Pillows, 67 years in the making

In the last year both my godparents, my father's brother and his wife, passed away.  He was the last of my parents siblings.  After my cousin cleaned out the house and distributed what was to go to the children and grandchildren, she generously let each of the nieces go through and select something for ourselves.  I chose a cake plate and an embroidered dresser cloth.  My cousin told me that my aunt had done the embroidery on this cloth when my uncle was serving in Korea during the war.  They were newlyweds and she wanted to make some things for their housekeeping when he returned.  She was training to be a nurse while he was away.

The cloth had embroidered flower basket designs on each end that were in good condition.  However the rest was in terrible shape. There were large holes, small holes, brown spots. I soaked the cloth in Oxyclean for several hours and got most of the staining out.  I was amazed that the embroidered areas were unharmed save for a tiny shadow and one tiny hole.

The embroidery was a youthful design so I thought they should go to some of the younger girls in the family.  I cut them up, added quilt fabrics in a log cabin design and turned them into pillows. The purple pom pom fringe finished the outside.  On the back, I was able to use the only other salvageable thing from the cloths, the lace, on the zipper plackets.  I embroidered my aunt's and my initials on the back as well.

This week I was able to give the pillows to their new, young owners so they can have a little piece of their great grandmother for themselves as their time with her was too short. She lived across the road from my parents and was part of my life for over 50 years.  My mother only recently told me that my aunt was in the delivery room with her when I was born.  That must have been comforting for mother because back then, dads didn't go in with the mother. So typically a new mom would have no one she knew well there with her during delivery.

My aunt was someone you could always talk to and seek advice.  She paid attention to our lives and was a joy to visit.  She and my uncle even sweated (literally) through a 3 hour graduation ceremony in a gymnasium when I finished college.  I loved them both and I miss them.  Working on the pillows was a gift to me as well.

Soon I'll have a new scrapbook process video for you to kick off the new year.  Be safe as you travel and celebrate the arrival of 2019.