This is the project I finished today.
It's been an unfinished project for about ten years. My original plan was for it to be a rug, but rugs aren't very successful around the dogs. And then, after visiting here (Art Spirit), it occurred to me that it could be a pillow. In less than an hour it was done. (And yes Dad, I know my window and door proportions are off. )
Someday I'd like to build a house. Maybe like this one. I have a hammer...
When I needed a hammer, my dad gave me one of my grandfather's. It's rather hard to take a picture of, but it has a bend in it that somehow my grandfather managed to make. I value this hammer, not just because it was my grandfather's, but because of the bend. It represents my paternal grandfather better than just about anything else would for me. He was a man who valued work, making things, and had a temper.
One of the projects I've used this hammer for was to tear apart a porch. Somehow in the process of cleaning up, my hammer went home with someone else. Before returning it, the person who had taken it home thought he'd be helpful and take the bend out of it for me. He straightened out the bend and then told his sister, who was my housemate, that he had my hammer. She told him that the bend was important to me and that I might be upset. Since he'd already straightened the hammer, he put a bend back in and returned the hammer to me!
So many years later, I still smile and think of this just about every time I pick up my hammer. And I value the hammer even more ...