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| Aunt Bet's Sugar Cookie Recipe (Made by my sister each Christmas) |
Traditions are something sacred in the South, and nothing more so than
Family Traditions. Whether it’s the
annual Christmas gathering, or a Family Reunion, or the birthday of the family
matriarch or patriarch, it’s always a special time of fellowship and fun. However, traditions can be smaller things
too, like marks made on a certain wall that record the growth of the children
in a family, or always making sure that Aunt Bet’s recipe for Sugar Cookies is
made at Christmastime. Whatever the
tradition, it’s something special, and somehow gives connectivity through the
years to times and to people gone before.
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| Quilting at Uncle Eli's Quilting Bee, Apr. 2016 |
Crafting is a tradition is my family. I’ve often thought that it probably started
way back in the times when everyone HAD to make everything they had. If you wanted fancy lace on a garment, you
tatted it. If you wanted a new dress,
you sewed it. If you needed another blanket, you quilted it. If you wanted a fancy
pillow, you needle-pointed or embroidered it.
Need a new throw rug? Get out the
scraps of material and crochet one.
Whatever was needed, it was made somehow. Woodwork, needle crafts of all sorts,
painting, crocheting, knitting, the list goes on and on... everything was
created because that was the cheapest way to get it. Back in those days, no one had much money, so
everyone became handy at making things.
Women traded craft tips and knowledge every time they got together. Men did the same, but more on the gardening
and woodworking end of things, usually. Knowledge
of how to do the crafts was passed from father to son, and mother to
daughter... and grandparents to grandchildren.
It wasn’t even a conscious effort.
The parent or grandparent was making something, and children (being the
curious creatures they are) would want to know what was being made, how it was
being made, and “Please, can I give it a try?”
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| Count Cross Stitch Embroidery Gift to my sister |
It was my Grandmother that taught me the most about all the crafts that I
do today. Mom’s Mom was extremely versed
in all sorts of crafts, and while I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about learning
when I was a kid, those lessons came in handy as I grew into an adult. Not only did she get me started on the path
to learning those sorts of things, she gave me the courage to find instructions
about the things I didn’t know already and give it a try. Today there is hardly a needle craft that I
haven’t at least tried at some point or another. As Grandmother would say, “It keeps my hands
busy.” That, and the fact that I love seeing a creation come to fruition as I
work through the steps to finish it.
Crafting a gift for someone is a special experience. I find myself in thought about the person I’m
making the gift for, as I make it. Then,
once it is given, the person has something that reminds them of me... or at
least I hope that’s how it works out because when I look at paintings that
Grandmother painted for me, or a scarf that Mom knitted for me, or look at the embroidery
picture that my daughter did for me, it always brings thoughts of them to my
mind. I feel the love reaching out
through the years and remember the fun times that we shared. It somehow ties past, present, and future all
together... which is often very comforting in today’s chaotic world of
busy-busy and hurry-hurry.
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| My son loves Dr. Who, so I designed and made him this Count Cross Stitch |
Here's the thing though... crafting something can be almost therapeutic. It clears the mind to be so singly focused on something that the world disappears around you. It's calming to hold fabric and thread, or yarn and needle, and create something out of seemingly nothing. Sure, there are some frustrating moments when you drop a stitch, or have to pull out embroidery stitches, but you're getting frustrated at "a thing", not a person, and gradually, oh so gradually, you find that you're learning patience with some of the little things. These seemingly small lessons tend to ripple throughout your entire life. Try hard, concentrate, don't let the little things keep you from completing the task, measure twice - cut once.... so many many little lessons... as you create something beautiful, and treasured.
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| Origami Swan made for Mom by my son |
It saddens me sometimes when I go to a thrift shop and find something that someone
obviously spent a great deal of time making, and wonder why it was cast
aside. I realize we can’t keep
everything that is of sentimental value, but some of the things I run across
should have become family heirlooms, handed down through the ages. Then again, today’s families have become
disjointed in some cases, and when parents pass away, the children are often
left with keepsakes that they don’t understand the real value of. I don’t fault the children, or the parents,
for that matter. It’s just how the world
is today. I think that, overall, we’ve
lost a great deal in our attempt to make life easier. It’s important to remember origins,
traditions, and how things were done. It
ties us together into a family, a community, a way of life.
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“Her fingers work steadily, flicking the yarn – a light lavender in some places, nearly plum in others – around a small golden crochet hook and drawing it secure through a loop made a moment before.” – Jaclyn Shambaugh –
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| Crocheted Doll (made for a special little girl as a gift) |
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