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The Land of Needlepoint and a Swiss Chalet

Holidays are filled with joy and laughter, stress and tears.  This year, I have traveled back home, which for me is in the South Suburbs of Chicago.  For the last seven years, my childhood home has housed another family.  Instead, we go to my grandparent’s home each year.  My parents purchased the home from their estate when my (last grandparent) grandmother passed away.  Initially, visiting them brought on an emotional gamut.  I was happy to see my parents and for them to see their grandchildren, but also so sad about my forged childhood memories.  


One of many needle points made by my Maternal Grandmother.


When my Grandparents purchased the house in the late 60's, the previous owners had fallen in love with a Swiss Chalet and its views while vacationing in the Alps.  They recreated the scene in the basement.  The original furniture they purchased was sold with the house and still remains there today.


The last of my grandparents passed away in 2006.  When my parents made the decision to move into her sprawling ranch on the other side of the tracks (quite literally), I hesitated.  It was a much larger house and did empty nesters really need all that space?  My siblings supported their decision, and in many ways, my Mom was not ready to give up her parents home.  I don't blame her for having those feelings.  Her mother just left this realm, and the house was all she had to hold on to.  


Maternal Great-Grandparents, a tailor and seamstress.  Apples don't fall far from their trees.


Maternal Grandparents and business owners.


Maternal Grandfather as a child, with his siblings and mother.


My Paternal Grandfather, who came to America without his family, on the cusp of adulthood.  He put himself through Dental School and practiced in the South Suburbs of Chicago.


My Paternal Grandmother, a humanitarian and volunteer on every committee imaginable.


My Paternal Great-Grandmother, she fought for equal voting rights for women.

Before moving in, my parents renovated the house (at least 90% of it).  It looked remarkably better.  As we learned from this experience, things may yellow with age.  The grand piano no longer white, but shades of gold and yellow made its way to our home in Iowa.  The dining room set (we were convinced it was white sitting in the dining all those years) was donated to a local non-profit and once it saw the light of day, it too had yellowed.  The carpet laid from one end of the house to the other could have been a field of dandelions.  Things changed; or rather they improved, in the mid-aughts.  Their improvements, mainly cosmetic, brought the house into the 21st Century.  Admittedly, a kitchen in beige is vastly different from the early 70’s large blue and aqua sunflowers that used to drape the walls.  Small details like this, although important to the improvement process of the home, have altered the landscape of my childhood memories.


Photos of Photos, these are the dining set and piano mentioned earlier.

One vast improvement was the addition of the Internet.  But like all older homes, this one has its quirks.  Maybe "major distractions" is a more appropriate description?  The house is 4000 square feet all on one sprawling level.  There's also a lower level that nearly matches that dimension.  (When I mentioned this being a lot of space for empty nesters, I wasn't kidding!)  A wireless connection could be possible in half of the house if it weren't for the chicken wire enforced plaster walls.  If the walls were just plaster, the signal could still go through them.  It's the damn chicken wire that has turned the house into a black hole of technology.  It scrambles cell signals, leaving your phone a glorified hand-held gaming system.  If you want to access the Internet wirelessly, you need to be within two rooms of the office, at the far western side of the house.  We sleep in a wing (yeah, yeah, I just said wing) at the eastern edge of the property.  Honestly, we might as well be 50 feet below ground.  The house is just that secure.  A perk to the hulked-out walls is that we do not hear the Metra trains as they travel by every 15-30 minutes throughout the day, just 600 feet behind the house.


I love Starbucks!

Certainly worthy of mention: writing this blog while away could not be possible if it weren't for the Starbucks in Homewood, IL.  Unlike any coffee house in Iowa City, I have a table!  And an outlet to plug in my laptop!  There are only three people here and I'm the youngest!  While many things about a life in the suburbs of Chicago aren't for me (i.e.: sprawling houses, sprawling neighborhoods, having to drive anywhere you may want to go and counting on it taking at least 15-30 minutes to get there), this level of peace in a coffee shop is a true reward for putting up with the rest of it all.

A coffee shop AND fabric hunting.  As you may already know from previous projects, I have an intense love for designer fabrics, and in a large metropolitan area they abound.  It’s a major perk to counter-balance the numerous cons.  Many of the projects created in 2015 will be with the designer fabrics discovered this week.  Expect Caught Red Threaded’s Etsy store to swell in the near future.    



Check out some of my finds!  At Ikea, why purchase a yard when you can buy the bolt! 

Marimekko!


Ikea!

Check out some of my finds!  At Ikea, why purchase a yard when you can buy the bolt!  Marimekko Fabrics- 50 yards of it!  These designs are not easily obtainable.  It has taken an extended stay with family and been completely worth it; lack of technology inclusive.

Regardless of what you experience this holiday season, make it your own.  Cherish and relish in each moment.  It's something you already know, but time is fleeting.  Change is all around us, and we may all look back on the holidays of 2014 as a simpler time.  Caught Red Threaded wishes you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season.  If you purchased from, followed, and/or learned from Caught Red Threaded in 2014, we wish you a heartfelt thank you!  If you haven't, maybe this could be your New Years Resolution for 2015.  


Our first project for 2015 is cut and ready for sewing.  I can't wait to share more photos with you as the process continues.  Other things to look for in 2015 include a Quillow Tutorial, new essential oil blends & recipes, and a regional relocation (coming Summer 2015).  And of course, plenty of it to be made with the acquisitions from this weeks fabric hoard.  Without your support, Caught Red Threaded would still be a dream.  Thank you for making it a reality!  


I'd like to thank the wall of photos in my Mother's home office, and the many wonderful people and memories it holds.  Without them, none of this would be possible.



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