A score of sorts...

So the other day I scored myself a couple boxes of old sewing patterns and notions. It was listed on one of those local sell-stuff websites as Lot of Vintage Sewing Items and the price was a few bucks.

I met the girl who was selling the stuff in a local parking lot and was so thrilled to see her pull several big, overflowing boxes of stuff from the back of her car. Big score for me. But then she started rambling on about how this was the last of her grandma's stuff and that grandma had to go to a nursing home and dang it took forever to get rid of all the craft stuff she had (insert eye rolling here)  and boy its great that this is the last of it... all the fabric and books and boxes of stuff she had.

I think I stood there in the parking lot sort of stunned for a minute as the gravity of what she said really hit me. I had just bought the last of somebody's stash for a few bucks and picked it up in a parking lot. All of a sudden I felt like a thief and I felt bad for grandma.

It made me wonder if she felt about her stash the way I feel about mine. How every piece was originally planned for a specific project... even if it hasn't been gotten to. I wondered if she had planned projects with the lace and trims in these boxes and who she had cut the sewing patterns for... this granddaughter perhaps? 

I wondered if she knew her next of kin was selling off her stuff for a few bucks and that it was just another thing that needed to be done. I wondered if someday my grandkids would sell off my lace and trims and yarn (oh, my yarn) and if it would just be something on the list that needs to be done. 

I feel bad for grandma and wish I could let her know that I appreciate these things of hers that are mine now. That they will at some point be part of one of my projects and in the meantime they will be part of my treasured collection of trims and bits that I keep in the fancy box... the one I sort through when I sew something pretty. I would tell her how thrilled I am that so many of the patterns in the box are little girl's vintage patterns... one of my very favorite things. That just as luck would have it most of them are the prefect size for my Tater.

And if worst comes to worst all these bits will be here as part of my stash until my grandkids sell it all off in a parking lot or at an auction or yard sale or whatever. That these things brightened my day. That I went through the boxes one single piece at a time... one single pattern at a time... gently, with respect and starry eyes.

Comments

[Page]

You are very blessed to have gotten this. My mom gave away all her stash - everything - before I started sewing ); I don't even let her talk about it. BUT she still has her Bernina, so hopefully I will see that (:

[Amy]

Poor grandma. I know we all hope our kids will grow to love and appreciate the same things we do, or at least understand why we treasure certain things, but somehow that seems to happen so rarely. How nice to know her treasures went to someone who will love them, rather than ending up in a garbage dump somewhere like so many others.
Excellent score!!!

[Marg]

Oh yes -- definitely send grandma a card with a picture of something you've made. I was literally just thinking about making something from my own grandmother's stash. And cheers to the grandaughter for realizing that one woman's trash is another woman's treasure.

[Jennifer]

You might be feeling blue to think you bought the last of someone's stash for a few bucks in a parking lot, however, you didn't just buy the last of someone's stash for a few bucks in a parking lot. You did buy the beginning of many new dresses and little things for Tater that will carry on the visions that once paraded around in Grandma's creative mind, that now those visions have a new day and Grandma's creative wonder lives in the twirls of Tater's new dresses and skirts. And, some where out there in Tater's laughter, you'll here a subtle "Thank you" for bringing those visions back to life and parading them, once again in the sunshine.

[Joan]

so glad you got this and appreciate it and the previous owner. that post brought tears to my eyes! I cannot imagine being in a nursing home without the ability to knit. Knitting for others keeps us in touch with them, however tenuously. I would feel so adrift without something to do! that makes me so sad - but I'm so glad the granddaughter didn't just throw the things out!

[bezzie]

Yeah I don't think this will ever happen to me...Sounds morbid but when Mom dies, oh mama, that stash--that glorious stash! Us girls already have dibs on what box of buttons we get hee hee.

I have to say I agree with Trill--better it goes to someone who will appreciate it.

[marissa]

Grandma would be proud for YOU to have inherited her stash. Much good will come of that!
I'm off to sit my kids down and explain to them EXACTLY what needs to happen to my stash should the unthinkable happen....never mind this 'birds and bees' talk we've been struggling with. Stash is far more important.

[andi]

I think it would be really sweet of you to send grandma a card. They so rarely get mail in nursing homes. Or send her a picture of something you make from her stash...She will be so happy to know that you are loving and caring for her treasures...

[Katinka]

I think grandma would be comforted to know that her things were going to someone who'd cherish them.

[Tamaram]

What a thoughtful post. I'm sure you spoke for a lot of us. Thank you for your kind words.

[trillian42]

I'd rather have my stash sold for a few bucks to someone who will love and appreciate it rather than stuck in a relative's basement where it will do nothing but take up space and be an annoyance. That granddaughter will never understand the connection she threw away.

[Kara]

Ooooh, poor grandma. And to have her stash sold for a few bucks...
I hope that somehow she knows you will cherish and love it.