Saving Grace

Since I picked my word of the year, Grace, I have noticed how many times people say that word! One of the most common phrases is “Saving Grace”.

Vocabulary.com says: A saving grace is something positive in an otherwise bad situation. The saving grace is the good thing that redeems, or saves, a negative experience. 

YOU have been my Saving Grace! This definition could not be more appropriate for this year! You, my applique sisters, are the good thing that gives me positive energy during an otherwise challenging situation!  

So today I want to THANK YOU! Thank you for letting me come into your world each week and share my love of all things APPLIQUE and QUILTING! 

I have shared with you before that the textile tradition runs through my veins. My Grandmothers were professional seamstresses, my Dad worked in a boot factory and my Mom and I owned and operated a quilt shop. I trained and worked in the textile industry, and I continue to be fascinated with Textile History in the Blackstone Valley of Massachusetts where I live. 

  

This Singer Sewing Machine was my mother’s. She found it at an antique store in Texas during one of her winters there. She brought it home to MA, then left it with me when she moved to Texas full time.  

I have always loved this machine and just decided to research it a bit. I found that it truly belongs here in UPTON, MA, and this is why.

I live just down the street from the Knowlton Hat Factory (now senior housing). By 1872 This factory had become the biggest women’s hat factory in the world. They made felt, fur, and straw hats. A cottage industry grew around the women in my town who supported themselves by braiding straw at home to supply the factory. The braided straw was sewn into hats on a machine just like the one I have.

 

The singer machine that I have came from Texas. Do you think it was used to sew Ten Gallon Cowboy hats? No matter what it was used for, it is a treasure for me, and it feels right at home here in my studio.  

Do you have an antique sewing item you would like to share? If you do, please post it to the SPD Facebook page or the Rotary Cut Applique group!  

This week, please remember that you are my Saving Grace! I hope that puts a smile on your face all week long.