Friday Finds | Counted cross-stitch

Back in the 80's I was hooked on cross stitch, actually on needlework of all kinds. We lived in a new, modern house in the suburbs... and all I wanted was an old house in the country. So my favorite subjects were barns and antiques, old houses, and main streets full of character.

I'd sit and stitch, dreaming about the house and the life I wish I had. And a few years later I got my wish:  a 1923 farmhouse in a rural valley, with a lot of needs but an equal amount of character. I could look out my windows and see my horse grazing, pick fruit from my orchard trees, and my needlework hung on the walls.

I don't remember why I took this cross-stitch picture down. But when cleaning out an attic recently, there it was. Wrapped carefully in paper, tucked in a box in the corner.

When I chose this pattern, it was the antique chest that caught my eye. But now everything in it is has meaning:  the antique chest, the basket of branches, the carved wood decoy, the hand-made quilts. I love antique furniture, the burnished wood, the style, and have collected a few pieces over the years. My sister makes the most amazing baskets, all on display in her own antique farmhouse. My friend Linda has carved and painted wood decoys on the bookshelves in her family room. And she taught me to love antique quilts, and got me started on the path to collecting them. Which led, eventually, to making quilts of my own.

So this little cross-stitch is back on the wall in my living room, where it will stay to remind me of so much that's important in my life.

Linked up with Kim's Friday Finds today.