SAVING SCRAPS IN TIME Erin Zinzilieta-Pennington reminisces about her grandmother’s style

Saving

scraps

in time

WRITER: ERIN ZINZILIETA-PENNINGTON

My grandmother always said I was an “old soul.” She would often quiz me to prove the point. She would ask, “Erin, what would you rather have…a new house or old house?” Invariably, I chose the old house. She continued, “Would you rather play with Grandma’s buttons or paper dolls?” I’d go for the buttons every time. I have

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always been very moved by color and texture and design.

My maternal grandmother, Della Dreon, influenced my personal style. While she was a no-nonsense type of person, there were items in her home that I treasured. She always had lace curtains that danced over the heat vents in the winter. There was always an embroidered dresser scarf in her bedroom. She had a few select glass pieces in the kitchen including a Gay Fad fruit cookie jar from the 1950s and a Lefton “Heritage” glass tea cup and saucer. Grandma always smelled like Jergens cherry almond hand lotion that she kept in a white milk glass jar with a pump dispenser. My memories of her home and belongings have stayed with me all my life.

When I see vintage linens at thrift stores or auctions, I think of Grandma. She herself sat for hours and embroidered at one time. When I find linens they are typically being mistreated; wadded into balls and falling in the floor. If they are wrinkled, stained, or discolored, people discard them as “unworthy.” It is heartbreaking to see the handiwork that took hours and days to make being treated so disrespectfully, so I have decided to repurpose linens to breathe new life back into them.

This mission happened by chance. One day I came across a beautiful table runner that had huge pink roses embroidered on either end. However, the middle of the runner was stained and had holes. The idea came to me to cut off “the good parts” and upcycle the runner into pillows. I remembered the envelope pillows that were popular in the early 90s and decided to try and reconstruct that design. I was so pleased with the overall result that I made more pillows to sell.

I wash and press the linens. Next, I cut away the best part of the design, sew it into a pillow and then embellish it with buttons, ribbons, and lace. My online store Cottage Designs by Erin, on Etsy, was derived from the pink rose pillow. That first pillow sold for

$45.Since 2015, I have sold almost 100 pillows. In my opinion, the cushions are successful because they trigger memories for people. Saving the embroidered scraps reminds us of a different day in age when life was much slower and less complicated. I enjoy old linens because they remind me of my family members that I deeply loved who have passed.

My pillow creations can be seen on Facebook and Instagram and they can be ordered in my online store http://cottagedesignsbyerin.etsy.com. Cottage Designs by Erin is a store on Etsy dedicated to unique handmade items with cottage charm.

ERIN ZINZILIETA-PENNINGTONT is a 2010 graduate of McKendree University and a 1994 graduate of Eastern Illinois University. She possesses a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education English. She has been an educator since 1994. Ms. Pennington is from Benton, Illinois, but has been a resident of Carmi since 2000. Her first book of poems Something to Say was published in March 2019.

When I see vintage linens at thrift stores or auctions, I think of Grandma. She herself sat for hours and embroidered at one time.