Saturday, August 27, 2011

Helping out my mother.

"If you have a mother, there is nowhere you are likely
to go where a prayer has not already been."
Robert Brault



I am very fortunate to have the kind of mother that was always there for you.  I grew up in a very normal, average American household. My father worked, my mother stayed home. She was the girl scout leader, the PTA  mom, the dressmaker, and everything in between. She sewed a lot and did some knitting. We had a few homemade crewel embroidery pictures she made (don't know why they were always avocado green, rust and gold) along with the many homemade holiday items. Her knitting was mostly afghans. She made my dad a sweater and it was so big he couldn't wear it. The sweater she made for me in grammar school finally fit in middle school. When I married my husband who is 6'5" my mom pulled out the sweater and gave it to him. He thought the sweater could have been custom made for him.  Thirty years later it is still his favorite sweater.  One thing my mom never did was cross stitch. She has done many projects with plastic canvas. If you are not familiar it like cross stitching on a number 5 count linen. Only it is plastic and you use yarn and only do a half stitch. 

When I went to mom's house awhile back she for some unknown reason had decided to take up cross stitch. She had ordered two patterns, one was a kit for a pin cushion done on 14 count Aida and the other was a Sweetheart Tree fob, you know the kind done on 32 count linen. She had started the pin cushion and boy was it a disaster. First the pattern had tons of half cross stitches and her hands and eyes are not what they use to be. She gave me the piece and said see what you can do with it. I took it home where it has been sitting for awhile until last weekend when it make it to the top of the to do list. Here is my mom's finished pin cushion.

It was a nice kit (except for the Aida). It came with the wooden holder and threads (oh did I tell you for some reason my mom tied the ends of the thread together). She was very happy last night when I took it to her. It really is the least I could do for all she had done for me. I will try and get the fob done soon.


"Mother, the ribbons of your love
are woven around my heart."
Arthur Unknown.

Always keep love in your stitches,
Teresa

14 comments:

Jennifer M. said...

Bless her heart...at least she tried. I pulled out an unfinished piece my grandmother was working on before she got sick. She was no perfectionist at the craft I realized. She made mistakes too, and only because I think she didn't know any better. I now understand why my first few projects had mistakes in them and she never told me. It was cause she didn't know they were mistakes either.

I learned much later when I actually read cross-stitch directions, that you were supposed to do one row of half stitches and then come back across and finish them.

Enjoy your weekend!
Jen

EvalinaMaria said...

What a lovely gesture! The pincushion looks beautiful, congrats on the finish.

Rowyn said...

That's lovely that you helped your Mum finish her cross stitch.

My Mum was a knitter and a cross stitcher too. These days she spends all her time with Animal Rescue. Surely there has to come a time though when she needs to slow down, and maybe she'll pick them up again.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend.

pam said...

It is a great piece and I know she will treasure it.

mdgtjulie said...

Glad to see that you were able to finish up the pin cushion. It's cute. Can't wait to see the fob!!

CRAFTY STITCHERS said...

The pincushion looks great. My mom loved to do crafts, she sewed, cross stitched, crocheted, etc. You are so lucky to have her.

Unknown said...

What a beautiful piece I am sure it will be so cherrished.

cucki said...

wow..the pin cushion is looking so beautiful..i love it so much..well done xx

Carol said...

I think you and your mom created a beautiful piece together, Teresa! I suppose she saw how much pleasure your stitching gave you so she decided to give it a try for herself. It will always hold nice memories for the two of you, won't it?

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Cross Stitch Queen said...

That is an awesome gift that you gave each other. A memory to be treasured forever.

Your finishes are lovely.

CSQ
http://betweenthestitches.blogspot.com

Charity C. said...

I think the pin cushion turned out great! I admire the love you and your mother share. You have a very tall husband!! I think that's great!

Sarah Beth said...

Good for you appreciating your mom the way you do. I wasn't blessed with a kind mom and I have always envied those who were more lucky. I'm glad you know how lucky you are.

Pumpkin said...

That was so sweet of you! I think it turned out beautifully :o)