We were truly blessed this last Saturday when the 5 of us were given an awesome gift! My wonderfully creative cousin Mona takes articles of clothing or mementos that meant something …special to the person and turns them into a keepsake for a lifetime!
When Mom died back in June, we were asked to pick out an article of clothing of hers that we liked or that it had special meaning to us. Those articles of clothing were returned to us Saturday in the form of a book. I chose a pair of silky PJ’s that I remember Mom wearing when she did not feel good, and I would sit at the end of the bed and talk to her about whatever was bothering her or just whatever had gone on that day. My awesome cousin had taken that pair of PJ’s and turned them into a book cover that covers a Bible!
I can’t thank her and her sisters enough for thinking about each one of us and our wants and views. Ex: I like the King James Version only of the Bible and that was exactly what I got and Jess and Darrell were touched equally as well! Darrell had as part of his recovery for Bipolar Disease…had to remember to Live, Life and Love and wouldn’t you know it, the sweatshirt Mom had, had those words encased in hearts on it and the book they choose for him was the New Testament which is what he uses as a self help daily for a continued part of his recovery. Thanks to Mona, Leisa, and Dori does not seem like enough, but it is the best I can think of.
Anyone wanting to do something with old pieces of clothing or other mementoes…look up Mo Sews Memories and you can see samples of the awesome work Mona does!
Barbara Engle
Mona is my big Sister. I have told her for decades that she needed to do this. Some of the pictures on her website are of things she made when my kids were little. If you love keeping family items, PLEASE take a look! She has the imagination and skill to make treasures that you or your family will cherish forever. Please take a look!
Leisa Griffith Conway
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Mona makes some REALLY great stuff! My favorites though are the 3 pillows she made from her Dad’s clothes after he passed away. If I remember correctly, they had his old ties and a dress shirt sewn into a square pillow. They looked like modern throw pillows but had all those sentimental memories! ♥
Carla Suzanne Pierson
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The work [Mona] is doing, making new things from old, is very creative. By saving the old pieces she is touching the future, just as my Aunt did for me. Read about it in The Flower Garden. (posted below with permission from the author)
Marilyn Anne Pate—Author, Writer, Teacher
www.marilynannepate.com
The Flower Garden
I remember the flowers–the velvety snapdragons with bees inside, the towering prickly hollyhocks, the glowing asters and the dancing day lilies. Those flowers were bright spots in my sad and difficult childhood.
Oh, the vegetables–marvels of color and taste that went straight from the plant to the pot and then to the table. Like all who were privileged to eat at Aunt Selma’s table, I’ve never tasted better corn, tomatoes, squash or cucumbers than those that came from her garden.
During a visit some years ago, she handed me a package wrapped in tissue paper, tied with string. It was a small quilt. Her quilts are sought after by collectors and I never dreamed of having one of my own. The hexagonal flowers were of all colors, patterns and textures. Each flower was different and lovely. The flowers were pieced into yellow fabric. The quilt was backed by the same cheerful cloth. The piecing, quilting and bindings were done by hand. It brought tears to my eyes. She told me the history of the quilt.
Before I was born my mother decided to make a quilt for me. Under my grandmother’s direction Lucille started piecing the flowers.
After my mother died, when I was five, the pieces she had finished and some fabric scraps were left at my grandmother’s. Now and then, through the years, Grandma worked on the flowers. During those years I visited but knew nothing of the flower quilt. On a trip to Bluewater, at the time of her mother’s death, Aunt Selma came across the partially pieced quilt. She had seen it years before and knew its story. She brought it to Snowflake and finished it for me. The quilt had been in the making for fifty years! It had been worked on by the three most important women in my life.
When I am sick or sad I cover myself with the flower quilt and feel comforted by those whose hands and hearts created it.
Last spring I heard that Aunt Selma was not well. She was ninety-two years young. My husband and I drove to Snowflake in mid-May to see her. As our visit drew to a close she told us to go to the side and back of the house to see the flowers. Flowers in the driveway?
For the first time in sixty years her garden plot had not been plowed nor planted—but this year her partner had been busy elsewhere.
Out of the hard packed earth of the driveway grew hundreds of golden, glorious poppies. California poppies are hard to get started. They grow and bloom only where and when they decide. God had created a carpet of shimmering poppies—a gift for Selma Ballard—his good and faithful servant.