Craftings 2023

Senior Chronicle 5

Every year about this time, I look back over the year’s craftwork, seeing where I’ve been and what I’ve done, appreciating the good and the not-so-much, and being grateful for the hours I’ve enjoyed with the projects.

I began some 75 years ago with crochet and knitting, but quilting quickly became my favorite craft. I loved the designing, the cutting and piecing and hand-quilting, the satisfaction of seeing the work on the wall or the bed. My grandmother’s memory quilts were made of scraps of family clothing, all with remembered stories—a record, in fabric and pattern, of family history. Mine were “new-made” with purchased fabric. But each records a chapter of my personal story, and I can reread those chapters when I look at them.

Log Cabin quilt, 1984-85

But over the years, there’ve been other crafts. Spinning, weaving. felting, and dyeing, for instance. And when we came to Meadow Knoll and had geese and ducks, I loved making pysanky. Ukrainian Easter eggs, crafted with beeswax and dye in a traditional method that involves creating patterns in layers of wax, which are melted away over a candle.

Susan’s pysanky, carved eggs, temari, and a wickerwork ball, in a bowl Bill turned from a downed elm tree

But the geese and ducks are no longer with us and spinning, weaving, and quilting all require considerable storage and working space. When I downsized my craft area, I downsized my craft. For the past decade-plus, I’ve focused on counted cross stitch, especially on large projects. I started with kits but now work with charts. I usually choose full-coverage pieces that take 15-18 months to complete—ideally, things that teach me a new skill or process or introduce me to a new tool. I usually tackle one project at a time, on a handheld frame (a hoop or scroll frame) and always with a magnifying lamp. (Really. My eyes are 83 years old. I couldn’t manage without it.)

Now for some more photos.