God Morning Friends & Folk ~
Happy Friday to us all!
{I choose to be happy}
I wanted to answer a couple of questions that I get from folks
from time-to-time...
"Lori, I love your embroidery ~ do you ever stitch anything other than Halloween or Witches?"
"Hi Lori - What is the inspiration behind your folky little witches that you stitch?"
"are you a Witch?"
first let me begin by saying, yes I do stitch 'other things' besides Halloween and/or witches.
I just prefer to follow my muse and be inspired by those motifs, as they are my very favorite :)
and have been since I was a child ~
my earliest memories of being 'exposed' to witches
{besides dressing up as a witch every year for Halloween}
was my mom reading this book to me on a nightly basis
{thank you mommy for putting up with me!}
Old Black Witch!
by Wende & Harry Devlin
oh how i loved this sweet little witch and her antics, spells and chipper personality ~
she scared me not, oh no ~ on the contrary;
I wished she was my own personal little friend,
and i guess in a way, she was...
My mom is Pennsylvania German, hailing from the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania ~her family moved to Connecticut from there, which is where I grew up.
Our visits to 'down home' always included riding through the hills and fields of their family and neighbors...driving so slowly behind a horse and buggy, listening to the clip-clop of the majestic black horses' hooves and watching the hex-sign decorated barns go past...
she is now 89 yrs young, and her name is Elda Elizabeth Geiste {Geiste in German means ghost}
and her sisters, my beloved aunts, Miriam, and Dorothy and she were very close ~
as well as her brothers, my sweet uncles; Thomas, Frederick and Robert...
but it is my aunts I remember the most.
They had wild hair and wore tiny little spectacles ~ they had crooked fingers from years of hard work and tender voices that sounded like kittens purring, and their homes fascinated me ~
colorful painted walls like butter yellow and red ~ blue front porches and wisteria-covered lattice.
Their hex signs and samplers hung on the walls,
and of course in their kitchens, as well as our own, hung small kitchen witches,
usually in the window above the sink to sway gently on the breeze...
to bring Good Luck into their homes.
~ there was always something brewing on their stoves
and their tea kettles always seemed to be hot and whistling, even in the heat of Summer.
they collected odd things like tea cups & doilies, broken jewelry and cats & dogs...
they cackled when they laughed and oh how they loved to laugh!
We were forever hunting together with them in thrift shops, looking for that special 'find'.
one time I found a pair of purple boots {hey it was the seventies} and my aunt Mim put her arm around my shoulder and whispered in my ear: "Perfect"
and winked and smiled the biggest grin at me.
another time, I stubbed my big toe running down the sidewalk at my aunt Dot's house...
{I was then and still am perpetually barefoot} she heard me crying and came over to me,
gently holding up my foot and breathing on my bloody big toe with her warm breath...she then told me to find a white rock, rub it on my sore toe and to bury the rock under a bush in her yard ~ and that would take the pain away.
and it did.
The aunts were musical, listening to them play on their Organs was always a special treat...
and they were artists too ~ working in oils, painting from memory and real life ~
but the thing that I remember most is their sewing and needlework.
knitting, crochet ~ cross stitch, embroidery and dance-costume making...
they grew huge gardens, baked bread, cared for sick children and animals of their own
and looked after several nieces and nephews ~
my aunts are gone now ~ but their memories live on in me...
were they witches? were they magical?
to me they were ~ they cast a spell of love on me at a very early age...
I looked up to them as the wise and loving women they were.
and I aspire to be as full of magic and wonder as I could possibly be.
am I a witch?
I like to think so, a Good Witch, ... as I believe they were ~
I like to think that I can help myself, my family and friends by offering my help,
kindness and positiveness with a touch of magic and hope.
now, as an adult and a professional needlework designer, I try to create from my life as a child...
keeping memories alive and adding a bit of sparkle where needed. making magic with my needle and thread...and as I say, seeing the past through the eye of my needle.
{oh, and I collect teacups and doilies, cats & dogs too}
so there you have it.
I will continue to stitch my witches...
in recognition of those who were here before me and those who will come after ~
And,
me thinks many of you are good witches too!!
Blessings from the Farm
~
Lori
