A Tribute....

Thanks to everyone for reading my blog lately! And thanks to everyone who complimented my son (via me) on his Fimo creations of late. Since we are on winter break and his sisters have been sick off and on, we haven't done much outside the house. So he has spent a good deal of time making these little guys (and I mean they are little- about an inch or so tall)....Anyway, his creations are really from his head. And this got me thinking.... mostly about creating.

Last night, my husband and I were talking about some of the items our kids have created....

When I was pregnant with baby #3, I would take naps wen my son napped. My oldest child didn't like to nap anymore so I would tell her that as long as she didn't answer the door or the phone, or touch anything electrical, she could stay up. So, she would open our 'art cabinet' and create the most amazing, original stuff. Our favorite that we were talking about last night is the infamous 'sauce pillow'. What is a sauce pillow you ask? It is a couple of pieces of decorated doodle paper made into a pillow, stuffed with leftover sauce packets from Chinese take out. She then stapled the papers together and punched holes around the perimeter and laced wrapping paper ribbon through the holes. Just amazing!!

Which lead me to more thinking...how does this all happen? I have always bought art supplies for the kids since they were little... crayons, pencils, paints, tons of paper, inks, stamp pads, beads, and the list goes on. I bought these things because I always loved 'playing' with them. My mom used to keep my sister and I supplied with crayons, paper, and glue. She even keeps markers, paper, and crayons at her home for the grandkids.

But when I was 13, my paternal grandmother gave me $100 (which was a lot of money waaaay back when) to buy my first sewing machine. She did this for all of her granddaughters- I was the third of five. My grandmother was a wonderful knitter, smocker, sewer, crocheter!

This is my grandmother, Kate, as a young child in New York City, where she was born.


Later, Kate as a teenager. Her family moved to Canada (where the rest of us were born).
And my 'Bubbie', as I remember her, in the 1970's.
This is my sister and I (me on the right) modeling two of the dresses my grandmother made for us with gorgeous hand smocking.

The purchase of this first sewing machine must have sparked something in me. My mother registered me for sewing lessons that first summer at a local Singer Sewing store (mom would later be a sewing class drop out- sorry Mom!- but she knits a mean pair of socks). I was hooked! I think that first project was a bib front sun dress with a ruffled skirt (aww the 70s!).

Then I took Home Economics in 8th grade followed by Family Studies (a new name!) in high school. I sewed mostly clothing for awhile though I remember purchasing a stuffed animal kit (an elephant) early on to hand sew. I also did needle point, cross stitch and knit a couple of scarves.

After I married, I took a quilting class at a local community college and that opened a whole new world for me!!! While I might have been hooked on sewing, I quickly became addicted to quilting! Of course, I had 3 children and for awhile, my productivity was cut waaaay down!

But now, I have a sewing room, a wonderfully supportive husband, 3 (usually) great kids, and a whole lot of fabric. The world of blogging has opened up so many wonderful possibilities for me and I have tried new things in the last year or so that I would not ever have imagined!!!

But as I was thinking about the creations of each of my children, I never really told them what or how to do it, I just provided them with the materials.

So thanks to my wonderful grandmother who so many (many) years ago provided me with the materials to start creating.