Reflections on My 40 Years in Umbria

the front

the back with the many different materials

I cannot resist fabric shops, especially in Austria or South Tyrol...and some in the States. I think I have often exasperated the help as I often purchase as little as 8-12 inch strips of various materials. The cottons and delicate prints, fast colors and general quality of these materials is generally better in Europe.

With an array of materials I would then design (but not sew!) various objects as gifts: window hangings, door knob danglers, odd-shaped hearts, center pieces, placemats, suitcase pouches for shoes, sachets sacs, tea holders, always mixing and matching different patterns, often adding small floral and botanical compositions.

All of this fun was before the onset of digital cameras and blogging. A mom of one of Michael's elementary school classmates, did the sewing for me. How many enjoyable hours we spent together over the years, adding bows or borders or lace on our creations and discussing which materials looked best together. For years this was quite a hobby of mine and gave me lots of satisfaction.

Since they were all gifts, I have only one left to share here: a tea bag holder to hang on the wall. Fun to design and to use, an object which was well-received by friends.