From FAMILY TREE to FAMILY TREASURE
This is one of those Projects that I kept coming back to…
It started with my family portrait through crochet that I organized as part of my degree show. This was a collection of items made by all my female relatives that I have collected and then displayed in photo frames, each item representing the person who made it.
This can be seen HERE.
What I have then developed was a series of flowers replicating a pattern of one of the items that were given to me by my grandmother. I have repeated the colours used in the original items to create number of different sizes of the aforementioned pattern. These flowers transpired into sort of a family tree.
After the tree had been photographed/recorded and dismantled, the idea of using the flowers and making it into some sort of a blanket lingered in the back of my mind, but got put on hold for reasons I cannot even remember now.
Then 2013 arrived and with I my 30th birthday. For my present my mum had organized an AMAZING patchwork blanket as a joint present from herself, my Nan and my aunt.
Thanks again to all involved.
Later on in the year my mum also celebrated a milestone birthday, and so an idea started clawing its way to the surface of my frontal cortex.
I have by this time been getting more into crochet again, so the technical issues I have faced when I first had the idea years ago seemed no longer a hindrance but became a mild setback that I could easily resolve.
So I started on joining all the parts and getting the flowers squared up to ease assembling into the finished product. I was so proud of the results of my efforts so far that I have simply had to share it with the rest of my family.
And then, an even better idea was born. Why not turn the blanket into a family project again and surprise her with the result of our efforts. Everyone makes a flower of a sort and sends it to me, then I will assemble everything together and send it back in time for the Big Reveal!
Everyone liked the idea and so the Conspiracy Began. Operation ‘Spring Meadow that doesn’t wilt’ was progressing nicely. And apart from a few tricky pack-aways when a Skype Call came through, and a few chase emails and slightly delayed long expected parcels, it went smoothly to the completion. The blanket was finished and ready to go….
ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE INVOLVED FOR THEIR TIME AND ENTHUSIASM AND THANK YOU MUM FOR ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!!!
There is also a little book that came to life in the process to illustrate and record the progress and journey of the blanked from beginning to end, which can be viewed here….
2023 Updates
For the next big birthday, the present was inspired by a life-long dream of my nan to make an “American” crochet square blanket. She always loved granny square blankets that she saw in films so often. She loved them. She always wanted to have one, or make one, or somehow come in contact with one. So she made this one:
And so inspired by my nan’s perseverance, making a square the only way she knew how, observing and making from memory, I decided to combine my skills and knowledge that I have built up to this point, and make a rectangle blanket combining my nan’s square, kaleidoscope crochet and granny square crochet squares connected as you go. This was the result:
And now, look out for the next version of the above, as there is indeed another present in the making!