What To Give?

What do you give your daughter when she becomes a bride?

That I wanted it to be special goes without saying.  Special and of me; not from me, not by me, of me. This wedding gift needed to hold all the love I feel for her, the pride I have in her, and the hopes I wish for her as she becomes a wife and one day, a mother.

To become a wife means embarking on a journey of creation - creating a life for two people. Taking all of their hopes and dreams and working together to put them into action; into being.   Avoiding pitfalls, mastering challenges, overcoming obstacles, as well as basking in joys, reveling in triumphs, and savoring sweet contentment - all make up the life of a wife and mother.  It is a humbling, sweet voyage.

So what do you give your daughter at this joyous bon voyage?

I gave her a pillow.

When I visited New Orleans last fall, I happened upon a studio in the French Quarter where the artist "painted" with fabric and thread in the most amazing applique I have ever seen.  (see "Field Trip" post).  It hit me then that needlework would be the perfect wedding project for Katherine.  For centuries women have created samplers to record marriages and births. It would be perfect, but how to make a modern day needlework to capture the spirit of a wedding? Enter Marc Chagall!!  (see "Love, Marriage, and Marc Chagall" post)

Work began right after Christmas.  I painted the background of the picture onto the fabric.  Then components were appliqued and embellished with embroidery stitches.  I loved holding the work in my lap like I had held Katherine in my lap when she was a little girl.  My stitches weren't perfect, but neither is life, love, or marriage.  My sister gave Katherine a plaque that said "Love doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be true", well my stitches were true.

In the end the work was a piece of me and I think it captured the joy and love we all felt during the wedding, a joy and love that will last them a lifetime.

   We loved with a love that was more than love. 

~Edgar Allan Poe

Love ya'll, 

Shelli