From the Vault: Embroidery

By Eilene Lyon

Maybe this has happened to you: You have a memory associated with something that’s been in your family many years, and you’re sure you recall the story behind it. But then, you doubt your recollection. That’s how I feel about this stunning piece of embroidery. I brought it home with me when I cleaned out Mom’s apartment last May.

I learned to embroider while I was in Girl Scouts. I suppose I enjoyed it to some extent and kept up with it for a short time. It never became a lifelong craft pursuit, though.

My mother, and possibly her mother too, often bought me craft kits for Christmas and my birthday. What I recall is that Grandmother Smith gifted me this large bird project. (My Smith grandparents were avid birders.)

Mom (left) and Grandma Smith. Their birthdays were just one day apart each March, so they sometimes celebrated together. This was taken in 1997. You can see the bird art in the background at Grandma’s place.

I put a little time into the chickadee, but was really overwhelmed by the size of this—the embroidered piece measures 12.5” x 21.5” (31.8 cm x 53.4 cm). Mom took over and worked on it until it was done. It’s not the only partially completed project of mine that she finished.

At some point, Mom gave it to her mother, since she bought the original kit. It hung in the Smith home for many years, then Mom had it until last year. And now it comes back to me.

At least I think that’s how the story goes!

Close-up of the chickadee and raspberry vine.

FYI: The Boulder Book Store has hosted an Author Q & A with me, about my book, Fortune’s Frenzy. (The link will work if the video below does not.)

 

71 thoughts on “From the Vault: Embroidery”

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    1. I do hope I’ve recalled the story right. I expect Grandma is the one who had it framed.
      I feel a bit awkward on video, but people record my Zoom webinars, and I did another online interview recently, so I expect I’ll get used to it…eventually.

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  6. No matter how the art was accomplished it is stunning Eilene! I love that so many women actually had a hand in some way to this piece. I began doing embroidery when I was very young. We had a variety/ five & dime store in town and I would find small projects of embroidery and cross stitch that mom was willing to buy. Later in life I learned more about my Danish background and now give my love of hand crafts like embroidery to be fully associated with inherited traits of my ancestors

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    1. I’m very pleased to have this family heirloom hanging in my home. It’s not unique (being a kit), but it’s close to qualifying as an antique! I have very few handcrafted items passed down. Some are lost, others stolen. I will cherish this.
      I think it’s cool that you feel a sense of these skills coming down to you from your ancestors. I also feel that. My great-grandmother’s love of family history and botany being a couple examples.

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  7. What a beautiful piece…my babcia taught me to embroider, but, like you, I didn’t keep up with it. I know what you mean about how our childhood memories may not be quite what we think they were… my mum has corrected me on a couple of mine in recent conversations.

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  8. I look forward to your author Q and A. The bird embroidery is beautiful. When I had my first child, the doctor told me I had two hours to get ready and then he wanted me in the hospital to induce labor. I had my husband drive me to JoAnn’s to buy embroidery, which I didn’t know how to do. I thought it would be a nice craft to do while I was in labor 😅

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  11. What a beautiful embroidery piece with special meaning, too. I actually do needlepoint and tried to teach my grandmother who bought a HUMUNGOUS piece. OK, maybe I exaggerate but it’s gotta be almost 2 feet by 3 feet. She ended up giving it to me and I did it (having lots of time, recuperating from gall bladder surgery – back when they had to cut you to remove it, so you got like 6 weeks off!) and then, my mother paid for the frame and we gave it back to her to hang on her wall.
    Loved hearing your interview and look forward to reading your book (I already have it but am reading something else and will get to yours next).

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    1. Your story sounds very similar to mine, but you wound up with doing the project. I will always thinks of Mom, who did the stitching, and my grandparents who loved birding so much. I still have the bird book they gave me when I was 7.
      How sweet of you to get my book. Thank you. I do hope you enjoy it! 😊

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      1. Yes, and for me, in record time, to boot. My father got a sailboat, my mother a reproduction of “The Reader”. I have a peacock that I need to finish the last ince or so. Honestly. It’s been hanging around for years…
        I am sure I will!

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  12. You did a great job on the video! And that cool jacket you have on!
    The embroidery is adorable and, yes, looks very time-consuming and difficult. You seem to have done an experienced job on the chickadee unless your mom went over what you did. Loved the story about the piece.

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  13. Your embroidery piece is beautiful. The details. Oh my goodness, I could barely do cross stitch, let alone anything as complex as this. I’m pleased to see that you and your book are getting attention. Thanks for the link.

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    1. Thank you, Ms. Bean!😊 Mom had a home ec degree and sewing ran in the family. Her mother was especially proficient. I was much less so. Anyway, the embroidery really is magnificent. The book has been doing okay, I think. It got an NYT review, which was awesome! Struggling to get Indiana to take notice, though much of the book takes place there. Sigh.

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    1. It’s a piece of family history I will cherish and someday pass on to my niece. Glad you enjoyed the interview! Thanks for taking the time. I tried to keep it fairly short. They sent a long list of questions and I only answered three.

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  15. Beautiful embroidery and a very cool Q and A! I had no idea about the lack of uniformity with money and how most people didn’t even HAVE it! Or barter?! And the prefab houses, with no nails . . . what???

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  16. What a treasure, Eilene. Even though you say you didn’t have much of an input, you are still part of the collaboration. It’s very special piece and gorgeous. My Mum wasn’t into craft work etc. She read quite a bit and loves animals.

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  17. I do remember embroidering as a young girl. In fact, when I had to rummage through my sewing basket to make a repair to my mom’s felt monkey she made when she was in the Hospital for Sick Children from 1937 to 1941 (to write a post about it), I found a pillowcase with embroidery I had started, probably 60 years ago. Boy did I feel old. I never finished it and my mom also finished off many of my projects too, but she didn’t finish off this one. That a beautiful piece Eilene – given its history and how well it was done, no wonder you cherish it.

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      1. I know – I was amazed it was still in my sewing basket Eileen. During high school I sewed all my own clothes. I am tall (5′ 9″ with long legs) and anything off the rack looked like it belonged to my younger sister. So I haven’t sewed anything in decades – I was surprised to see it, still in the embroidery hoop no less, in the bottom of the basket. I won’t finish it. I am not even good at hand sewing. My mom would finish my “creations” … she would baste in sleeves, zippers and she would do the hemming. She would say “I guess you tell everyone you make the entire thing don’t you?” More amazing than the 60-year old pillow case was repairing my mom’s felt monkey named Joe. It had some wear marks which I fixed and gave it a new tail. I did a post about it because I restored Joe – he is about 85 years old. I used some vintage pics of my mom plus her prayerbooks and prayer cards from when she made her communion. It was a special Mother’s Day post.

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      2. In a way, you’ve now taken care of finishing each other’s projects.🙂 I don’t think people sew their own stuff much anymore. Do kids get taught to sew? I didn’t like it all that much, but I did make some clothes and I do love fabric. I did some quilting for a while – just small ones. Still have a machine and drag it out once in a great while. Mostly I’m hand sewing to patch up ripped dog toys!

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      3. Yes, it was fun doing that repair job and the post as I did the vintage pictures and I had linked to my post where my mom repaired my favorite doll from when I was very young. I carried her upside down and damaged her head so Mom replaced it. 🙂 I will bet they don’t ever teach home economics in school anymore and I probably wouldn’t have sewn my own clothes if not for my long legs and arms. I have a friend who does quilting as a hobby. My boss had a quilting company (Campus Quilt) take his various tee-shirts and they created quilts with them. You pick the border style and backing (color and fabrics). They did a great job. He had several done and used the labor-related ones in the office. He is a labor lawyer for management, so every time he negotiated a contract with a union, at the end of negotiations he asked for a tee-shirt with their logo for him and me. Plus we have several freighter companies we represent, so one quilt was just their tee-shirts with logos from their various freighters and tugs. It doesn’t matter how fancy the stitches are for ripped dog toys, so I might be able to handle that!

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      5. Yes, I mentioned it to a friend of mine who suggested I mount all my favorite pins on velvet and frame them and she told me she had a tee-shirt quilt made by Campus Quilt for her sister who is a fan of all the NY sports teams.

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  21. Wonderful interview. I enjoyed listening to you read a passage.

    That’s a great piece of embroidery. Wonderful that it has come back to you. I know that my memory of family stories or events is always a little iffy.

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