Notice I didn't say needling. Today I would like to discuss all things fabric related. Even that isn't a broad enough introduction to encompass all the things she's capable of with a needle. What's even more amazing is how frequently she taught herself to do these things, or at best had a handful of pointers and then took off with it.
When we first met, she was heavy into needlepoint. For the life of me I can't figure out how she had the dedication and attention to detail necessary to to go thread by thread, counting the number of minuscule holes over from the edge to start a particular color, only to have to repeat the process for the next color. It bottles the mind.
Little did I know she was quickly learning the art of quilting. I discovered her new found talent when she presented me with my very own handmade navy quilt, complete with the navy emblem. After marriage, I quickly learned that quilting isn't nearly as easy as it looks. I was raised around seamstresses and simply assumed the hodge-podge creations I saw them produce were a simple matter of taking a piece of fabric, sowing on another one, then sowing on another one, until you had a big enough square, then sow up the edges. Easy enough, right? Au contraire.
She frequently belittles her own math skills while praising mine, but I have difficulty tracking the multitude of measurements she had to coordinate to get everything to fit just so. And trust me, if it doesn't fit, she spots it immediately. Then it's ripping everything back to square one. I wouldn't have the patience for it. But not only has she gone from novice to someone the church calls on to teach classes in the span of a couple of years, the things she creates are astounding. I just wish she'd make a few for around the house and quit giving them all away. Yeah, the women's shelter needs them more, but they're just so darn nice to look at.
She's dabbled in knitting, and made this beautiful blanket that's wrapped around our beautiful daughter (that she also made, more on that later). She also threw together a precious collection of cupcake hats and candy corn hats for the little one, but there isn't much call for the warmth of knitted clothing in our southern climate. Of course she taught herself how to make all these things. "Yeah! Self-taught! No lessons, thank you very much, Pop." - Steve Buscemi
Something more apropos to our climate are the clothes she makes for the baby now. It would be one thing if she just took a pattern, followed it to the letter, and out came some clothes. Still impressive, cuz I can't do it, but not really earth-shattering. So of course she doesn't just do that. Numerous times she's taken a pattern and said, "You know what, this would look better with sleeves." Or, "That doesn't really fit our daughter's frame, so I'm going to change up the design to make it a better fit."
It's the difference between skill and talent. To me, a skill is something you learn through instruction and practice, until you can do it independent of direction. A talent is the ability to take that skill and through a process inherent to you improve on that skill. So far I have yet to see her attempt anything involving needle, thread, yarn or fabric that didn't turn out beautifully. Not to say she hasn't had the occasional project that didn't work out just the way she wanted, but by and large she's been a success at every type of needlework she's tried. It just makes me wonder what other potential she has in her.
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