I met a wonderful elderly quilter yesterday while visiting my friend at her yarn store. I was reminded of that innate goodness of hand crafts and their ability to bridge generations.
This woman spoke of her grandmother who had created a beautiful quilt in the 1800s. This quilt was made up of basic fabrics in only a few colors: that's all they had back then. Each little piece of fabric was significant and treasured. They probably were cut from clothing or household items such as feed-sacks. She saved up these bits until she had enough fabric to make this quilt.
She pieced her quilt together with the ONE NEEDLE she owned. ONE NEEDLE. This part of the story struck me as I thought of my multiple pincushions at home with needles of various sizes poking out every which way. Each one of those needles is just a means to an end for me. If one becomes dull, or maybe I don't even like the way it feels in my hand, I toss it out without much thought. The same goes for thread. This woman in the 1800s saved her thread. She had thread that she used for basting and when she was through, she wound it back up onto the spool for next time.
I thought about all of this, how I take stuff for granted. There's always more stuff to replace stuff. I'm just as guilty as anyone else who has grown up in the era of disposable this and that. However, I have always bought the very best I could afford so that it would last. But still, that concept of ONE NEEDLE is novel for me, a place for me to understand how far we've come from our simple and frugal roots.
I heard that in the past money was the limiting factor for people----we lived so simply that we were not outgrowing our resources. But it's different now; even little old me, truly without much money at all, can still make a negative impact on the resources in the world. It's scary.
But it doesn't have to be that way for me. That story made an impact. I think about my evolving interest in living more simply and creating comfort and love within my family through the basics: simple good food, comforting crafts, encouraging stories, enjoying nature. I think about the quiet and peace that comes from hand crafts and the stories we all shared yesterday through our common interest in something that has faded away in our society. Perhaps these things will return, much as knitting has gained such widespread popularity.
When I returned home, I read Meg's beautiful birthday post on her blog, Montessori by Hand. I had not watched the clip she recommended: The Story of Stuff. It was a fitting cap to my day. My children watched it, too, and we had a wonderful discussion. My son said something so simple yet profound. He said, "I know why families aren't as happy now. It's because we have all of this stuff to occupy our minds." He said this in reference to our family, too. We're just as guilty of distracting ourselves from the real beauty of life.
Lots to think about for me. It's a process but I feel it's a good one. A journey to becoming more real on the planet and engaged with one another.
