Many of the same kind ...

... will make a collection before you know it.  Earlier this year my dear daughter Kaija started to write weekly about her various collections on her blog Paperiaarre . Her Accumulator Seriali stories and photos are published on Saturdays. Visit her blog and enjoy. As many of her treasures have passed through my hands, I started to think about my relation with beautiful things, tiny things, old things, and whether I collect something or not. Well, naturally books, but other things? Well, naturally crafty books too. I don't want to mention fabrics here, I really don't collect them but they accumulate in our household for various reasons. That's it: I really don't collect anything, I just happen to buy/get/keep/find many things that are alike. Take for instance pincushions. If you sew, you need a pincushion. If you have one sewing machine upstairs and another and an overlocker in the basement, and you do your hand sewing on the sofa, you will need three pincushions. The ones I use most are these:

On the left is a needle book with a tiny pincushion for hand projects, a gift from Melanie years ago, on the right a sand filled beauty with a hanging bag for thread ends, from Suzie years ago, perfect for the overlocker, and in the back one that Kaija made for me, also years ago.

But there are others. This one my mother used to keep on a side table with some other old things, and I would't dream of pushing any pins through the delicate silk (which is torn on the underside).

This little one is also very old.

I have some fancy ones:

and some beauties with cross stitch by Simone.

Some have a mushroom theme

and some look like something you could eat

This reversible one came with a wall calendar in the 70's from my sister M in Germany

And this one is from a swap in the early years of my blogging, from Marie.

These two are the only ones I have made for myself. I know there is at least one more pincushion misplaced, one that Kaija made for me in school.

Once more all together:

When I was picking the pincushions up from where they were used or displayed, I noticed some other accumulations of a crafty kind. I try to make a blog post about something else next week, and if al goes well there could be a series. I have no quilt in process right now so this could be a way to keep my blog active.

And do go and visit Kaija's Accumulator Seriali posts. She is a poet and has such a way with words. Seeing this post not only reminded me of the rocks and sand I had seen at home but also the numerous trips my parents made together. I went with them three times and saw an adventurous side of them I never thought such old people (they were over 60 by then!) could have. And I could suddenly smell my father's Old Spice after shave lotion. Go and read, and if you are a keeper, I hope at least one of your offspring or their children has inherited the gene.