A Sweet Memory

                                                                                                 

On Saturday a friend brought me this little apron. She had been helping with cleaning out the house where her neighbors Grace and Paul had lived for many years, (the house in fact, that Grace was born in,) and my friend hated to see this sweet little bit of Grace's life (tiny rick rack and fabric from, I think, the Forties) sent off to the thrift store. Knowing how I too loved Grace, she brought it to me.

Grace died in'08 and her husband Paul went not long after. Their house has sat empty for years, but now it has sold, and several good neighbors took on the Herculean task of clearing out the accumulation of stuff to make things easier for the new owners. 

Grace was such a loving soul -- she was one of the models for Miss Birdie. I still miss her--and am so happy to have this sweet memory. I'll likely hang it in the pantry, next to the feed sack towel I saved from my grandmother's kitchen.

Talismans . . .

Go HERE to see other posts about Paul and Grace.

                                                                                 

Snow Birds--Mostly Cardinals

Our bird feeders did a brisk business yesterday -- at one time I counted six male cardinals but could only get three in frame.

 All of these were taken through not-very-clean double pane windows. But it was way too cold to stay outside.  

The suet feeders were popular with the woodpeckers -- Downy or Hairy, I'm not sure which this was. There was a handsome Red Bellied one too but he was quite shy.

There were juncos and goldfinches, wrens, sparrows, and blue jays, along with this distant crow.

 But it was the cardinals that hogged the camera.

Love Your Neighbors

This is a nice thing: folks from my county -- some natives, some longtime residents, and some who just got here are coming together to raise funds to help Neighbors in Need, a local organization, provide heating assistance to low income families.

It began when my friend Mary Maupin had her own on-line sale of some of her beautiful paintings and collages, donating half of the proceeds to Neighbors in Need. Her generosity inspired these other folks to organize this massive flea market and more.

Some nifty items are going to be available. Above is a mixed media piece from Mary -- who records the beauty of our mountain coves and villages in gorgeous colors. 

Look at this vintage radio! I have a feeling it's going to be a popular item. Lots more great stuff is coming in -- antiques, arts, crafts.

Foe those of you in the area, this is sounding like a pretty big deal -- and for such a good cause.

MADISON HAS HEArT has a Facebook page with  more pictures of things that will be on sale, like this beautiful piece by a local potter,  and more information about donating...

I've been getting together a box of various nice  items to donate and then I realized what would be perfect -- a Madison County antique quilt.

Some years back my dear friend Grace Henderson, knowing my interest in quilting, gave me a box of string-pieced quilt square --"The last squares Mama pieced," Grace told me. They'd been machine pieced on squares cut from the pages of a Sears catalogue --very traditional.

So I put the squares together with blue sashing, layered the top with batting and backing, and tied the whole thing with red crochet thread. And then I gave it back to Grace and her husband Paul. 

And a few years later, not too long before her death, Grace gave it back to me.  I've never used it, other than to take it with me when I did a talk about quilts or to hang it up as a decoration.  I love to think that it might be auctioned or raffled to help provide warmth -- both for the buyer and for some county resident who needs help this winter when the nights are so cold and fuel oil so high.

I think Grace would be pleased to have her quilt used this way.  As they say around here, she was the givingest somebody. . .