Most of you saw my belated posting from October, when I finally got my Internet back. Everyone is striving for some version of normal after hurricane Helene.
I am so grateful, compared to many of my friends and fellow artists, I fared well. Due to the power outage, we were not aware of the damage around us for several days, neither did we know about many of the meals and other things available very close to us. Someone in the neighborhood scouted for water and we were able to get drinking water and some Meals Ready to Eat. Not bad at all.
Neighbors helping neighbors dipping water out of a nearby creek to have an occasional flush.
Getting back to normal now, helping friends to get a shower and do laundry. My delivery services are back, and I received 2 restoration jobs last week. I am happy to be able to sit and do some work – all teaching and demo events are cancelled for the immediate future.
No pictures from the damage necessary, you have seen them all.
I loved working on the lace pillowcase and the tablecloth, restoring some form of normalcy. My mental health seems to rely heavily on my ability to work. Doing something with my hands is the best healer for me and I am so grateful to be back to doing that.
It will be a long time for Western North Carolina to get over this punch from Mother Nature. But it did bring out the best in so many people! And yes, FEMA is still here, working to make our lives normal again in many ways. There is lots of financial help as well; one just needs to search through mountains of available forms and information.
My sweet neighbors across the street faired well during hurricane Milton in Orlando and came up here as soon as everything was taken care of at their home to check on all of us and their home in the mountains. They brought goodies that were not on the shelves yet in our stores and we all got together for an early Halloween party to celebrate just being able to be together and being well! It lifted everyone’s spirits.
One of my customers, who is a regular at all of our Folk Art Center events, asked me during Heritage weekend if I had ever made Snoods. No, I had not, but I am familiar with the different kinds that are worn by long haired ladies during Civil War reenactments. So, I promised to give Snoods some thought. After power and before internet, I spent some time trying to recall the ones I had seen. My ideas were confirmed when I was able to get back online and research the different kinds and patterns. I created 2 of the regular kind that cover a large part of the lady’s hair and one “bun cover” by request. I sent images and we are in business.
She is as excited about someday being able to participate in the reenactments as I am to get back to the Folk Art Center. The Park Service is still working on clearing large sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway and from Asheville to the Folk Art Center. There is progress every day.
I have attended some business seminars on Zoom that are sponsored by the Small Business Administration of our local Blue Ridge Community College. My favorite was on how to create and use a Google Business page, which I set up a long time ago. But the presenter gave a lot of good information on how to make it work for your business. I am also assured that I am doing it right – check out my Google Business page: Heirloom Treasures Fiber Arts.
10 days after the hurricane my mail and other delivery services were restored as well, and I was able to get my restoration work back on track. I restored the machine-made lace border on a very old pillowcase and 2 vintage tablecloths, one was lace crochet and another was a banquet sized machine-made family heirloom from the 1940 ties, still being used at annual family celebrations. I always recommend using a clear plastic sheet when food is served to give the aging fibers some protection.
I often get the question about cleaning the items I am working on and most of them can be washed, it just has to be done very gently! I recommend putting lace and vintage items into a zippered pillowcase or a mesh bag to wash. Drying is best outside flat on large towels or air cycle and then spreading it out to complete the drying.
If in doubt, always use a reputable dry cleaner who deals in wedding items. That is the only way to get clean fluid for your treasure and they have large, flat pans that support and distribute the weight of the item,
As a general rule I do not clean the items I restore, that has to be done after the trouble spots have been restored to stabilize the item. I did make an exception on the pillowcase, because there were also a few blood spots, and I knew how to remove them and make the linen look white and fresh again!
It just felt so good to get my fingers into that job, to appreciate the water in the sink and to be able to turn on my steam iron to finish the job. I so appreciate all those little things we usually take for granted.
November is the month for Thanksgiving, and I am in a state of gratitude for all my large and small blessings that came out of a difficult disaster. My blessings continue and I am grateful for each and every one of you.
Celebrate everything you love and appreciate this month.
“ I do what I love and I love what I do”
New in the Studio:
The Vintage Pillowcase
Snoods Anyone?