Cherished Family Mementos: Textiles

Ever since I was a young girl, I've been drawn to textiles.  My cousin has had collections- the largest (and in my opinion the most useless) being a collection of salt and pepper shakers.  I remember her asking my grandmother if she could have her salt and pepper shakers after she died.  It was the first time I think I had heard someone discuss that.  The first time I was exposed to an idea of "Well, put a note with your name on it."

But I love textiles.  My mother used to have a tea towel with three purple cats on it.  I was probably still in the single digits when I asked her if I could have it when she passed.  My mother laughed and told me it probably wouldn't last that long.  She's right.  I have no idea where that tea towel went.  For all I know, we may be using it as a polish rag with those purple kittens long faded away.  I'm not too torn up over it.  I'm not even a cat person.

But I love textiles.  I have a hard time letting go of blankets, throws, and quilts.  If my granny crochets a new Afghan, I'm usually there hovering asking if I can take it home.  My philosophy is you can never have enough blankets right within reach to bundle up in, especially on icy winter afternoons or breezy summer nights with a bonfire.  I want to pepper my home with blankets that the women of my family have created-- made with their own hands, so it is their embrace and hands that warm me.

I love textiles.  My favorite wedding gift was a small baby bonnet. It originally came from one of Bigbad's aunts and was given to Bigbad Mama for Bigbad to wear home from the hospital, but when you take out a stitch it becomes a handkerchief for a bride.  I wish I had remembered to grab it for the ceremony, but at the time I was fixated on remembering the certificate and other big important, "let's make it legal" shtuffs.  I wish I had grabbed it because it certainly could have been useful for all the joyful tears I cried.  I'm saving it though.  If/when I have a child, I'm going to tie those ribbons underneath the roll of newborn cheeks and take that baby home in the sweetest, most sentimental bonnet and he/she can have it for their own wedding day.  Hopefully, I won't have as much to remember then.  Hopefully I remember that I'll probably cry and need to bring a tissue.

Mom has quite a bit of lace.  Bits and pieces of it from her wedding dress, from my Great Granny's pillow cases, from dresses I wore as a child.  I love them as an assortment, but every now and again I try to think of a way that I could use it and make something pretty out of it, something like a shadow box full to display on the walls.  If my house is surrounded with blankets, the walls may get jealous too.

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