It seems I have a lot of mending to do. At least my thimbles suggest that. Patti at A New Day Dawns mentioned last week she collects thimbles which made my thoughts turn to a special collection I have enjoyed over the years. I’d like to share my collection with her and you, and I thank her for the inspiration.
How did I acquire so many? Well, it goes back to my china. I never could decide on a color and pattern in picking out china. Each set is white. A lace motif on bone with platinum rim. Then years later, I picked out another white pattern, this time textured. Motifs and texture, but no color, just white.
When I saw the array of colors and patterns manufactured by Spode of England, St. Donat’s of Wales, Ancap of Italy, Elg & Elg of Sweden and Kronach of Germany, I thought, that’s it, that will add the color, themes and interest to my bland taste in china. It seemed my monochrome taste had a fix and the colorful thimbles have brightened up my china hutch. They were irresistible. Besides I enjoy needlework and yes, all these thimbles have seen some service. They saved me from pricking my finger or pushing the eye of the needle until my finger turned purple while mending jeans, sewing on a button or pushing a blunt stubborn pin through fabric.
Cardinals, Porcelana Ancap – Italy; Butterfly by ELG & ELG – Sweden; Lady Bug by Kronach – Germany
I joined a thimble collector’s club, then over the years I loved hearing “Mom, a box came in the mail!” And so the boxes came month after month, year after year. The girls and I enjoyed watching the collection grow. Roses, chrysanthemums and orchids. Dolphins, badgers, birds and monkeys. A windmill from Holland. Whimsical pieces including a carousel, playing cards, clowns and a unicorn. They came from England, Wales, Germany, Japan, Italy and Venezuela.
Pandas, Marutoyo – Japan
Monkeys, Exclusividades Cemarpa – Venezuela
Butterfly, Spode – England
Golden Roses, Lindner – Germany
Heart-Shaped Flower Thimble, Sutherland – England Can you make out the dimpled heart shape?
Moon and Stars, Gossel – Germany Amazingly it includes all nine plants and I think it looks like a rocket ship sitting high on its wings
But then, because I’m practical I don’t hoard, I stopped. There’s enough. It’s satisfying to stitch a good stitch, sew back a button and cinch up a tear. Each thimble assists in the labor similarly. Yet each one sends my thoughts reflecting on their varied beauty. I have my favorites yet I have gifted a few symbolic of mending what may be broken. Enough. Enough reminds me I have what I need.
Floral Arrangement, Ibis – Portugal — enough to share with TWG’s long-billed Ibis
There are other things to mend this year using different tools. I will use my voice to give encouragement, look for change, to grow. I will use forgiveness, compassion, show love and gratitude all I can. It’s cold outside, the fire is burning and I bring out things that must be mended. Another term will start soon. Now is the time to reflect, recharge, renew — make things new. My thoughts turn to all the mending that needs to be done literally and figuratively.
Dutch windmill with a photo of my brother and me behind it. Oops-please pardon the dust.
Beautiful collection, Georgettte! My cousin has collected thimbles throughout the years. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Dianna. I found them irresistible and they certainly brightened up the mail delivery, too.
The moon & stars rocket ship thimble is unlike any I’ve ever seen. My Mother sewed and mended, too, and had a few thimbles in her collection. Your post makes me wonder where they are now?
And I enjoyed how you segued into commentary about all the mending there is to do in our own lives – well done!
MJ
Thank you for the encouragement, MJ. I have had this in my drafts, then Patti’s mention reminded me now as we begin 2013 is the time to share this reflection.
You must ask your Mother about her thimbles…no telling where that conversation will lead — something she made, where she got it — a gift, a purchase?
I read your post about Merle, but you caught me – how do you post a giggle?
yes – a perfect time to share this post!
I will ask her about the thimbles — I remember a metallic/bronze looking one and a porcelain/rose patterned one, too — there may be more, not sure.
And on the Merle song — just tap your toe and smile along
MJ
Rick is a toe tapper.
at least that collection doesn’t take up much room!
haha–exactly and it was affordable. These little tokens fit the bill.
i prefer to fit them on my fingertip.
Girl, you are so funny!!! Maybe too, I had your this morning’s long-billed Ibis on the brain. btw no kidding, there’s a porcelain house in Portugal called Ibis. I will load that photo, too for you.
Love the Golden Roses and Moon and Stars. Nice collection, Georgette. Why am I not surprised?
Thank you, Lenore. I like the Golden Roses, too. They remind me of Limoges, yet this is German. Oh gosh, I’ve turned into a predictable granny with my thimbles and lace.
The fact is I selected these years ago because I knew they would endure. So nice to have you back.
It’s fun seeing your thimbles, Georgette. I shall have to photograph some of mine. It was a delight to receive them in the mail, wasn’t it? Truly the gift that kept on giving.
Patti, I am so glad I can share these with you. Please share some of yours. There’s probably no duplication as they had so many…except perhaps the windmill, as I have seen it before in other collections. After a day at school, the box they were packed in was always welcome and the first thing to open. PS I photographed mine dust and all.
Enjoyed seeing your collection! I have a couple special thimbles in our printer’s box of miniature things we’ve gathered from our travels. A couple are from places, but the most special ones are three: one was my mother’s, one was my mother-in-law’s and the third is a well-worn one that belonged to my grandmother. They are treasures to me.
Your words today are also treasures! Loved this paragraph: “There are other things to mend this year using different tools. I will use my voice to give encouragement, look for change, to grow. I will use forgiveness, compassion, show love and gratitude all I can.” Thanks for reminding me there’s always ‘mending’ to be done!
Thank you, mama. There’s always mending and dusting to do for sure. I’m still thinking of thank you notes that need to be written.
What a wonderful collection of thimbles! They are great to collect and don’t take up too much room. Other than books and friends, I really don’t collect anything. Of course I can always find something to mend; right now it s my ankle. Happy new year!!
Oh dear. Take care of that ankle. So sorry to hear about that; it must be uncomfortable and probably not healing fast enough.
Re: collections – I have limited collections of thimbles, storytellers, dolls, turtles and spoons. I make myself stop at a certain point so they just occupy their one place. I enjoy them and each collection has a story meaningful to our family and me.
LOVED seeing your thimble collection, Georgette! I had sort of started one a long time ago, but the few I had ( maybe three? LOL) got lost in various moves. I think I just wanted to have a collection of SOMETHING. Hmmm…I think I have a collection of broken E-strings for my violin. Does that count for anything?
As TWG pointed out, they don’t take up too much room.
And,I love the variety of patterns and reading about all the porcelain houses they come from.
A collection of E-strings sounds like a lot of violin practice/playing. I would be very proud of every string. Is the E string where you play the highest notes?
I had no idea that people collected thimbles, or that there were such lovely ones. I have my mother’s and grandmother’s, but both are metal: practical, durable, not at all fancy accessories for both practical mending and “fancy work”.
You’re much smarter than I was. I got caught by porcelain, too, but in the form of dinnerware, chamber sets and so on. Back in the early 90s, when ebay was new, it was the wild west for collectors. How I got started is a story in itself, but eventually the day came when I had to become a seller rather than a buyer. I still have a nice collection, but at least there isn’t china under the bed and on top of the dryer!
I’ve had years dedicated to mending of every sort, just as you say. And yet, this appears to be a year not for mending but for making new garments from whole cloth. It makes me remember the excitement of going up to the store with Mom, looking through the Simplicity pattern book to choose my next dress. What pattern? What fabric? What trim? So many choices ahead of us for this new year!
The thimbles that this club offered were so lovely and represented quality in china. You can lift them to the light and see through the dome! So many major porcelain houses were represented and each design was so well thought out. I do remember they were quite affordable and I thought “Why not?” Their miniature appeal captured the girls. I wanted something, however small but of good quality coming to the house regularly that the girls could enjoy. So like a “magazine” we enjoyed them monthly, reading about them, too. But once I accomplished rounding out the blandness of my china, introducing the girls to the fascinating designs and just having something for the feminine side of our household to look forward to monthly for several years, it was time to stop.
Ebay seems like such a treasure trove. I did find the perfect spoon rack on ebay. That’s another collection but only limited to two small racks. I collected those too since my mother and grandmothers had, and again it was something the girls enjoyed doing when we traveled.
I can’t say that I sew; I’m just not that good at it. I can mend and prefer that over producing a whole garment. My grandmother “sewed”. She was a Home Ec teacher and quite accomplished producing everything from our coats to doll clothes! In high school she moved close to us, so at a time when clothes were important to a teenager, I do remember going to the fabric store, choosing fabric and pouring over the Simplicity patterns. I wonder what new “garments” you may make. Perhaps you’ll allude to them in your writing.
Georgette, what an amazing collection! I can’t decide which one I like best, but I do have a soft spot for the one from Venezuela, as that’s where my family is from. They’re all so precious. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome. I love each one. They remind me of so much beauty and interest in surprising places. I like that you can connect with the one from Venezuela.
Yes, it is the highest string, but the problem are my pegs on my old violin. They won’t stay in place and keep slipping, so I have to overtune so when they slip, they’ll be sort of in tune. Need to get that fixed. Strings are expensive.
It seems there must be a “fix” for that. I wonder if there is a craftsman nearby who can fix it, or perhaps you would need to send it off. You have an amazing ear to be able to tune your own violin! For Christmas one year, Rick had his father’s old Buffet clarinet refurbished. I still remember the rich sound in the living room and how surprised the girls were Christmas morning when they heard Grandpa play back in the 90′s. Oh, I hope you can get your violin fixed. You play cello, too?
LOL. I use my piano to tune, Georgette. I’m sure I could tune to relative pitch, if I had to, but since I have a piano, I don’t have to. How wonderful that your children got to hear their grandfather play! Many, many years ago (I think I was still in high school), I taught piano to a woman’s children in exchange for her giving me cello lessons, but I stopped when I went off to college. My youngest son played cello for awhile. He still plays his trumpet, guitar, and is an excellent pianist. My middle son used to play the bass and the sax. Now he plays his electric bass, and he’s fairly decent at the keyboard. My daughter plays the oboe with an orchestra, and she is an excellent recorder player. My husband plays the Bose.
I love to hear about the active musical talents in your family. Tremendous! Rick still sings with the choir, however the girls and I have not continued with piano or choir. We dedicated so many years to music.
What a beautiful collection. I love that it includes thimbles from places like Japan and Venezuela! I know people collect thimbles because I’m always asked whether we sell thimbles and spoons at our Museum (we don’t) but I didn’t realize you could get them made of china ( I just have a plain silver one in my sewing basket)
Thimbles and spoons are probably a bit domestic for the museum. But the Sullins Museum actually collects both.
I thought it was something interesting, lovely and visible I could bring into the house to make the family aware of other places. Hang on to your thimble. With the number of young people who don’t even know how to sew on a button, it will be something interesting someday. My darning egg to mend socks is from Mexico.
You’re the only person I know who can write such a touching story about thimbles!! The way you relate something so ‘simple’ to something so worldly & life-changing just amazes me & touches my heart deeply. Thank you for sharing the story of your collection, photos of some, & relating them to the new year, renewal, & mending an array of things in life. I’ll be doing some mending too! XO
Thank you, Patrice. I love sharing these and the thoughts they spin.
That is quite a special collections. I had no idea that thimbles could be so beautiful and come in such a variety. For me it was just a tool, until I saw your post. Thank you for the insight.
Thank you, Otto. I couldn’t resist them and collected for several years. Then it was time to stop. I had enough.
The only thimble I know is the metal silver colored ones. These series is a delight. Thanks for preserving them for all to enjoy.
Aren’t they lovely? The metal ones are very popular, and these I think, are very unique.