Pennies for Defense
My mother learned to embroider at an early age and taught me when I was about five.
My skills were not up to her level even though I practiced and worked hard.
Her backs were as nice as her fronts.
Because she was bnorn during the Depression and lived through World War II with rationing of food stufss amont other things, and being in what was a single parent home at a time when that was quite unusual. she spent a lot of time with needle and thread.
It was a cheap hobby, and all the girls lusted for the empty cigar box at the local grocery store to hold their threads, hoops, and needles.
Having inheirted some of her pieces I decided to use it in this piece.
Some of the fabrics I used in this peice were feed-sacks—I remembered my grandmother covering the ktichen table items with this one—the spoon jar, salt and pepper, butter dish, and bread plate with several slices of bread waiting for the next meal.
While this embroidery and fabric will not mean a lot to anyone else viewing this peice, it was immensely satisfying to handle these bits of cloth touched many times by my grandmother and mother.
Sylvia Weir Art 