A Gift to Treasure

When I look at these beautifully stitched squares, I think of these words: talent, time, beauty, art…

…and I feel overwhelmed with emotion that these squares of beauty now belong to me. In my previous post, which you can find here, I shared what Grandmother gave to my daughters this year for Christmas, and today I am sharing what Grandmother gave to me this year.

I wasn’t expecting anything. I knew that Grandmother was giving the great-granddaughters lap robes but that there wouldn’t be gifts for everyone. So, when she took me aside as the younger girls were choosing their lap robes and told me that she had something for me, I was surprised. And when she told me what the gift was, I was thrilled. She also gave me (and the other adult ladies there handmade crocheted scrubbies for dishes, which are wonderful to use!)

She took me to her former sewing room, which is now more of a storage room, and searched to find what she was looking for—all of her completed squares of velvet scraps that she had sewn together and then embroidered by hand. She handed me two bags, saying that she didn’t even know exactly what she had in there. She reminded me that she had given me a couple of squares earlier to use to learn how to do the embroidery. Yes, I knew exactly where they were, but I hadn’t worked on that project in years. As she handed the bags to me, she said, “I know that you will treasure these.”

So, yesterday, I went through the bags and started taking pictures of each square. I quickly realized that there were too many to photograph for this blog post, and so I counted them. I have 80 (yes EIGHTY!) squares that measure 10“ by 10” and 18 squares that measure 12” by 12”. As I was making dinner, I called Grandmother to first of all ask how my Granddaddy, who is currently in the hospital, is doing, and then to tell her the quantity of squares. She told me that they are mine to do whatever I want to do. She said again that she knew that I would treasure them and that she wanted me as the oldest granddaughter to have them.

As I took pictures, I studied them—amazed because not one of them is the same. I marveled at the amount of time that must have gone into each one. I admired how precise her stitches are and how she used so many different designs on the seams.

I also noticed that she pieced the velvet scraps on squares of old sheets—everything except the thread is upcycled. You can see the backs of the squares somewhat in this photo.

When I pulled out the box containing the squares that Grandmother let me use as a reference when I tried learning this art a few years ago, I found my first attempt at embroidering a pillow cover with needle and thread still in it. I have a long way to go to become as talented as she is. But she learned at an early age, and she has made quite a few large velvet blankets and even small doll blankets and decorative pillow covers.

In addition to finishing the embroidery on the pillow cover above, I now need to decide what to do with her finished squares. I could make a large blanket and/or several small throws, or I could do something more unique—like framing some of them as artwork and sharing with any younger cousins who might not have received one of her pillows or doll blankets in the past.

What would you do with a treasure like this?