Friday, April 06, 2007

aunt estelle













This past Saturday, Aubie and I spent the day with Mom. As we were headed to my house, we decided to stop by the estate sale that my mom's first cousin Duncan (seeing as I can never understand the "once removed" and "second" and "third", we'll just say "mom's first") and his wife, Donna, were having. There were some really pretty things there, but a lot of the really cool stuff had been sold. But the coolest thing, in my opinion, was still there. No one had even thought of getting it. Or perhaps God had an angel guard it until I got to it : ) I have always heard about my Aunt Estelle (Leah was named after her) and her embroidery and tatting skills. I had no idea she quilted. I picked up this quilt top and was amazed that it had never been finished AND that no one had bought this treasure. Then Duncan told us that it was one that my great, great aunt Estelle had made--that some of the pieces were even cut from a set of Aunt Jamie and Uncle Lauren's (Duncan's parents) old drapes (the brown with black paisleys and dots). Most of the quilt is corduroy, and I have always wanted a cordoroy quilt. Just look at the detail she put into embroidering on the quilt top. I am not even sure how I am going to quilt this--I don't want to detract from her work. I also got these handkerchiefs. I wanted to take them all, but what was I going to do with 20 handkerchiefs? You've Got Mail, Emma, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and many other favorites--all have handkerchiefs in them. I have always wanted a hand embroidered one to call my own. I just wonder if there is any significance to the butterfly and the spiderweb. It's just such an interesting picture. It's almost like a something a superhero would use as their symbol or something, you know? Or maybe I'm thinking of something like "The Scarlet Pimpernel". Anyway, I thought it was cool. And the fact that Aunt Estelle did it, makes it all the more special.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

those are some awesome finds, saige! I love love love that quilt, I can't wait to see it finished up.

Karen said...

Hey, Saigie,
I think Aunt Stell meant that beautiful handkerchief with the "K" on it for her niece
Karen :]
...but then again she probably intuited there'd be a beautiful great niece named Kathryn Saige Dean coming along in 1976!
So glad you discovered some of her treasures. She was a treasure herself!