history embodied, embroidered

I love the quiet rhythm of embroidery. The sound of the needle piercing the cloth makes me entirely happy. I feel connected to mankind when I embroider. It is a craft that has lasted thousands of years. I may be using my light board to transfer my designs onto the fabric with my iPhone and laptop close by, but the fundamentals of the craft have been unchanged. My great-great grandmother threaded her needle the same way I thread mine.

And I have no doubt she sat near a window just the way I do, for optimum light. And she probably watched her babies toddle around the room and she probably rose every once in a while to stir the soup on the stove. In this we are the same.

"It is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorn