Stitching Across Time

Granddaughter Norah was a year old in September. While cruising around the coffee table, she has been dragging her big brothers' super hero action figures (the Hulk, Captain America, etc.) with her. Her Dad thought she needed a soft doll for one of her birthday gifts. That prompted me to find two soft dolls, Raspberry Tart and Apple Dumpling (Strawberry Shortcake characters from back in the day) that I made for my daughter. She liked the characters and I cobbled several patterns together in order to make them. I cleaned and repaired the dolls to send to Norah. I also made a small quilt for her dolls.

I started with a fat quarter of a pink print from my stash. Then, thinking I'd piece a top of simple squares from flannel, I pulled out the tote containing old sewing scraps. Back in the day, I made flannel nightgowns and pajamas and corduroy robes for my children. Tucked inside the tote, I found a piece of flannel from my grandmother's sewing days. I must have acquired it when Mom cleaned out her home. Gram made my sister and I nightgowns from this 1950's print flannel. I love knowing that Gram once folded up this small bit of flannel for another day. I decided not to cut it into squares but use the whole scrap.

As I put the little piece in the washer, I held it up to my face. I'm fairly certain I caught the faintest whiff of Gram's perfume, Youth Dew by Estee Lauder. This scent carried me back to being perched on a couch in Gram's sewing room while she sewed and told us stories, sitting beside her unwinding a ball of yarn while she knitted, making potato salad in her pink kitchen, and many other memories.

Of course this fabric was a pink and white print. If Youth Dew was her signature scent, pink was her color. She owned pink clothing, pink yarn, pink dishes, pink towels, and pink costume jewelry. She wallpapered bedrooms in pink prints. She painted her old kitchen cupboards and woodwork pale pink. She frosted sugar cookies with pink icing, tinted Spritz cookies pink, and wore pink fingernail polish. I never catch a whiff of Youth Dew or see something pink that I don't remember her and the love she lavished on her grandchildren. She helped me with sewing and taught me to knit, gifts that last a lifetime.

I am sending Norah this little pink and white quilt and with it, a piece of her Great Great Grandmother's story. Someday I hope to tell her stories about Gram of the pale pink fingernail polish. If Norah wants to learn, I'll teach her to stitch and knit. For now, she is on her way with new pink shoes and her own dolly.

Linking with Kat and the Unravelers today. Click on over for inspiration.