A Beading Journey - The Beginning

Both my maternal grandma and my mother were highly creative women. Their creations were very different and appropriate to the creative endeavours displayed in the time they lived, but nevertheless, they were highly creative women. I was baptized wearing a multi-layered dress that grandma handmade including the lace inserts. This delicate masterpiece still exists in all its richness and served as a similar gown for my own children. My grandchildren didn't continue the tradition as they were all too darn big to fit the gown. 

Grandma handmade lace, crocheted, embroidered, knitted and handmade quilts up until the time she lost her sight, when she was in her 90s. She lived to be 103. 

Mom created with leathers, pottery, flowers, metals and paintings. Anything she tried she excelled at. Her special talent was in her water colour paintings and her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can all thank her prolific skills for the artwork adorning their residences across Canada today.

As a young female growing up in that kind of an environment, I was encouraged to learn how to knit and crochet – these two skills being determined to be the easiest for clumsy, pre-adolescent hands to form. This proved to be untrue. Not only did my hands refuse to magically create beautiful articles, I had no interest in doing so. The early lessons quickly petered out as I ran outside to play. It required far more patience than either woman had to corral me and teach me an art that I had no desire to learn.

Life sped by. Grandma passed, but left many stunning displays of her creations with us. One day, I was pondering how she created a 3D – type of effect on one of her pillows. One pillow in particular was threadbare, so following my curiosity, I took it apart to more closely follow what grandma had done about that 3D business. I decided to duplicate the process on a pillow I wanted to make for my own bedroom. Now right off, I should have known that something mysterious had taken over my brain! I had managed to ignore sewing chores and creating chores equally well while my children were growing. I sewed - but out of necessity, not because I loved to create.

Why I decided to create a pillow still sends me into gales of laughter. Clearly, something was wrong with my brain! I suspect grandma had her foot squarely planted in it.

I made that pillow, and as I further explored grandma's methodology, research showed me that the process was actually a form of the earliest recorded history of quilting in Canada. One pillow led to another. Perhaps on this one I should add some sparkle. And, eureka - embroidery hoop and beads formed part of the project.

It was that simple. Begun innocently enough. And has evolved to what I do today, creating wall hangings, shields as well as smudge feathers, energy healing wings for healers, medallions and of course - pillows.