My Nan

Sunday we went to visit my wonderful Nan (my Mum's Mum) where she cooked us lunch, we dug up a tonne of strawberry plants and the raspberry canes that she doesn't want and came home with 2 large bag fulls of crafty things that she had sorted out for me. My Nan is just an amazing lady - at 83 she still does loads of stuff; cooks fantastic 'proper' food; embroiders the most amazing cushions/pictures/boxes plus loads of other pieces; is a do-er; stayed married to a man who was a bully for 60 years, but still misses him now he's gone. She's a true inspiration to me. Right - some of the stuff she gave me:-

Fabric (above 2 pictures).

Old cards cut up to re-use (glad I'm not the only one who does this).

Embroidery silks from kits she has previously finished.

Old embroidery silks - just gorgeous.

Handmade lace by a Great Aunt, amongst newer lace.

Modern non-cotton lace.

One of her WIP that she didn't want to finish - I'll just add it to my list ;-).

Rather embarrassing really

I needed something calming yesterday so I sorted out my material into cotton/poly-cotton/other type piles and then thought I'd start on some of the other shelves. The cross-stitch shelf has a fair amount of used patterns that I've kept, and a rather embarrassing amount of kits that I've started and haven't finished from the last 17 years! So to shame myself into finishing them (one day) I've added a new section to the side bar lists. Anyone else care to own up to half-completed, or barely started, crafts? Go on, make me feel better................please.

On a slightly better note, I found the above cross-stitch which used to hang in the living room when I lived with my Mum, which I am going to re-mount and hang in my new hallway. I also found the small embroidery which I didn't even know she had done - so this is the only example. This too will also hang in the hallway when I have mounted it properly. I'm going to use the embroidery hoops as I love to see them hanging on walls with embroidery in them.

And finally, one finished granny square blanket - yah. Although it's not very big (probably just over a metre square), it covers my legs when I'm sat on the couch, so that's big enough for me. Actually, if it were any bigger it would be very heavy as it's made from cotton rather than wool. It is lovely and soft though, so perfect for me.