On Mother's Day my mind always seems to wander into the past. I reflect on my mom's life, her mom's life and so on. I like to just think about the lineage of women before me and how we are not only linked by blood, but also by the love of handwork. My mom's mom was a very skilled seamstress (wish she had lived long enough to teach me how to use a sewing machine!). My grandma knew how to do just about anything crafty. She crocheted plastic bread bags into rugs, she made dolls, quilted, painted, did macrame, embroidery, knitted...the list goes on. As far as I know, she made one cross stitch...this one.
My mom feels very nostalgic about this piece. While her father was in the service during WWII, my mom remembers being just a little girl, sitting with her mom as she stitched this. Waiting and waiting, as so many women did, for my grandfather's safe return. My mom has no recollection if she had used a pattern, but imagines it probably came from a woman's magazine.
After my grandmother passed away in the eighties (just before my grandfather passed), my mom and her only sibling, my aunt, divided the estate equally. Part of the agreement was my aunt was to keep their parent's house. Although my mom so dearly wanted the cross stitch, she felt it belonged on the fireplace where it had always been.
As a surprise for Mother's Day about ten years ago, I borrowed the cross stitch from my aunt and using it as my pattern, duplicated it for my mom. Below is the one I made.
As I've been dabbling once again in cross stitch, I wanted to see what it felt like to actually chart out a design. So I did. And I thought I'd share it here for any of you who may be interested.
Click Here for the link to the chart.
Blessings to all those who are involved in mothering. xx
