Earlier this year my dad died. He wasn’t an acquisitive man, so he didn’t leave possessions to inherit, but I do have some objects around the house that came from him and one in particular has been getting plenty of use recently.
When I was about 14 I became very keen on patchwork and I wanted a board on which to pin out my designs. In those days blocking boards were unheard of and I guess that most people just made do. My dad, being happy to make a variety of things for us (I have very fond memories of our sledge, which he made from old timber and which had metal curtain-track runners and his homemade table tennis table) agreed to make me a cork board for my crafty endeavours. At the time he’d just laid a cork floor in our kitchen and he had a few tiles left over. Those along with a piece of hardboard and some tile adhesive allowed him to create a board for me.
My patchwork board
As you can see, he was using up scraps of tiles, so it’s a bit of a patchwork itself. Plus, to begin with it was a bit smelly because of the adhesive, but that has faded with the years. When I’m blocking crochet or knitting, I have to cover it with a tea-towel because otherwise it stains my work slightly. However, in combination with some map pins, it is still doing a great job… I’m sure my dad would be pleased.
In use for blocking some bunting
The Snail of Happiness 
davidprosser
/ August 3, 2014I bet your dad’s thrilled you still use it.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 4, 2014I just wish I’d reminded him before he died, but anyway a little bit of him is with me every time I use it.
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thecontentedcrafter
/ August 3, 2014Now that was a dad! And that is a great legacy – practical love in action 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 4, 2014And still going strong!
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nanacathy2
/ August 4, 2014Memories happen all the time. This is a super one for you.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 4, 2014I love having something tangible and so useful!
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katechiconi
/ August 4, 2014And how nice that you still feel the love every time you use it. My father isn’t/wasn’t a great maker of things, but he’s given us all a different kind of legacy, one of the mind. My grandfather did make things, and the toybox he made for me as a very small child was still going strong well into my 30s, when it finally fell apart from over use.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 4, 2014I’m still imagining your dad’s composting toilet! Now that’s something my father would have loved 🙂
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cambridgearomatherapy
/ August 4, 2014With me it is my grandfather who had ingenious ways of solving problems. A few years ago one of my cousins arranged a walk up Bredon hill where he had lived in Kemerton for her 40th. One of the places I visited was a community orchard opposite where he used to live with my grandmother. Honey from the orchard was being sold at the house so I just had to visit.
As well as buying the last jar of honey, I also talked to the current owner who bought it from the previous owner who had bought it from my Grandmother when she moved to somewhere smaller after my Grandfather’s death.
The current owner told me that he was still discovering new gadgets in the house such as counterweights to make doors open easily etc after three years.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 4, 2014That’s brilliant… these are such great things to know
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katythenightowl
/ August 4, 2014How lovely to have such great memories with something you still use 🙂
The irony of reading this post, is that I used my blocking board for the very first time yesterday! Lol
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 7, 2014I try never to block unless I have to… I’m just too impatient!
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katythenightowl
/ August 9, 2014I have to confess that I’ve blocked the top section, but the bottom section and the side section will have to take care of themselves!
I guess that I’m impatient, too! Lol
I’ll probably use it on delicate stuff, like shawls, but it’s too much like waiting for paint to dry, for me to hang about for the more sturdier items to do their thing 🙂
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narf77
/ August 7, 2014🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 7, 2014I’m sure he’d be smiling too!
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