Robert and I have spent the day packing. Today was spent packing small things around the house and smaller pictures from the walls. I am fortunate enough to have framed pictures of 4 generations of one side of my family, including the marriage license and photo of my great, great grandparents, and Robert has a photo of his dad (Sicilian) as a young man and let me tell you, he looks like his name should be "Carleone!"
I had a good time because I realized how many times I go into a certain room and feel comfortable because the things I like are in that room, but how much do I really pay attention to them? How much do you pay attention the the things that surround you? I collect pottery, and although I don't have a large collection, I have some pieces that I have always enjoyed. The small bowl that I took a snapshot of was purchased probably 10 years ago. I don't even recall where I purchased it, but it must have been a private gallery as it is signed on the bottom. Now this piece was in my small 1/2 bath on the main floor of the house, and I had all kinds of decorative soaps in it, therefore the design was hidden. When we were packing the items from that room, I took a good look at it and fell in love with it all over again. Silly? Maybe. Maybe not! I get inspiration for designs from all kinds of things and today I connected what had drawn me to the piece and what it had inspired.....what else, but a quilt. I love the little quail on the piece and at that time had wanted to create a "Folk Art" looking quilt, and the quail really charged my imagination batteries and an entire quilt emerged.
This quilt is traveling the UK right now in the Championship shows there, and the photo doesn't really do Mary Nordeng's gorgeous quilting justice as she quilted the most incredible feathers on it that I have ever seen, but I thought I would share it and encourage you to have a good look around your house once in a while. It's amazing what you might find to jog happy memories - no matter how small it is! The quilt is called: "Birds Of A Feather".
What a wonderful quilt and for the story of its beginnings and inspiration! The colors are beautiful together and I love quilts with birds on them!
ReplyDeleteI keep trying to ask ... why are you returning to Colorado? If it is too personal, that's okay, too!
ReplyDeleteHi Sammi! Nope, it's not personal at all. On July 7th I posted part of a book I am writing, and it is only one part that I wrote late one night before I went to bed. My best friend in Durango said to me when we told her we were coming home: "Why don't you stay in the South? Everything is so much cheaper." Well, I sent her what I had written, and she called me the next day and said: "It's time for you to come home."
ReplyDeleteWe have tried it here for two years and I think that a person has to be where their heart is. I have a very creative personality, and I am a "western gal". Everything that Robert and I love (except our little family here) is in Colorado. We lived there for 24 years on at least 5 acres. We spent time in the mountains 4-wheeling. The beauty takes your breath away. It's like living in a postcard. I want to look out of my office window and see the wildlife, the mountains, the Ponderosa pines instead of traffic, traffic, traffic. We want to see the beauty in both summer and winter (and the fall too). Shopping Malls are not our idea of what to do when you have a few minutes off of work.
We want to show our grandchildren one of the most beautiful places in the United States, and that is SW Colorado. I want to put them on Susan's pony and buy them little cowboy hats. I want them to see rainbows and "fire in the sky" sunsets. I want them to see the wildlife and learn about nature. I want them to see what a blue sky really looks like.
So - that should tell you that we got very homesick and that is where we have to be. Another biggie is that our entire creative team is there and we miss them and our friends.
We will get our little family to Colorado. Dallas spent the best 4 years of his life there. Read what I wrote on July 7th. I also have a lot of research to do for my book, which is based around the history of Durango, and although it will be fiction, it is based on my family heritage in Durango, which goes back to 1886.