Norah Jackson – My Sewing Box, My Treasures from my Mom
In the fall of 2010 I was on my weekly visit to my Moms’. I had plans to visit my friend who runs a stitching store in her home. I had several things that I needed and could not buy anywhere near my home in Bancroft.
I told my Mom that we would go there before I took her out for lunch. We arrived at Kim’s just after she had opened a package from another stitcher who had sent a box for her to put together now that she had finished one of Jeanette Douglas’ lovely stitching boxes. My mom was quite taken by this and how beautiful it was. She talked at length to my friend about it. While I was in my own world looking for what I wanted and needed and did not really need, but thought it would be a nice addition to my stash, Mom had asked Kim to make up a kit for her because she wanted to give the box to me as a Christmas gift. This was all arranged without my knowledge. When Kim had it all together she delivered it to my Mom in time for Christmas.
You can imagine my surprise when I opened this Christmas gift which I did not know anything about; what was in it or where it came from. You see, after my Dad died, Mom depended on me to do all her Christmas shopping and wrapping, so I always knew what I was being given for Christmas.
That Christmas, I started work on the top of my box and it was my project for the next while. Mom and I spent many Wednesday nights talking while I worked on this piece. I finished it just before my birthday that year. Mom was thrilled when I showed her the box finished.
That birthday was another surprise. When she had looked at the box pattern she saw that there was a pattern for all the things to go inside the box. She called my friend and asked her to kit this pattern up for her to give me as a gift for my birthday that year.
The only sad thing is she never saw all the pretty little things finished that go inside because she died that October while I was still working on them.
After I had settled her estate I treated myself to a pair of the beautiful French hand made scissors When I use them, and the other goodies in my box, I remember my Mom and the wonderful Wednesday nights spent talking.