HT 2: Crochet bedspread

Choosing photos for the previous post reminded me about the Handmade treasures series I started in late October. My original plan was to introduce one item weekly but the first week has now turned into a good month. Our recent trip to Spain will serve as an excuse for the delay this time. Let’s worry about the frequency of the sequels later.

If you have visited my blog before you will have realized I’m not the black-and-white-and-grey sort of a person. In fact, that would be the colour palette I’d find the most uncomfortable to wear. I like my life to be colourful (never mind the fact it often isn’t) and this is also reflected in my clothing as well as home decor. So there was no escaping when I saw this crochet patchwork bedspread at a flea market several years ago, soon after I had moved to my old house in the countryside.

It is particularly the bright red and the ultramarine green (very fashionable in clothing now about a decade later) that please my eye in this piece. So does their matching harmony with the dark blue and greyish pale blue. I also like the orderly pattern of the diagonal rows that is enhanced by one round of grey around each square. And the red round around the completed spread adds the perfect finishing touch.

Unlike so many of my treasures, this item is hardly ever hidden in a closet. It is just the ideal size for the wide one-person bed in the alcove under the eaves in our upstairs ‘studio’ that used to be my daughter’s bedroom but now serves as my study. Sometimes I spread it on the extendable wooden bed made by my grandfather – another handmade treasure with a story to share one day.

Needless to say, when I bought this bedspread there was nothing in these colours in the designated room before. Now the red and the green are the accent colours there. For me, decorating often goes this way, gradually evolving around a fascinating textile of some sort, sometimes intentionally, sometimes intuitively out of a happy coincidence. I guess that’s just the correct kind of an approach for someone whose favourite items in her home are the handmade pieces.