Treasure Box of Memories - Part 2

This is the progress I've made so far for the items for my Nanna Hill. If she was still alive - she'd be 105 years old, amazing to think of it that way.





The "Heart" booklet is based on a design from Bunny Hill designs. It's a free pattern for a Bunny Hill Needle Case that could be given as a valentine's gift. I'm not going to use it as a needle case, but will add cloth pages to write the family tree of my Nanna, some interesting facts and information about my Nanna and other things I think of as I go along.

She was widowed for 50 years, being widowed 13 years after she married, and was left with three children, including my Dad, who was 3 years old at the time. Nanna and Grandad had talked about emmigrating to Australia from England. She continued to think on this dream and made plans to set about fulfilling it. She worked hard to save the money to bring her family to Western Australia. It took her another 11 years to do this. I think she was an amazing women.

I will make a needle case as well and will use the Blackbird Designs "French Souvenir with the Eiffel Tower" as Nanna was fluent in five languages including French. Funnily enough I'll be able to put a needle in that needle case of my Nanna's.

About a month ago my mum was going through things she had been given from my Nanna's things, and there was some incomplete embroidery items, including a crinoline lady apron by Semco (details on it - R890 "Maid's Apron"). Threaded at the bottom and not even rusty, was the needle she was using. It still glides in and out of the fabric smoothly.

Treasure Box of Memories

I loved seeing the different projects on Blackbird Designs using their Petites Lettres Rouges sampler. So decided I wanted to make a treasure box of memories for both my grandmothers and my mum, who all were talented at hand work, as I referred to in a recent blog.

The treasure box will include:

- a small sampler for each, personalizing with their own name
- a heart needlecase which will turn in to a “cloth book” with details of their ancestory, lives and their interests and some important facts
- a pincushion with design done by myself – after playing around with a “Cross-stitch program” I have on my computer – I found it was quite easy!!
- Somes photos of them as young women and their marriage photo
- Plus anything else I think of along the way.

Here is what I’ve started for my Nanna Hill, she passed into glory in 1989. I'm using "Duck Egg Blue" throughout the projects. She had her lounge room painted with this, had it in the upholstery fabric and on a floor carpet. Also a round mounted plate with an "old fashioned girl" in it on the wall.