Just now walking down the hall, as I planned my next project, I was thinking about rug hooking. I took a rug hooking class in Middlebury VT over 15 years ago, and like many of my classes, I have done little with it since then. Recently I moved all of the rug hooking materials to Coniston because I think it is more likely that I can have time there to work on it. I also found a shop in North Hero which has the same exact rug company products which sparked a new interest for me in rug hooking. Then, I saw a quilt at Vermont Quilt Festival, of a map of Vermont and all of its counties and BINGO, my next rug project will be a map of Vermont with each county a different color. This is how design works for me. An idea percolates for a while and then BINGO, walking down the hall the idea comes to me. This happened with my alphabet quilt projects a few years ago. For a few years I imagined an alphabet quilt with the square a fabric piece that represented the letter and the letter appliqued on it, e.g. Apple fabric for A, bumble bee fabric for B, etc. Then I saw this exact design is a quilt book, bought the book and produced multiple quilts of this design. Nieces, nephews, auction winners at both First Parish and Star were recipients of this quilt design. But I digress . . .
I was staying with Mom and Dad when I took the rug hooking class. After I returned to their house one of the things I needed was a frame to put the in-process rug in. They gave us a rudimentary design during the class that I explained to Daddy and a few hours later he produced it from his work shop. He was like that. A mere suggestion of an idea or need, he disappeared and came back with it.
So why, almost 15 years after his death, just thinking about that rug frame, do I suddenly burst into tears? Is it because I was caught off guard? Murg said once that he grieves every day the loss of his parents. This was my moment today to grieve the passing of Daddy. I have the rug frame though and this weekend that design of Vermont counties will probably be on it. Thanks Daddy!
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