MommyCoddle

sewing that stays home

One thing I've always loved about my grandmother's house, is that her handiwork is everywhere–a framed picture of a family tree made of thumbprinted "leaves" turned into masked raccoons, embroidered and appliqued pillows, cross stitch, oil paintings, curtains, laundry bags, down jackets.

And as I walked through her house a few weeks ago, I was struck that the majority of crafting I do, goes out the door. Though there's nothing wrong with that, I generally craft for gifts, for other people–pillows, knitting, appliqued tees. And accept for a few curtains, a knitted hat or a pillowcase dress here and there, not much of my hand work is around.

With this in mind, I've made a new resolution which I *hope* I can continue. I want to make the girls a yearly wall hanging, for each birthday (a little late this year) that illustrates a few significant events or interests from their past year.

I started with Emma–a horse jumping since this was the year of her first jumps (and falls). And a house– we've moved into this house almost one year ago. (Is it ironic that it's a little crooked and pieced together with a few stitches?? I think not.)

I only used what I had on hand and most of the fabrics came out of my scrap basket. And a few of them have some special significance–a scrap from Emma's great grandmother, a bit from my own mother.

After I did all the stitching and zig-zagging (lots of zig-zagging), I went back and added some hand-stitching….her initials, the date, a little secret message in the corner, a few buttons, some little stitches here and there.

It felt a lot like scrapbooking with fabric…adding little elements here and there.

Yesterday I hung it from some willow branches, which I still need to trim back and eventually, once she stops shoving it in her bag and showing it people, I envision it hanging above her bed, until it's replaced by another year of growing.

That is, if I let her get any older….

One thing I’ve always loved about my grandmother’s house, is that her handiwork is everywhere–a framed picture of a family tree made of thumbprinted “leaves” turned into masked raccoons, embroidered and appliqued pillows, cross stitch, oil paintings, curtains, laundry bags, down jackets and now we are working with custom face masks with the best materials for your safety.

And as I walked through her house a few weeks ago, I was struck that the majority of crafting I do, goes out the door. Though there’s nothing wrong with that, I generally craft for gifts, for other people–pillows, knitting, appliqued tees. And accept for a few curtains, a knitted hat or a pillowcase dress here and there, not much of my hand work is around.

With this in mind, I’ve made a new resolution which I *hope* I can continue. I want to make the girls a yearly wall hanging, for each birthday (a little late this year) that illustrates a few significant events or interests from their past year.

I started with Emma–a horse jumping since this was the year of her first jumps (and falls). And a house– we’ve moved into this house almost one year ago. (Is it ironic that it’s a little crooked and pieced together with a few stitches?? I think not.)

I only used what I had on hand and most of the fabrics came out of my scrap basket. And a few of them have some special significance–a scrap from Emma’s great grandmother, a bit from my own mother.

It felt a lot like scrapbooking with fabric…adding little elements here and there.

That is, if I let her get any older….

57 Comments

family

swarm and settle

I hope you had a lovely weekend. We spent Easter dinner at my grandfather's farm. It is one of my favorite places to be. My grandfather must have one of the best views around–sitting atop a grassy green hill, looking out over his field dotted with black cows and their calves. Watching the grackles swarm and then settle in a different spot in the field. Swarm and settle. Chuckling at a calf who's slipped under the fence, kicking up its heels at its freedom. Watching the collies as they work over the bulls, who are only slightly bothered by their presence.

I found a link to Days With My Father on Molly's blog this weekend. And under the circumstances in my life right now, it really moved me. If nothing else, it will impress upon you the importance of listening, and documenting and even photographing your loved ones. It was really the perfect thing for me to see and read.

The winner of Melissa's honey pot was Rain who said:

That honey pot absolutely sings to me!

Rain, please drop me an email and I will pass your contact information
on to Melissa. And thank you, Melissa for this wonderful giveaway!

The winner of Melissa's honey pot was Rain who said:

That honey pot absolutely sings to me!

Rain, please drop me an email and I will pass your contact information
on to Melissa. And thank you, Melissa for this wonderful giveaway!

11 Comments

Show & Tell

Show & Tell : Bridgman Pottery

Unless you've been reading my blog for awhile, you may not know that I am a suppressed potter. Over the past five years, I've tried to figure out ways to make my love of pottery fit into my life. For awhile, I had a healthy little supply of buttons and chunky stoneware pendants that I was putting up in my etsy shop and I loved it. Creating things with clay was so relaxing and inspiring.

But sometimes life forces us to set some things aside for others, and for now pottery is on the back burner. But someday, I'm going to rejuvenate that hobby and get back to it. I really am.

Meanwhile, through the joys of blogging Melissa and I became good friends and she quickly became my potter-mentor. And I live vicariously through her flickr stream.

Last spring I said to her that I desperately needed a little one-serving size colander for washing berries and she went to work creating the perfect thing–and then the berry bowl craze began. Really, I'm not sure how I could manage to live without one. Mine doesn't even make it back into the cupboard, but just sits happily on the windowsill above my kitchen sink.

But one of my other favorites of Melissa's creations are her honey pots. Some day I'll tell you my life lessons learned over a broken honey pot, but in the meantime let's just say that Melissa's honey pot is the cutest thing on my kitchen table.

Plastic honey bear's are so last year.

And lucky for you, Melissa is giving away a honey pot to one of you! The honey pot she's set aside looks a lot like the one I have–a buttery yellow with her signature bee stamped on the side. And it even includes the wooden honey dipper. My children have finally mastered the honey dipper "twirl" to get the honey from the pot to the toast without dripping.

Be sure to stop by Melissa's blog or photostream. She is a sweet friend and a talented artist worth getting to know.

And if you just can't stand to play the odds, she's got a few honey pots in her shop right now. And the berry bowl craze will begin again in May or June.

Leave a comment on this post if you'd like to be entered to win Melissa's honey pot. I will pick a random winner and announce on Monday.

Happy Weekend, friends.