With needle and thread my soul is fed

Sew, for Christmas I got a fabulous new sewing machine, and sewing room.

Isn't it beautiful?

Sew, then I started making a quilt for Jewel. I made one for her brother when he was roughly her age. This time I have better tools and equipment, though.

Sew, this is the back ground (laid out sideways - sorry):

But, this is what all the pieces look like laid out. Last night, I sewed the tree trunk on. The rest will have to wait a bit.

Some of my earliest memories are of standing at my Grandma's side as she sewed for me. I would pull pins from the pin cushion and replace them for her. I pushed the pins deep into the cushion, thinking that I was helpful, but I know now that I was making it harder for her. I remember standing stiff as a board while I tried on dresses in progress, afraid to move lest I be stabbed by an overlooked pin. I still remember the hard and fast rules: 1) NEVER use the sewing scissors for anything else, and 2) you MUST WEAR SHOES in the sewing room - stray pins lurk about. I'm sad that none of those clothes she sewed so lovingly for me have survived. What has survived are the sewing lessons I gathered along the years. Because of the time spent, literally, at her feet, I can now sew for my children - and hopefully, my grandchildren, too.

As I sew, I think about my tools, my thread, the pins and needles I use. Many of them were castoffs of my Grandmothers. But, most my quilting supplies were a gift from my other Grandmother, Kathy. And most of my thread came from a lady I never, knew, named Wyzee (aka Fuzz). Fuzz never had children of her own, but as I was using her pins to hold pieces of Jewel's quilt together, I thought about how her blood (literally on the pins - ouch!) and sweat and devotion is being sewn into a blanket for the next generation. I quietly thanked her for so many of the tools that made my work easier. Although my children may remember my Grandmother, they will never know her. But, Liam already spends time at my side watching me sew, pushing the pins waaaay down into the cushion to help me. So, I'm hopeful that the skills and tools of my foremothers will continue to be used long after I am gone.