In the beginning of this month's challenge, I wasn't terribly excited about the color scheme, and had almost decided to just wait for the next one, and concentrate totally on "memories" of back in the day when I was young - and needlepoint hadn't so many possibilities. Recently, a friend sent me a picture by e-mail of a sunset with a windmill, which immediately triggered memories of west Texas, where I grew up. In the 40's, when I was a child, the rural landscapes were full of these lovely things, which by the late 70's were almost gone. Standing against a gorgeous sunset, this one makes quite a dramatic statement. Due to a lot of dust in the air, a west Texas sunset is quite gold/orange/red, and if there are hills in the background, the layering is a soft, dusky blue, as in the colors Sharon B. has chosen for us.
This triggered an idea, of course - if I were a quilter, I would know exactly what to do. However, I do have an option, as there are threads in these colors somewhere in my stash at some level in the 
boxes and drawers - and I could surely, if I try, do a needlepoint version of my imaginary crazy quilt! Further intrigued, I went to one of my favorite sites - the Jigsaw Puzzles - and looked under "nature scenes - sunsets" to find more pretty pictures
. (I am totally addicted to this activity now, and it is a must with my morning coffee). Do any of you remember back in the "good old days" when we were children, and the jig saw puzzle in the box was a family occupation - or at least two people? My grandfather used to do this with me, and it was lots and lots of fun and togetherness - and leaving the card table up for days until it was finished. A great birthday or Christmas gift was a new puzzle to work. Doing it on the computer is nice - but rather solitary, and not nearly as satisfying. Of course the "togetherness" we had before TV and computers will never be the same. I even remember "corn shuckin' and pea shellin' and quiltin;'" as community projects. (but then I'm older than dirt.)
This triggered an idea, of course - if I were a quilter, I would know exactly what to do. However, I do have an option, as there are threads in these colors somewhere in my stash at some level in the 
boxes and drawers - and I could surely, if I try, do a needlepoint version of my imaginary crazy quilt! Further intrigued, I went to one of my favorite sites - the Jigsaw Puzzles - and looked under "nature scenes - sunsets" to find more pretty pictures
. (I am totally addicted to this activity now, and it is a must with my morning coffee). Do any of you remember back in the "good old days" when we were children, and the jig saw puzzle in the box was a family occupation - or at least two people? My grandfather used to do this with me, and it was lots and lots of fun and togetherness - and leaving the card table up for days until it was finished. A great birthday or Christmas gift was a new puzzle to work. Doing it on the computer is nice - but rather solitary, and not nearly as satisfying. Of course the "togetherness" we had before TV and computers will never be the same. I even remember "corn shuckin' and pea shellin' and quiltin;'" as community projects. (but then I'm older than dirt.)
2 comments:
We STILL put puzzles together. I often sit with my mom (who's almost 80) and work a puzzle for a little bit with her. The best brand, bar none, is Springbok. We always know what to get Mom for Christmas, birthdays, and so forth. Dad'll join her if it's a winter scene or there are a lot of neat little scenes within the puzzle, but on big complete scenes (like the "Grand Finale" Springbok she just finished), she basically goes it alone.
I remember my first Springbok puzzle I got for a birthday present when I was around 10 years old - 500 piece, round, with fairies on it and some saying about friendship. My "best friend" and I spent a Saturday putting it together on the floor of her bedroom!
Yep - good memories!
And I love the sunset idea. I'm doing a crazy quilt square for my challenge piece. I have stuff gathered, but haven't made any progress on it yet....
The great thing about being "older than dirt" is that we have so many wonderful memories. Some of my best times times with Joe are sharing our reminiscences of long ago. I do believe that the part of Eastern Colorado where Joe grew up had more than average interesting characters. We really ought to type up his memories of these people to share with others.
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