Charming Crafty Memories

This article was written in May 2021.

I am returning to a hobby I began back in the 1980s.  Counted cross-stitch. I have framed work throughout my home & many photos of projects I have made as gifts for others & to sell at craft fairs.

I even found a box my mother labelled ‘Mary’s Unfinished Needlework.’ Inside I found projects I do not even remember working on including a sampler and this child’s apron. I mailed these to my nieces’ daughter as she was just getting interested in embroidery stitching.

I discovered an embroidered pillow top ready to be sewn into a pillow which I remember working on sometime in high school. 

I found a popular "Stitch-May-nia" group via YouTube & pulled out my Cross-Stitch boxes to reorganize. I found over 20 UFO Projects. (UnFinished PrOjects). I organized them into plastic bags & started a calendar to work on them each day. In the middle of all of this, I came across “The Project Bag.” I found this pattern that was quick & easy to make! I have now made over twenty of them.

Before inbox

After in filing cabinent

My mother also did stitching when she was a child up to her 20s. Here are some of her works I found in a box. The doily is on top of a pillowcase with her initials after she was married. MGC…Martha Gabuzda Cooper. 

This is a doll dress she made as a child at age 8.

Mom knitted a pair of socks for dad for Christmas when they were dating.

Mom also crocheted for the Navy Relief Society. Here are some UFOs I found she had started in 1966.

Adding charms to my project bags made me think of my charm bracelets growing up when they were most popular & everyone had them. Here is my collection & the memories they bring of my family’s stories.

Mom gave me my first charm bracelet when we lived in Japan in 1964.

We returned to the US the following year. In 1966, living in Virginia. My second bracelet was put together after our visit to the capital, Washington D.C. 

My third bracelet was given to me as a graduation gift from high school. It included a shetland sheepdog charm representing our family pet. I loved singing in the high school choir. I played the piano from 5th to 9th grade.