Generation to generation

I admit I'm a bit old-fashioned. My sewing closet is fuller than my clothes closet. I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've bought a baked good rather than made one. And I never wore a bikini even before sporting a lovely 5-baby belly.

But maybe nothing speaks old-fashioned more than a female sitting in a chair with her embroidery in front of her. For me, it conjures up images of the Ingalls girls sitting around the fire with their needle and thread. I think of the 200+ year old sampler that we inherited. I sure would love to know the story behind that one! In fact, there may be a book in that theme some day.

Here are two quilts that my grandmother embroidered for my children.


When I was in elementary and middle school, I diligently worked on these cross-stitch patches and then forgot about them. Many thanks to my mom who saved them all those years and sewed them into a quilt for Jesse when he was a baby.

I tried to teach my eldest daughter but it wasn't really her cup of tea. When she worked at Sight and Sound she started a bib for one of her co-workers who was expecting a baby. She didn't finish. So then she decided it would be for someone else who was expecting. She didn't finish it for that baby, either. Now that those children are in school themselves I'm thinking I should just plan to finish it for her future child.

And now this craft is being passed on to the next generation (although I'm quite certain I have never worn such a fancy outfit while doing my needlework). Eden spent a few days with my parents last week and came home working on her own cross-stitch patch. I'm already thinking about how I'm going to hide these when she finishes so that I can make them into a quilt for her child someday. The best part is that she can thread her own needles and knot her own knots; this is a gifted child for sure.


Not to be left out, the youngest decided she wanted to learn, too. So while my mom was here this week, she taught HopeAnne the same way she taught me, with huge X's spelling out her name. We unknot and re-thread every other X or so, but she's getting there. She's so excited about this new endeavor that she woke me up bright and early this morning, knocking on the door with cross stitch in hand, wondering if I could please help her.

Next maybe we'll have to start our own quilting bee!