Yard sales and Creative Roots

So far it's been a great day! We had a nice drive up north to where my SIL's church was having a yard sale. You know those country yard sales where there's a whole lot of things and you never know what you're going to find? Well, I found some neat stuff! Do you remember those long wooden matches you used to find in wooden holder next to the wood stove? Dunno if they still make them. Anyway, I ended up with one of those which in itself wasn't a 'find' BUT it was chuck full of knitting needles which IS a find. I got a box full of new bottle caps, which are 'in' right now in the art circles for use in collages, jewellry and such. I picked up a new pkg. of "Made With Love By___" labels and roll of 1/4" masking tape which I quite often use to mark my stitching lines. A Manuscript Music Book (the picture on the front is pretty cool & the inside pages aren't even marked on), which is also good for art. An old book full of wood engraved pictures of flowers (also for art). Oh, and some pretty dessert dishes too. Jack got some 'man-things' ie. tools.

The big 'thing' of the the day is that I ended up coming home with two (count 'em) chenille bedspreads - one is at least a double bed size in white & looks brand new. I'm not sure what size the yellow on is (still in the washing machine). I happened to mention to my SIL in passing one day that chenille was back in style and people were making jackets and teddy bears out of them...so she saved these for me. Better yet, she paid for them. Pretty good haul, wouldn't you say?

Part two of this post is about "Your Creative Roots' which is the topic on Studio Friday this week. The first creative thing I can remember doing is, after watching my much-older aunt, learning to crochet making one of those hummungous granny-square afghans using cheap nylon yarn. Around and around in mind-numbing boredom until the thing got so huge I couldn't stand it anymore. To this day I don't like granny squares! She semi-taught me how to crochet and I went on from there to learn from books and magazines. I remember thinking it would be a wonderful thing to make everyone on my Christmas list that year a hand-crocheted vest (most likely using Phentex!!). I'm sure everyone, after the initial try-on, put them away, never to see the light of day again. Can't say as I blame them!

I went on from there into many and various crafts over the years. I can remember belonging to some sort of club (from the US) whereby you got a craft kit each month. Pretty cheap-looking stuff as I recall. I have learned pretty much all I know about crafts from books and have had very little formal teaching, other than taking ceramics and folk art classes.

I suppose my roots go back a couple of generations. Both of my grandmothers were quilters. My mother was good at drawing (which I really wish I had inherited a talent for). She spent a number of years in a tuberculosis hospital and learned to do a great many artsy things there, but never really pursued any of it in her later years. I have some of the tatted items she made from that period. My grandmother also did extremely fine knitting, mostly used for edging on sugar sack pillowcases. My dad was a farmer, but enjoyed making wooden things. We have a few of the pieces of furniture he made.

I guess you can say my interest in making things by hand is something I come by honestly. Right now my favourites are hand embroidery; crazy quilting; paper arts; and some knitting. I still like to crochet, but don't get around to is as much. Hand embroidery is by far my favourite though. There's something so soothing about making something with your hands.