Whoever invented Mother’s Day had a really great idea. Sometimes in the day to day busyness of lif
e, we forget to remember and appreciate those who have contributed the most to our lives – usually our Mothers. My own mother – pictured at right with 3 great-grandchildren (my own grandkids) – turned 94 last week. Although she is in relatively good health, that’s an age where you live life day by day. Not too long ago she said to me “Who would’ve thought I would live to be this old?”. Indeed, we never know how many days the Lord has numbered for our lives.
Now that my own children are grown and I have 3 grandchildren, I have much appreciation for the fact that who I am and who they are is, in a substantial way, due to the things that she taught me through words and deeds in my younger years. Mom raised 7 children and I once told her that a lot of my memories of her is standing at the stove, the kitchen sink and the ironing board. The work never ended, but not once did I ever hear her complain or ask anyone for help. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we were given chores and duties and expected to get them done in short order, but it was more to teach us a good work ethic than to help her out.
Mom had a huge love of sewing from the time she was a tiny girl of 5 or so. She designed and hand sewed clothes for her little china dolls. They are the latest fashions of the 1920’s and painstakingly hand sewn from her own mother’s scraps of fabric. Through the years she spent countless hours (after the supper dishes were done) at her sewing machine making clothes for all of us children. She always added special touches and created new designs from hand-me-downs, so that we never felt we were wearing anything inferior to anyone else.
After her own children were (finally) all raised and gone, she picked up the quilting hobby that she hadn’t had time for in years. I’ve lost count of how many quilts she’s made, but each of her children and most of the grandchildren have at least one quilt she’s made. They are precious heirlooms that each and every one of us cherishes.
I have to say that my love of fabric and making quilted ornaments came from watching her work with fabric all those years. I can still see her hands handling fabrics with a love for the feel for the texture and weight of each piece. I never got her love for the sewing machine, though. Something is always going wrong and I really hate trying to tame the machine and get it to put out the perfect seams that she always could do effortlessly. So, I resort to designing and creating quilted ornaments!
The Mother’s day ornament above is a tribute to my own mother and her love of combining fabrics in new ways. I’ve added my own love for gardening and flowers to make this a special keepsake ornament. It’s a great way to give mother flowers that will never die or fade for her to cherish forever, too. This ornament is available for a short time at my Ebay store
Darl’s Prairie Creations
