A Piece Of Love, A Burst Of Colour

Many years ago....

My lovely Mum stopped off at a yard sale. The house belonged to an elderly lady who was selling up and moving into a nursing home.  She had all of her treasured possessions on tables all spread out hoping to make some extra money. I cannot begin to imagine how heart wrenching this task was for her. Not only was she giving up her life as she knew it but she was giving up all of the possessions that held so many of her life's memories. She had antique furniture, linens and plenty of bric-a-brac.

I remember my Mum calling me and being very excited about what treasures she had found. She bought quite a few pieces from this sweet old lady. My mind leaves me for a moment for what they were, but I do remember the elderly lady being quite sad at having to part with her life's treasures.  She had been through wars, depressions and recessions and had worked hard for what she had.

I remember her comment to my Mum that she was so pleased that my Mum was buying some of her things because she knew that they would be treasured and looked after.

One of these treasures I was lucky enough to have been given.  On that fine day, my Mum had purchased two of the most beautiful 'yo-yo quilts'.  They had been lovingly made by the elderly lady herself during the war. Scraps of any pretty fabrics lying around would be hand worked into tiny little pin wheels of love and become a 'yo-yo'.  Then when all of the yo-yo's were complete they were hand stitched together to form a quilt cover for a bed or a sweet little cushion.

One of these quilts that my Mum purchased is now a treasure of mine.

To be quite honest I had forgotten all about it until a couple of days ago.

My friend Andrea from A Cottage Market and some of her friends are having a linky party and tomorrow they have invited other bloggers to share a beautiful burst of colour and creativity. It was at that invitation that I remembered my beautiful 'yo-yo' quilt and I knew that it would be perfect.  I am now sharing it's beauty with you.

This little treasure found me  standing on a chair to get it down from a storage trunk on top of a cupboard. It had been locked away for quite some time.  Now that it has been unearthed I plan to give her a gentle hand wash, make a couple of small repairs and then pop it onto my daughters bed in time for Spring.

I just love the stories that go along with crafts of days gone by. Possessions were made with such love and care and anything that was torn or ageing wasn't cast off to the bin, instead it was simply repaired and it was good to go again.  Possessions were treasured and not just taken for granted.  I love that this elderly lady treasured this old quilt so much that it has lasted the tests of time. It is not faded, stained or torn. It simply needs just a few stitches to rejoin a couple of the yo-yo's.  I think it is well worth the repair and as I take to it with my needle and thread I will think of the lady who has probably long since left the earth and I will give thanks that she took the time to sew with her heart and her soul and the result was simply beautiful.

A rainbow of colours to warm the heart.

Little pinwheels of colour, lovingly cut and stitched by hand.

A labour of love

and made of scraps.

and all together it equals nothing short of spectacular !

I love the BURST OF COLOUR !

.....and as I dodged raindrops which sprang from the sky, a burst of sunshine came out.......

just for a minute.......

I like to think that the elderly lady was looking down on me and her beloved quilt and smiling.  She beamed her wide smile and rainbows of colours appeared.

Not from the sky this time.........but from her work of love.

Pop on over to A COTTAGE MARKET and you will see that the rainbow continued across the world. The world is shining brightly with creativity and the love of imagination.

See you all tomorrow

Melanie

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