A Lifetime's Worth of Maternal Love...

Hello my lovelies...

Despite it being the thick of winter and I should be looking out on snow, 

I am surrounded by a beautiful sunny day.

Not that I'm complaining you understand, but it certainly plays tricks with your mind!

It is still a little chilly so at least something is quite normal I guess.

On days like today I do love snuggling up on the sofa with a cuppa or two and reading.

How about you?

Sunday reading...

I am busy doing a little research at the moment for some future exhibits later this year.

Whilst delving into to the depths of the big void of online material I came across an article

that I wanted to share with you all...

As I have already mentioned in a previous post, I have always been fascinated with our connection with fabric throughout time and stitching.

We all relate to cloth in various ways that often hold treasured memories...

Women's voices were often never heard or taken seriously and yet throughout history

I believe women have always been the strong silent thread running through every story... especially when it comes to stitching and threads.

This story totally touched my heart ...

The image above is of an everyday sack made from feedsack cloth. 

Something used all the time to house provisions at one time.

 Rose, held in slavery by a slave owner had a daughter, Ashley, aged 9.

Her daughter was being sold by the slave owner in South Carolina, USA and Rose wanted to let her know how much she was loved.

No-one knows how long she had to get things ready before she was sold but her simple actions turned this every day piece of cloth into an heirloom.

Rose wanted to let her daughter know her sack was her most prized possession even though

it was filled with very little and yet SO much...

an extra dress, three handfuls of pecan nuts, and some braids for her hair

and...

a lifetime's worth of maternal love.

Something no slave owner could ever take away from her...

Many years later in 1921, Ashley's granddaughter Rose was so touched by the power of her story. She embroidered the words on the sack for future generations to treasure.

You can read more details about the story HERE

The fact that a simple sack probably used for storing flour has managed to survive with such a powerful story is amazing don't you think?

We often save the expensive gifts or items of worth as heirlooms for our future generations but for me, a simple piece of cloth often with very little value will always win the day.

Cloth will always cradle our memories and save them for a day when we want to share them with others.

So many of us work with cloth every day of our lives, making items for our families but how often do you consider your cloth as a living and breathing piece of fabric?

Something that holds your secrets, your thoughts, your daydreams...

Tilly

x x x

Ada...

Hello my lovelies!

Thank you for all your beautiful comments following my last post.

It's really lovely to know that reading my ramblings makes some of you smile.

When I started this new blog I was adamant it was to be just about my work, but, knowing the chatterbox that I am I'm sure you're not surprised to hear that I felt I wanted to share this little gem of a story with you all...

The Little Things...

As many of you know I live in the Cambridgeshire Fens... an area of the country that is well known for it's eerie Fen mists, folklore and flat arable farming land.

It is the backbone for producing a variety of arable goods and all my ancestors have all worked on the land and been Ag Labs ( aka farm workers)

I haven't moved very far from my birth town (all of twenty miles) but to the rest of our family we were considered as the rebels of the family for moving so far away!

I have been exploring my family history for a few years now, and with the fabulous bonus of the internet I have been able to find out some wonderful snippets of every day information that are priceless to me to add to my collection of memories, tales and photos.

So why am I writing all this?

I was blessed with two sets of Grandparents but sadly I never got to know one of my Nans.

I was this age the last time I actually saw her and so know very little about her....

(I'm the gorgeous one on the left!)

Doing the research I managed to find out all the facts about her....you know her birth date, her wedding date, her death date etc but I've always wanted more....

I firmly believe you are the person you are because of your background, your genes, your memories etc but more importantly your soul carries those blood lines onto a new generation.

I only have a couple of photos of my Nan...

Here she is at my parents wedding in 1964.

She is the lady next to my Dad (on the left of the picture)

I follow a few groups on Facebook and when a lovely stranger posted the following photograph at Christmas asking for more information, I was convinced that my Nan was in the group as I so look like her....

I didn't have a lot to work on as she is the lady on the end of the photo wearing a beret.

After sending a message to the lady who posted it I received such a beautiful present....

She had asked her Mum (who was in the picture also) if she knew my Nan and if so what memories....

I was delighted with her reply!

She told me my Nan was a cheerful lady who was well known for her hard work.

Nothing seemed to bother her and she would muck in with what needed to be done.

Following that news feed for a couple of days, another two photos were added by another stranger...

Now I could see my Nan and get to know her a little more...

She is a little older than I am now in these pictures.

Apparently she was well known for wearing a beret at work and in winter I live in mine too!

***

Hopefully I can capture her strong Fen spirit and create a beautiful collage to add to my family history collection that highlights the every day delights of her Fen life. 

I want to do her justice in highlighting her ethos for hard work and getting on with things no matter what....something I know I've inherited from both of my Nans!

I know life was never easy for her and she endured many hardships making her a tough old boot as they would say now but i know that family was her number one priority.

She loved nothing more than having everyone round a table of home baked food

 Often the simplest of details can lead to so many questions being answered by future generations....

I'm going to write down as many memories I have of her and include them in my collage with some hand embroidery alongside my treasured photographs printed onto fabrics.

It will be a long term project, a labour of love you might say that I can indulge in whenever I have some 'me time'

I am so  delighted at having found a small snippet of her life's patchwork simply through the kindness of a stranger's uploading of photos...

My only sadness in this tale is that I would love to have chatted with her as an adult and told her that her little curly haired granddaughter now appears on TV...

wears a beret just like her...

and has inherited her recognisable chubby cheeks, square chin and untamed wild Fen hair!

Watch this space my lovelies for my little collage 

which will be aptly named .... 'Tales of a Fen Spirit - Ada'

Ada Davison (nee Marshall)

 aka my Nan I never got to know...

Tilly

x x x