Legacy of the Grandmothers

I read the Washington Post article entitled “It’s not your grandmother’s needlepoint” (thanks, Lee, for the link) and it is tiresome to continually see articles that relegate needleworkers to Victorian drawing rooms, stitching “dusty” florals and crocheting antimacassars. But the article also sent my mind in another direction.

Both my grandmothers have been gone for over 20 years, but they were both seamstresses and needleworkers and they both contributed to my passion for our art. I have fond needlework-related memories of both of them and actually still have some pieces that my father’s mother made for me.

My paternal grandmother did a lot of “crafty” stuff, for lack of a better term – beaded ornaments and jewelry, dolls with skirts made out of those little round things that look like miniature coffee filters – but she also quilted and did crochet and surface embroidery. She made afghans for my sister and me when we graduated from high school. She had begun work on a couple of embroidered dresser scarves but for some reason never finished them, so she gave them to me to complete; I did and I still use them. She tried counted cross stitch one time but couldn’t quite get used to the notion that the design wasn’t printed on the fabric for her, so she stuck with her crochet. If I embroidered anything – usually pillowcases – that needed a crocheted edging, I gave it to her and she would finish it. I have a huge regret that I never asked her to show me how she did her crocheted edgings. She would have been happy to show me but I never asked. She would have liked to have learned how to tat, I think, but by the time I learned and could show her, the arthritis in her hands would have made it too painful.

The afghan. I think I chose the colors; keep in mind that it was the mid '70s.

Most of my needlework memories of my other grandma involve embroidery. She had a pillow on her sofa that she had made; I don’t remember the design but I do know that it was crewel work. I have some pillowcases that she embroidered and I used to have some Coats & Clark embroidery floss that she gave me. I’m not sure what ever happened to that. But my fondest memory is one that I have trouble putting into context. I’m not sure how old I was, I think maybe around 7 or 8, maybe younger but I’m pretty sure not older. My parents had taken my little sister somewhere and Mamaw was at the house with me. She had a set of linen napkins that she had bought to embroider (using some of the aforementioned C & C floss) and I remember her showing me how to stitch them. The design uses stem stitch, lazy daisy and French knots. She stitched one napkin to show me how then gave them to me to finish. It was years later, but I finally did get them stitched and they now line my smalls basket.

My mother is a seamstress – though not so much nowadays – and she was the chief enabler of my stitching habit, not saying “no” at the dime store when I wanted more floss (even then I was acquiring stash!) or if I asked her to buy another set of pre-stamped pillowcases. (And it seems like the dime store pillowcases she bought all those years ago were of much better quality than what one pays $$$ for these days – but that’s another topic for another day.) I remember the first pair of pillowcases she bought for us; my sister stitched one and I did the other, using shaded purple C & C floss for the cross stitched flowers. I crossed each stitch as I went along but the tops of my stitches went whichever way happened to be more convenient, while my sister used the Danish method and did a row of the bottom leg then came back across the top. I don’t know whose pillowcase looks worse…but my mother still has them.

I owe much to the stitchers who came before. I hope I can leave a legacy for those who follow me.