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March 18 — Shining star: Did you have a female ancestor who had a special talent? Artist, singer, actress, athlete, seamstress, or other? Describe.
My maternal grandmother, Irene Caroline Banet Dreher [1906-1989], was exceptionally talented with a needle! She could create just about any dress, blouse or shirt without ever benefiting from use of a sewing pattern! If she could see it, she could make it!
She made the most beautiful quilts! All without ever using a sewing machine! I’ve seen her cut quilts out on her kitchen table. Then actually quilt them by hand by merely holding the material on her lap! Not many years before she died, my mother finally bought her a lap held quilting frame. “Granny” stitched every single stitch by hand. Most of her stitches, even in the quilts she made in her old age, were nearly invisible to the eye!
And she could crochet like no woman I’ve ever seen or known! She could make anything by crocheting it! And she could envisage it in her head! I have seen her make beautiful garments for fall and winter, simply by sitting down and crocheting. Never using a pattern, tape measure, or drawing it out. She could see it in her mind’s eye and make it!
She once told me that she had counted stitches so many times in her mind that she counted everything she did! When she was washing dishes she would count them in her mind [ie: one plate; one plate, one fork; one plate, one fork, one cup; one plate, one fork, two cups; etc]
While she never received any public accolades for her talent, she was still known far and wide for them. And she is remembered for them today.
1 comment:
We have so much in common. My maternal grandmother had the same skills as yours, including both sewing, crocheting etc. Her stitches were not invisible, but they were firm and even, and she raised a very large family (14 children) on very little money.
Have a nice day,
Evelyn in Montreal
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