My Grandmother Laura’s Butterflies
My Grandmother Laura’s sewn Butterflies
Here I am working with my Grandmother Laura Wendlandt’s (my father’s mother) handiwork from the late 1960s. This work of butterflies was done on grandma’s treadle sewing machine. The stitches are so small and tight. In today’s world and with today’s sewing machines when we are finished with a seam we do a back stitch to secure the tread from unraveling. In the 82 blocks of pink butterflies the black thread is hand knotted on the back side to prevent them from becoming undone. All of the pink fabrics have been turned under so no raw material can show. I cannot imagine the hours her arthritic fingers spent securing the fabric and then sewing around each pattern. I have not quite decided how to work with it, but I do know that all of her handiwork will not be in vain. Sometime in the future there will be an update of a portion of these blocks. Just don’t hold your breath.