My Family's Needlework

Many of the boxes that my parents brought me over the weekend contain sewing supplies from my Dad's mom. She made clothing, she knit, crocheted, cross stitched and did needlepoint. I am going to take my time going through the supplies, but I'm pretty sure I will never need to buy another knitting needle! The lovely thing that she did is that she left little notes everywhere—on bundles of needlepoint that were meant for one holiday, on polaroids that showed what she made each year for her church Christmas baazar, and on a stack of hand stitched linens from both she and her mother. I'll share those with you once I get them out and pressed, but in that mix was this piece of cross stitch from another family member—my great grandfather Palanjian.


I knew that my great grandfather was a tailor and that he did some decorative chair seats that have long been scattered around our house, but it wasn't until I saw this piece that I realized that I have people who did many of the same needle-based crafts on all sides of my family tree. Male and female, maternal and paternal. I know that this particular great grandfather came to Philadelphia from Armenia when he was a young man, so I can only imagine that he learned his skills before he left his country. I'm really looking forward to displaying this and to learning more about my history through the stitches that they left behind. And I'm getting a better understanding of what my own quilts might one day mean to future generations—I just hope I can be as meticulous in labeling and caring for them as my own grandmother was!