Thursday, May 29, 2014

My Grandmother's Paintings


My grandmother learned to oil paint when she was older and she got creative by painting Texas flowers and old buildings. Some of them were not so good so she gave those to her family. We all accepted them graciously and hung them whenever she visited. She kept the good paintings for herself.

My niece, Allison, visited my grandmother and was offered one of her paintings. "Pick whichever one you want," my grandmother said, so Allison chose one. My grandmother said, "No, not that one." So, Allison picked another, and another, and another only to get the same response from my grandmother, "No, not that one." Allison ended up not taking home a painting and really didn't want one after so many "No, not that one" responses. Apparently my grandmother didn't really want to let go of any of them.

There's a point to this story, really there is!

Over the Memorial Day weekend I was lucky enough to have all four of my nieces and some of their daughters come into my little sewing room for a "showing" of all my quilts and projects. They sat on the floor while I dragged each piece from my closet (I wish I'd taken a picture because it was so cute!) I was amazed at how many projects I had accumulated from all the blog hops. Those sweet girls ooo'd and aaah'd each piece I brought out. I was so touched by their kind words! 

Allison was there and said she'd love to have one of my projects, as did the other girls. With so many girls sitting in my sewing room, there was no way I could start handing over quilts without really thinking about which ones I wanted to give away. Because I hesitated, Allison (who has a great sense of humor like the rest of my family) teased me by saying, "No, not that one." We had a really good laugh, again, about that story...it's a story none of us will forget!

My closet is overflowing with so many quilts and things, but since I've given almost all of my family members something I've made I don't want them to be overwhelmed with my quilty stuff. There are several pieces that I want to hold on to for sentimental reasons, but I'll let my kids and nieces pick what they want from the rest of the quilts because I definitely don't want to be like my grandmother! I'd rather see them enjoy the quilts now rather than after I'm gone.

Bruster's happy that I'm sharing this one with him. When I laid it on the bed, he crawled right under it!
It was among my first attempts to embroider something...I'm a little better at it now.

I think this sounds so much better...
"Yes, you can have that one." 

6 comments:

  1. Hmm, this has a familiar ring to it. I am only holding one quilt (well two as one was gifted to me and the other I made for myself) and the rest is gifted, sent to charity, or sold. Guess I'm not that sentimental.

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  2. Cute story. I have given some away, and a couple of quilts I have made for specific people. I have watched families "divvie up" people's belongings after they are gone and it gets so ugly. Which is so very sad.

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  3. Cute! Well, you can't take them with you but I also understand wanting to hang on to special pieces. My Grandma had a quilt closet and when I got married she said.. "pick one"... I got to pick the one I loved the most and of course, it's still tenderly loved in my home. I remember thinking that I'd never be able to give away a hand made quilt that took so much time and effort, but now I know that giving them away is as rewarding as making them.

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  4. What a great story and memory. Yes, that one does sound so much friendlier. Sharing our creative fruits is joyful.

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  5. Hehe. Very funny. I would not have the space to keep all of them.

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