Sunday, September 6, 2009

Safe as Houses

I’ve always loved that phrase.  Here’s the September project that is posted on the projects page of my website.  This little quilt got mailed away.  The S.T.U.D. (Swap Till You Drop) theme for August was architecture. 

Okay, this looks like a simple drawing that someone might spend five minutes on.  Max.  Right?  But no.  I drew and drew and drew.  What if I add a porch?  What if the door is on the right?  What if it’s on the left?  What if I add a round window?  For crying out loud.  I’m not admitting how long it took me to settle on this!

Artistic challenges aside, I like the way this one makes me think of the home I grew up in, a wonderful two story farmhouse – even if it was in the middle of town.  It had a dusty basement which was my father’s domain (full of impressively sharp tools and a big old safe I’ll write about another day) and an even more wonderful attic, freezing in winter and stifling in summer.  I loved it up there no matter how cold or hot it got.  It was full of treasures, tables, chairs, vases, and lamps that were out of favor.  A mini kitchen cupboard that had been my mother’s when she was a child.  Boxes of old photos and old books and old “stuff” – like my mother and father’s old ice skates and bowling shoes and try as I could, I simply couldn’t imagine them young and in love and skating on a winter pond.  (My imagination seems to have improved with age.  I can picture it very well now and it makes me smile to think of the two of them before there were any of “us” (a brother, a sister, and me). 

I still miss that old house – though now with the miracle of Google maps I was actually able to visit the street I grew up on and there it is, the old homestead, looking remarkably unchanged.  I can’t say the same for myself – I’ve changed a lot in every direction, interior landscapes as well as hip and bust (ahem).  But I remember how safe home always felt and I had a lucky enough childhood that I didn’t even know how lucky I was that was the case. 

So, here’s to home.  May all of yours be safe as houses.

4 comments:

  1. We do tend to make things harder for ourselves sometimes, don't we? It looks like a beautiful, cheerful, fun, and safe house.

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  2. Love your little quilt, and especially the memories that you invoked. I loved my old farmhouse from childhood too, and the security and love of parents long gone. Great post!

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  3. Terrie, EQ the Mouse loved this house, and posted a link to your blog on his facebook page. He said "I want to live in this house with Terrie Sandelin." I didn't even know he was up this early on Saturday, much less at work on the computer. I hope this is ok with you.

    Penny Mc

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