Mother's Day 2014

      I have completed the first block of my very first crazy quilt project. It will eventually be part of a three block wallhanging featuring photos of my dad's mother. The background was machine pieced, but the stitching was done by hand. Don't look too closely as I'm new at this. :-)

     My grandparents had had this formal portrait taken at the Purdy Studio in Boston. The original black and white oval matted print is in as pristine condition as the day it was taken. My grandmother is holding my Aunt Mildred who was born in 1903. The details in this photo fabric transfer don't really show it, but the baby is wearing a beautiful little dress and adorable, high top button shoes. This is the only formal Smith family portrait that I have ever seen. My grandparents would eventually have three more daughters and my dad. 

     I intend to make another crazy quilt piece featuring photos taken by my mom's mother around the turn of the century.  I thought it would be fitting to show you this completed block today on Mother's Day and to also post two photos of my own sweet mom. 

My mom grew up in Dorchester, and she remembered that a man would periodically come around so children could have their pictures taken on this pony. I think she recalled that the photo cost twenty-five cents.

I made a photo album for my mom's 90th birthday party, and these were two of the photos that were included in it.  Yes, that's me in her arms. My mother loved stylish clothes, and she spoke of sometimes  spending a good part of her weekly salary before she was married on shoes or new outfits. I remember her saying that this photo was taken one Sunday morning on the way to church, and that the suit had velvet trim on the jacket. Just look at those classy, high heel shoes! 

     I was blessed with a wonderful mom. Her words still echo and shape who I am today. "Anything worth doing is worth doing well," "God never gives you more than you can handle," and the following:

There is so much good in the worst of us,

And so much bad in the best of us,

That it hardly behooves any of us,

To talk about the rest of us.

Happy Mother's Day!