Thinking of "Aunt Grandma"...

I feel like I owe a lot of my crafty tendancies, as well as my love for rural, country life, to my Great Aunt Carrie, affectionately known as "Aunt Grandma". She was my father's mother's sister, his aunt, my great aunt. She lived on a farm where my dad spent his weekends and summers as a child. She and her husband "Uncle John" were was like a second set of parents to him, which would make them like grandparents to me. Apparently when I was two years old, I started calling them "Aunt Grandma" and "Papa Unk". When she wrote an autobiography of her life, she entitled it "Who is Aunt Grandma & Papa Unk?".


"Kira comes in like the wind and heads for the two toy boxes. She always has lots to do here... Kira has always called us "Aunt Gran’ma" and Pa Pa Unk". So now you know where the title came from. She is our Sweetie" - excerpt from "Who is Aunt Gran'ma & Papa Unk?"

Aunt Grandma liked to sew, and was good at it. I'm sure it comes from living through the Great Depression, where many people had to make due or make their own clothes. The thing I love about this old picture of me on her lap is that we are sitting at her sewing table (that my mother now has in her craft room) and you can see sock monkey pieces in the background, waiting to be assembled.

I wish I could say that the monkey in the picture above is the original sock monkey she made for me, but (alas!) it's not. The one in the picture is one I bought at Goodwill a couple years ago, for nostalgia's sake. But I believe I owe my love of sock monkeys (and by extention, sock monsters, and making them) to her.

My first sock monkey's name was Polly Esther (get it? Polyester?). In addition to the pun, the name had signifigance because I had an Aunt Esther (my mother's mother's sister), and she always wore bright red lipstick. I don't believe I was clever enough at such a young age to have figured all this out myself...I think it was really Mom and Grandma having fun.

Aunt Grandma and Grandma (mom's mom) made this quilt for me. It was my favorite blanket in childhood. Sadly, the quilt now is quite tattered and seems beyond repair...but I can't bear to part with it. I've had the idea to just cut a corner off and frame it, but it woud sadden me to throw the remainder away. So for now it covers my chair in my craft room.

Aunt Grandma was a wonderful woman, and I often wish she were still alive for me to appreciate her in ways I did not, or could not, when I was a child. She died at the age of 82 in 1993... if she was alive, she'd be 98 now. I'm glad she wrote her book so I can have it to remember her and read about her life...and marvel at how much she went through, and how much faith she had, and how much God did for her. I hope to organize her story with old family photos and possibly publish it someday. She truly was a remarkable and godly woman. Even though it's been 17 years since she passed away, I still miss her, and I look forward to seeing her again someday in heaven.

New Year...New Project...

Happy New Year! With a new year comes a new project for me!
I have gotten the itch to make a quilt...a project I have never attempted before. I've gotten inspiration from an issue of Readymade (which I finally have a subscription to! Thanks honey!)

"Not-So-Crazy-Quilt - Hang onto your sanity when you make this patchwork quilt by sewing one row at a time. Keep all the fabric pieces in each row the same width, but cut to different lengths"

I'm planning on starting by making a small quilt (baby blanket?) out of some of my hubby's old dress shirts. I laid them out on the kitchen table tonight to work out a simple design...

We'll see how this works out! Maybe when I finish this one, I'll try making something bigger and more patchworky.

Sewing Machine Possiblities

Did I mention that my husband is just as excited about the sewing machine as I am? Although it is supposed to be his belated Christmas/early Valentine's Day present to me, I think it's just as much for him. He want to learn how to quilt. And he's already started making a quilt from old T-shirts that no longer fit him, but have sentimental value and/or fun graphics.

So I was digging out the bags of old clothes that we've stashed in the attic (either intending to give to Goodwill/Salvation Army or use for a project, or hoping we'l fit into them again someday ~stifles giggle~) And inaddition to my hubby's T-shirts, I found some of his old button-down dress shirts. And I have the perfect project for them! I found a site awhile ago that has a tutorial on how to reconstruct a men's button-down shirt into a little girl's summer dress. Now, even though I don't have a little girl (or any children yet) I have a couple friends that do. Plus, I think I could alter the idea to make a top for myself.

Ah...the possiblities a sewing machine opens up. I never would have considered this if I as still hand-sewing everything.