Tuesday, April 6, 2010

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!


7 comments:

  1. As with the aprons that have come into my keeping, this cache of needlework that is now in yours annoints you as an artifact guardian - a responsibility I know you will enjoy to the hilt!

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  2. Beautiful and amazing! Apparently, I have a great-uncle who was a prolific knitter. He was injured in the war and so took it up during his recovery. I feel like some enterprising young feminist/crafter/PhD student should write a history of how men, particularly in that generation, delved into the domestic arts. It would be fascinating.

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  3. That is an awesome item to have!

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  4. so neat that you have a talented lineage like that! you should definitely display the work!

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  5. I'm really excited to be the artifact guardian—I have a bag full of hand stitched linens to treasure. And I'm definitely going to display this piece, and keep the little note that my grandmother wrote out explaining who made it!

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  6. This all is fascinating! What a neat discovery.

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  7. I've got a set of four chairs that were refinished by my hubby's grandfather and his aunt and grandmother made needlepoint seats similar to this one you have! I'll have to blog about them one day!

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