Start and Finish

I think everyone needs a special place to start and end their day don't you? No I do not mean in front of the computer either. I mean your bedroom. In mine I go to sleep snuggled under handmade goodness and wake to a sunny room that has a lot of handmade pieces in it. I will show you what I mean.
On my bed is a quilt that we got on a trip to Pennsylvania several years ago. We stayed at a B and B called the Artist's Inn and Gallery which I highly recommend to anyone traveling in the area. Jan sent me to a little out of the way place to start me on my search for a Pennsylvania quilt. When we got to that place and started looking around there were several quilts that I was attracted to. We discovered that the ones I liked were all by the same quilter. Her name was Lucy Hoover which I understand is a very common name in Amish country. Her choice of colors and the high quality of the piecework and hand quilting just blew me away. This quilt had more blue in it than most of the others she had done and I was really impressed by this block. There is quite a bit of skill involved to get all those diamonds and little triangles into a flat block with all the little points showing just like they should.

The pitcher you see was made by the son of someone I worked with at an elementary school. The maker was in a high school pottery class and his mom brought in several of his pieces to show them to all our coworkers. I fell in love with this because of the shape and the colors. She was kind enough to gift it to me. Every place I have lived since I got it I keep this in a spot where I can see it several times a day. I just like looking at it.

This little piece is only a couple inches high. It was made by a potter who had a shop in Old Town San Diego. I don't know if he is still there since I got this in the 1980's. The size of this piece meant that is was something I could afford at the time. Again my favorite color blue is part of what drew me to this as well as the graceful shape.

This painting is my favorite thing in my whole house. It hangs in my bedroom to keep it away from any harsh direct sunlight and because I love having it there. This was done many, many years ago by my great aunt Alicia Haynes also known as Lee. The family stories say she went to New York to study art. I know that in a collection of old postcards my mom has there are some that she sent home from there to her mother in Kansas. Several other members of the family have some charcoal and pen and ink drawings that she did. I think this is the only oil painting that the family has. I have no idea if she sold her work or if it was just a hobby. The flowers are sweet peas which are one of my most loved flowers taking second place to roses. The colors in this look so pretty hanging above the bed over my quilt. The fact the I am related to someone who could do things like this feels special.

So there you have it. The special place where I rest at night and welcome each new day. Do you have such a place? Tell me about it. I would love to hear from you.