OK, call me selfish!
Call me a hoarder...
Call me what you will!
My darling mother in law is feeling the need to clean out...
...remember, I am feeling the need but am having trouble following through.
Anyway, she means business!
She brought down a basket of things that if I did not want were headed to the thrift store...
I calmly took the basket from her and told her that I would look it over and anything I didn't want...I would take to the thrift store...
...or was it church sale...
...I don't know...I was hyperventilating...
I actually don't remember what exactly it was that I said...
My lovely 88 year old mother in law has many talents...
...quilt making has been one of them for the last 3o years...
She also is a historian and has a long family history in our town....
...and many family artifacts and treasures...
Several of her antique family quilts have been on display at the American Folk Art Museum in NYC...
...(that kind of treasure!)
In any case, she brought down a basket full of pieces of old quilts, unfinished blocks and wooden spools of silk thread, etc. that she was willing to pass along to someone who could use them or who would want them...ahem...
As she put it...she probably doesn't have time left to get to all these projects that she has been saving... hoping that she would get to one day.
Between you and me... my amazing mother in law, who has always eaten all the basic food groups at every meal and still walks 3 miles every day...
... probably has more time left to finish projects than I do!
She certainly has the skills!
This little vintage hat brush was included...
I love that it was from an actual Hat Shop in NYC.
This is a piece of an old blue and white quilt that is quite threadbare but still so pretty and charming...
Oh, the work that went into making this so many years ago!
These wonderful things may end up at a thrift shop or church sale some day...
...but not today!
Not on my watch!
Thanks Mom!
I'm quite sure she knew they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon!
For those of you who know my dollmaker friend, Evi...she has started her own blog and introduced a brand new doll today...you can check her out HERE!
:) Hope you are having a good week.
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48 comments:
Great collection
Are you breathing normally yet? - lol
Oh I'm so glad they mean a lot to you and will stay with you! They are beautiful and even more so that they come from family! Love the little bits and pieces!
Umm I would like to help her out and take the next basket she wants delivered to a thrift store or church sale. love the old wooden spools and quilt, great for framing.
You are blesed to have a mother in law that is a treasure her self.
Hugs,
Melissa
I do believe the best treasures come from family members...I have many that belonged to my great-grandmother that I know I will never part with.
Oh my ! Heck ya ,I would be hoarding those little goodies too! Thank goodness she let you look at them before taking them to donate!
Oooohhhh!
You are one lucky girl, but then you know that, don't you?
Cute post. You made me chuckle. I have been the recipient of these treasures in the past. You just know you will find something to do with them some day, right?
I am sure you are very proud of the mark your mother-in-law has left in the area.
By the way, your blog is one of my favorites.
Laura, you are now the keeper of well loved and time honored treasures! So sweet! ~ Angela
Great treasures - glad you appreciate them.
Hope you are enjoying your week.
I need that little chubby spool. That size is lacking around here. How nice of you to take it off her hands. Then again it's a collection to cherish of the very things your mother in law used for the quilts that were on display at a museum. Repeat after me not hoarding...cherishing.
Such a sweet story...I love the goodies! Lucky you!
Stella xx
Oh your mother in law sounds so sweet. I hope she has many, many years left to do whatever she likes.
Great items and with such history. How nice for you!
you are absolutley correct. do not take to the sale,but keep them. :) Bestest,Denise
Hi Laura,
Your mother-in-law knew the perfect custodian for those beautiful treasures. Lucky you!
Marjorie
What a score Laura. You have been given the best treasures of all time, hammy downs from family. XO MARY
I 'hoard' these sorts of things as well! Love the silk threads! Jamie V in MT
Fantastic! Thank´s for sharing a hyperventilated moment!
Now I will check out the doll-maker :-)
Love from Liv
OH Laura...what wonderful goodies...and so great that they are from your mother-in-law! I wouldn't let go of them either!
What great treasures she is sharing with you! She sounds like a good MIL, giving you a basket full of love! I am enjoying Evi's blog,
Annette
Wow! What a treasure!
Such a special gift and treasures to cherish!!
Karena
Art by Karena
I always dream this and the moment I want to sort things out or take a closer look I wake up or worse, somebody wakes me up! Love the brush too, those letters mmm tdf! Have a nice day playing with your treasures. Oh before I forget, those kinda samba ball music instruments must be some tools to use for mending socks and other knitted fabrics right?
quelle chance de trouver des trésors comme cela dans sa famille.
Ma fille dans de nombreuses années j'espère...va trouver des boites avec des patch pas finis .
Bonne journée
manon
What a sweet story and special mother in law you have. Great treasures for you to keep! Blessings, Vicky
Ciao Laura! Your mother in law is a very interesting old lady and very talented too! She gave you a lot of charming treasures!!!! Very nice story!!! The chopped tree in the strange lady's garden is exactly the same you saw in September!!!!
It's now very hot here...Summer is finally arrived!
Have a nice day!
Vale
Oh, treasures indeed! I love the fact that they are connected with someone special too - when I've found smaller examples of this kind of thing, I've always been left wondering who had collected them and what they'd done with them. It's lovely to know the history of what you have!
OMG - I would have fainted!! What a gorgeous collection of treasures she has given you. Lucky you!!!
What a wonderful basket of goodies, love all of the wooden spools-enjoy!
Funny, I just posted about vintage sewing notions that my Mother-in-law gave me MANY years ago! They are yummy and I don't blame you for hyperventilating! SWEET! Have a blessed day my friend! HUGS!
Oooohhh lucky girl, those are very lovely treasures moreover they are blue: your favourite colour I know!
Tank you for passing and leaving your lovely comment!
Have a nice week you too my friend
It's a special gift, I can see why you want to keep it. And do good, so many memories from the past to save xx
What gorgeous treasures - and for more than your own hyper-ventilating reasons you could never take these to the thrift store.
So many beautiful treasures and you will cherish them.
Debby
Bonjour Laura,
Looks like you've hit the jackpot. Yor mother-in-law sound like the best treasure of all though!!
Enjoy your treasures.
Mimi
Laura, your mother-in-law sounds amazing! What a treat to have this basket of treasures from her. So wonderful and special, my friend.
Laura, What a blessing your Mother-In-Law is....I doubt mine has ever threaded a needle!
The blue and white quilt defintly defines her talent. I still want to know where you keep all your 'things'!?
Blessings,
Susie
Ohhhh those are wonderful treasures from your mother in law ~ I love them !!
WOW, what a wonderful treasure your MIL is and then for her to give you so many DELIGHTS! HoW SWEET!
Funny little story, my friend and I went to GW yesterday and I was telling her about the needlepoint dog in an oval frame that I got there a few weeks before for $5. I couldn't bear the thought that someone had spent so much time and then a relative would toss it. Then the next week I saw a SAME sized needlepoint of a bird in a rectangular frame for $110.00 at the antique store. Moments later low and behold Julie comes across a CREWEL work lily of the valley signed Merry Christmas, love Betty 1971! With more digging, I found her the sister framed yellow daisy's also by Betty! They are just LOVELY! If they were cross stitch I could pass them up but not needlepoint or crewel! ;-)
Oh...to see your MIL's house! I would have been hyperventilating too! What wonderful treasures (but if she's like my 81 year old mother she doesn't see the same beauty in her old sewing notions like I do).
Jane
Hi Laura, What a wonderful box of family treasures! How lucky you are to have such a sweet MIL !
Bella
You are such a good DIL, Laura ;-) I will take some off your hands if there is too much for you to store (WOWZA!!!!)
Did i tell you (ten times?) that you are in my first of the morning class at Silver Bella? My friend, Donna, too. We will find you and give you some chocolate (or a hug, one or the other).
Suz
You are a lucky daughter in law ...She has so many treasures ...
What amazing treasures she found. So glad you caught these before she gave them away...that would have been so sad.
I can see all of these beauties hung in a shadow box so they can be appreciated and not put in a drawer. What a sweet gift! I don't blame you...I'd have said "no thrift store" either! Good choice! ;-)
Hugs, Diane
How wonderful - what a gift! I'm afraid my mother is not a hoarder but a 'chuckerouter' - my sister and I still mourn the loss of the dolls and treasures our grandmother sent us from her travels around the world when we were little girls. I have to confess to sending many a Laura Ashley frock to the charity shop - oh the foolhardiness of youth - it doesn't always pay to listen to your mother!
hey are beautiful and even more so that they come from family! Love the little bits and pieces!
PPC Advertising India
Here is what I would call you: SWEET! SMART! and BLESSED! I am so glad that you are keeping these lovely treasures, and I pray that your mom-in-law has LOTS MORE time left than she thinks!!
Ah ha! The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Those of us who are hoarders usually have at least one - and usually several - family members who have passed on the gene/love of keeping history alive!
My grandparents, on my mom's side, kept EVERYTHING and had stories for ALL of it. My dad is a national historian for an organizatin of retired army veterans. And he is quite the collector himself. So I guess you and I get our love of all things vintage quite naturally, Laura. ;)
Hugs,
Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
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