Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged; parents are the pride of their children.
My grandmother lived at a time in history when she used an icebox, a wood cooking stove, a washboard and a treadle sewing machine. She sewed her own house dresses, made work shirts for my grandfather and frilly dresses for my mother. Sometimes I wonder how she even had time to sew. She would gather eggs, make bread; and yes, butter; garden and can, prepare three meals a day for ‘the men’ and, the house was spotless. All without electricity.
I remember her telling about looking through the old Sears catalogs and finding dresses that she would like to make. She would then make a pattern and create the dress. At the time, I don’t think I realized the complexity of such a task. Now I understand and appreciate it more.
She would make curtains, slip covers, and fine linens. I don’t remember seeing that she had a lot of fabric on hand at any one time. Perhaps she hid her fabric stash a little better than I do. Mine is apt to greet you at the door!!
When I would get home from school, I would run in the house and she would have an icebox cookie or a homemade slice of bread waiting for an ‘afterschool snack.’ She would often have a pile of fabric in her lap, a sewing basket by her side and a thimble on her finger as she hemmed a skirt, dress or a pair of pants. On a rare occasion, she might even let me use her thimble, … only if I used it correctly. I still have her thimble and use it regularly, although probably not as often as she did.
My mother also sewed and had electricity during her generation. I can just imagine how excited they were with the new sewing machines that they didn’t have to pedal anymore!! They must have thought they were in sewing heaven!! She may have sewn more for necessity with a young family, it was a lot more economical to make her clothing than it was to buy something. She could probably make three or four outfits for what it would cost to buy just one at the store.
I can remember trying to create my own doll patterns and sewing them on my mother’s machine. One pattern my mother bought for me was, the “Sewphie.” Sewphie was a Simplicity pattern designed to teach several basic sewing construction techniques. You had to lay out the fabric, cut, put in darts, gathering stitches, trim, clip and notch. There would be machine stitching and handstitching, all combined to create this sewing bird that would hold several sewing tools. The beak would hold a small pair of scissors, the eyes were buttons, the wings could hold small spools of thread, and of course you could put a thimble on the comb. The body was weighed down and filled with beans and the head was stuffed with cotton to become a pin cushion. I often now call Sewphie, “the original beanie baby.”
It was probably inevitable that I would also sew. Watching both my mother and grandmother create something out of a couple yards of fabric, it was all quite magical. Probably when I was in high school my mother got a new sewing machine so I inherited her old machine. It was probably about the first thing I packed when I went to college.
Over the years I have sewn quite a bit and gone through quite a few machines. My current sewing machine is computerized and has more stitches than I can even use in one sitting. Like my grandmother, I can often look at a ready-made outfit and duplicate the pattern. Some of my early sewing was making clothing that was unique and different from what everyone else had bought at the store. I still do some clothing construction, however now more of my sewing time is spent quilting.
My mother and I were both Home Economics teachers for many years. One school that I taught offered quilting rather than clothing construction. It was a sign of changing times; school administrators didn’t think people needed to know how to sew clothing; that they would be better off knowing how to quilt. In my young teaching career, I had made one quilt … when I was a teenager.
When I was in high school, I decided I wanted to make a patchwork quilt. I didn’t really know how to make one or what I was doing, but I was pretty sure I could make several 6” squares into a quilt. I made a 6” pattern from a paper grocery bag and repeatedly put it on the fabric; time, after time, after time; until I had cut stacks and stacks of 6” squares. I don’t remember being discouraged or even thinking, ‘there must be an easier way.’ I randomly put all the squares together and managed to come up with a quilt that I had when I went to college.
When I started teaching at the school that wanted to teach only quilting, I decided I better learn this new ‘strip quilting’ method of quilting. Most of the students had never sewn before, so there were a few patterns that were considered ‘easy’ that they could select. One was a log cabin quilt from the ‘Quilt in a Day’ series by Eleanor Burns.
‘Quilt in a Day.’ Really? Sounded nearly impossible? Could I do it? It was a challenge I would attempt.
School had started and three weeks later we were off for harvest break. While others were picking potatoes, I decided to learn this strip quilting method of quilting by making some log cabin squares. Whoever realized the ingenuity of strip quilting was a genius!!
I was hooked. This new and improved method of quilting was indeed quick and easy. A log cabin quilt could be made in a day. At least the quilt top and then quilted the next. It made me think of my grandmother and had she had the strip quilting method for sewing, how many quilts would she have made over the years?
Northern Star a Log Cabin pattern variation.
Proverbs 31:25-27 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and kindness is the rule when she gives instructions. She carefully watches all that goes on in her household and does not have to bear the consequences of laziness.
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The Nose Bump 