog (Bunny Mummy) the other day about the making of her patchwork peg bag - and the brilliant tutorial (that can be found here) -

I felt inspired to rummage through

my own stashed fabric remnants - its large because I keep very small pieces. 

Delving into it is like jumping into history.

Now you may have noticed if you know me well that i keep talking about yellow...

Sunshiney, buttery yellow...

So...

I was immediately drawn to little fragments of yellow, excitedly pulling them out and piling them atop my ironing board

As I'm all fired up from the Sew-a-long perhaps I could make a patchwork skirt...

...and then I searched the larger folded remnants in my cupboard

...and rediscovered this drawstring bag.

My darling Mum made this for me when I started school.

Perhaps it was for hanging plimsolls (similar to sneakers) or similar on my peg.

I LOVE this fabric and have done so since I was five.

Well this bag has sure seen some use and it's been around the world twice!

In New Zealand mum was very involved in 

Guiding - Brown Owl, Captain, District Commissioner....

- for about 21 years.

During this time mum used the bag countless times for Pack Holidays, Guide camps, leader's camps and trainings... you get the idea.

See, it's got my name beautifully embroidered in chain stitch and also mum's camp name in marker pen (latter not in this pic).

I started unpicking...

with my trusty 'quick unpick'.

I was a little excited... the bag is rather robust, it would have to be, it's 50 years old!

The cotton fabric is thick...I dared to hope it is double layered.

Let's see...

Oh, oh, oh lookie see... it is!

Mum gave me the bag after she left Guiding as I couldn't bear for it to be thrown out.

I know, I know, I'm very sentimental - you don't need to tell me :-)

The fabric is very worn in places - not surprising really!

The sewing thread is cotton and it's thick...

The top thread is the older one and the lower is hand quilting thread.

 Uh-oh, my name is sewn through both layers... decisions, decisions... 

I'm favouring keeping that bit intact.

Ok, so now it's completely unpicked (apart from the embroidery) and it's one large piece of fabric.

Dearest Mum, you made a wonderful job of making this into a bag for me all those years ago :-)

I cannot bring myself to use this 'precious to me' fabric in a patchwork skirt

...it needs to revel in its own loveliness...

Perhaps it shall become a small cushion cover for our bedroom where it's less likely to fade quickly.

I shall take my time and dwell upon it for a while, but not another 50 years.

Ok, 

so some people will think of this as a rag 

and me as crazy...

...too bad!..

I'm delighted that I can make use of this preciously sentimental, sunshiney treasure.

What do you think...

rag or treasure?

Ttfn xx