Today was spend sewing... sewing on white fabric... sewing lots of different white fabric. A lovely lace covered wedding gown. One of the last five I'd promised. (Always keep my promises) The second a tiny First Communion dress for a friend's daughter... the college trainer friend who picked my son up off the field several times when he was bloodied, broken or injured during his college baseball playing days.
Lastly a tiny doll from old white linen and wool who will fly through the mail... hand-stitched from a simple pattern taught to me in childhood by the wonderful woman who cooked for my grandmother and one of her friends; a woman I so respected but who wasn't always respected by society or that era at large. Miss Julia's ancestors were surely enslaved as she was born of Southerners, but the independent Miss Julia was beloved by all who knew her and her talents were a large part of my life. I never learned to cook; she gave me a hard time about my lack of kitchen skills, but I still can hear her praise of my needlework skills. I think of her often, miss her a lot and daily thank her spirit for being such a patient teacher for a bouncy little kid like me.
(picture shown above - "Wanda's Wing" by Diana Welte - vintage quilt scrap, wire, foil, organdy ribbon - in private collection)
