'Family-Made' Category
My Favorite Christmas Ornaments
My mother made these ornaments for us when Elliott and Emily were in elementary school. It was a happy coincidence that they match our Christmas stockings which were made years earlier. My mother was obviously attracted to these Charles Ross designs, just as I was.
Mother was self taught in all kinds of needlework, [...]Just a Few More Days…
The tree is decorated.
The houses are lit up.
The stockings are hung.
Presents are bought and made, but not wrapped yet.
Emily and I are spending the whole day baking cookies.
Life is Good.Hand Knit Sweaters by Marjorie Dellasega, 1983 & 1985
My friends, Jan and Becky, recently wrote posts about their mother, who was an accomplished seamstress. They reminded me of my mother who was also a wonderful seamstress, and loved to knit, cross stitch and needlepoint. She made these two little sweaters for Elliott and Emily shortly after they were born. I [...]
Stamped Cross Stitch Sampler
When I was a teenager in the early 60’s, I talked my mother into buying this sampler kit. I’m pretty sure it was offered in one of the tons of magazines we used to get. Because daddy worked in the advertising department at Phillips Petroleum, we received just about every magazine you could [...]
Vintage Shoofly Quilt
My husband’s aunt, Margaret Elizabeth “Betty” Gray, died in June of last year at the age of 88. Her husband, Connor, was the older brother of Gordon’s father, Gordon, Sr. Betty and Connor built a waterfront home on Mercer Island in the 50’s and lived there until their deaths. Gordon’s parents and [...]
Hummingbird Photos
We are so fortunate to have my nephew, Chris, as our family photographer. He takes all the photos at our get-togethers, but he also loves to take nature pictures. This weekend he took several photos of hummingbirds on his deck and I think they’re just beautiful. We were wondering whether these are [...]
Alice in Wonderland — Ink & Watercolor Pictures
My younger sister, Mary, completed these fabulous ink and watercolor pictures in the 1970’s and gave them to my sister, Sally, and me. I have all four of them now and I hope Sally doesn’t ever ask for hers back. Mary used the illustrations by Sir John Tenniel from the original 1865 Alice’s [...]
Terrace at Sainte Adresse
My husband, Gordon, stitched this Monet painting in 1983 from a pattern by Pat Wilkie Keene. When we were first married, he taught himself to embroider because he wanted a monogram on the pockets of his dress shirts — he stitched a little “GHG” with a tiny satin stitch. He also cross-stitched Christmas [...]
Wine Light Box
For hand embroiderers, here is a great idea for transferring embroidery patterns to your fabrics. First of all, let me just say that this was my idea. However, my husband, Gordon, actually made it for me. I had been using our glass coffee table and putting a light under it, but this light box [...]
1955 Easter Dresses
Every Easter I am reminded of all the beautiful dresses my mother made for me and my sisters. These three dresses are definitely the ones I remember most, because they are just so fabulous. In the photo we are perched on our giant living room chair — left to right, Mary, Sally and Martha. [...]
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