Saturday, November 12, 2011

An Unexpected Treasure and an Estate Sale

I am at heart, a digger.  I get my biggest thrill when I am out digging through the past and uncovering some hidden gem, secret or inspiration.  Estate sale signs send me into a tail spin and when I can afford to stop and do a deep dig, I am satisfied for months - maybe even years.  And although I have been to many sales over the years, I have never actually gone through a home of someone I knew well.  Needless to say, it is a very different experience and everything is looked at through different lenses.
A year ago a friend of mine, who was an artist, collector,  and mentor to many, passed away - leaving a house stuffed full of collected art, craft supplies and history.  This past summer, her daughters asked if I would be interested in coming over and taking a look at the collection as well as packing up anything that I might find useful and or inspirational - in lieu of a trade.  I knew it was going to be a deep dig, going through years of collecting and dare I even say hoarding - but I had no idea what I was in for - and how layered and deep one woman's collection could be.  I spent a couple of days going through room after room - the bedroom alone took me five hours.  I made piles of anything and everything that I might find useful or inspirational and then I waited.  I waited for the daughters to look through it and decide if they were also ready to let go of the history.  Weeks later, I received the call.  They had gone through the boxes and were ready for me to pick up what I wanted.   I went over and filled up the truck - packed up old photograph books, spools of ribbon, boxes of hand written letters, and an endless amount of craft supplies.
I walked through the whole house and snapped pictures of all of the art that hung on the wall - many pieces that had been given to my friend from various artists as a thank you over the years.  I wanted to pack up each and every piece and hold on to it - keep it safe from falling into oblivion.  The reality is the girls need to let go of the collection and have decided to have an estate sale.  They have hired a company to come in and price everything in the house that is worth more than $5.  



If you live in the Los Angeles area, and want to peek into this house of treasures, the sale continues tomorrow, Sunday, November 13th from 9-3 at 5029 Westpark Drive, North Hollywood, 91601. See you there!

3 comments:

sjoko said...

I love your blogg and get a light wonderfull feeling whenever I visit. I love your fabric lines and think I have some of all and all of some :o)
When I did my first quilt blancket with your Roun fabric line I was picturing it in green instead of read - with the right green I think it would be a total winner. If you want to see my blancket "French senses" please take a look at the bottom of my blogg: www.sjokoquilt.blogspot.com

TheLazyQuilter said...

Sorry for your loss :(

Anonymous said...

Indeed, it is different going through the collections of a dear friend, blessings to and for your friend. She knew you 'got' her and her ways!
We just finished the last of our parents collection in an Estate sale, the 3rd and final one, Whew!
It's a freeing feeling to let go, and pass it all on... XO, Hol