Come see what I have

“Come and see my really cool room,” my grandson greeted me. I followed him upstairs to his room. He proudly pointed out a corner filled with his treasures, the map on his wall, the knick-knacks on his dresser and the clothesline weighed down with childish drawings in the hall between his room and his sister’s.
The lad obviously comes from our family. The minute folks walk in the door, my husband drags them to see his newest woodworking project: a cutting board, recently hung pictures or a newly trimmed hedge.
During the year he built his shop, he wanted folks to come see the project and its progress. Once he finished it, he invited everyone to come explore its interior. If he wasn’t home when we had guests, he asked me if guests had seen his shop.
I understand his compulsion. He spent many hours planning, preparing and putting it together. The building reflects his skills and ideas. He wants folks to admire his efforts, just as he has since the first 10 years of our marriage when he re-modeled our century old home. He began with a new roof to stop the rain from drenching the kitchen. Only the 72 year-old neighbor who climbed up to help him lay shingles saw those efforts. Actually my husband ultimately admired the neighbor’s work: That guy laid shingles at an astonishing rate.
Once back on the ground though, hubby insisted I stand back and admire his completed cupboards, newly installed floors, ceiling tiles or counter tops.
Room by room, he re-did that house. Shovelful by shovelful he dug out the Michigan basement and made it a full basement. Of course, he wanted folks to take five or 10 minutes of their time to appreciate his hours of labor.
Experiences in Show and Tell began very early for me. Summer visits to Grandma Waight’s house always included a trip to her flower beds. As long as her health allowed, she planted, weeded and pruned her flowers. They needed to be seen. Standing there in the patch of grass between beds she talked about the weather and its effect on the most recent blooms on the Sweet Williams, the marigolds or the petunias. We admired her colorful blooms just as we did Uncle Allen’s hobby and prize-winning peonies.
It was not a prize-winning hobby, but as a high school senior I covered the kitchen table with family pictures and spent days organizing a family album. And then I quietly glowed when I saw one family visitor after another sit there turning the pages, studying the long forgotten pictures.
In recent years, I returned the favor to my husband’s brother who has collected and arranged a family album of pictures dating back to the early years of photography. He brings them to family reunions and explains who each person is in each picture, their family connection and details a brief biography.
In recent years with online and in-store computer programs to design picture albums from digital pictures, I have admired books and calendars made by my offspring. This last year we hauled our photo albums to every family gathering so we could invite others to “come and see.”
The audience may be smaller, but I do insist on hanging little dresses and aprons from the chandelier for my husband to admire before giving them away. Finished quilts stretch across the couch and bed for days and weeks before I take them to their intended recipient.
Right now, though, I have at a half dozen or so quilts waiting to pass along as soon as I take them to one more Show and Tell. The quilts from the last year and a half wait to be seen this Friday and Saturday at the Festival of Quilts at the Conference Center.
Besides having one more chance to show off my quilts, I will also respond to other quilt makers’ invitations to “come and see” their quilts. I know that the hall will explode with creativity and color in bright, bold, beautiful colors, subtle pastels and subdued darker tones. Traditional to modern, beginner to expert, the Festival of Quilts promises a colorful feast for the eyes.
It is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. There are door prizes and vendors from quilt shops around the area, but first and foremost the doors open for the public to come and see what we have made. Hoping to see you there.