Serious Summer Stitching

Create Your Own Happiness Challenge - FISKARS

I have been quilting for over 30 years. I’m a quilt teacher, speaker, author and host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast. Quilting is my passion and I use the handcraft to ease my mind and bring me joy each and every day. As my hands guide the fabric through the sewing machine my whole world softens.

As summer approaches I’ve decided to slow it down and enjoy my craft even more over the summer by taking on a daily hand stitching project. I was looking for a project that would involve 15 minutes of hand stitching every morning for 100 days of summer.

Scanning my bookshelf, I pulled out a favourite old handbook of basic stitches by Jacqueline Enthoven. I had originally scooped up this little gem at a second-hand store over 15 years earlier and I have referred to it often to find unique ideas for stitch. Following Jacqueline’s sketches has improved my hand stitching skills from beginner to confident slow stitcher over the last decade. I realized that I felt like I actually had a relationship with this author and decided to see if I could reach out and connect with her.

After a few weeks of searching in my spare moments, I found that the publisher was no longer in business, so I searched online for the family name and any other books she may have written under another publisher. I found a 1940 federal census that mentioned her husband Richard who was born in 1904 and realized that Jacqueline could be over 100 years old. I soon found a publisher of one of her later stitching books and inquired as to whether they could connect me with the Enthoven family.

After a few weeks I was thinking I may have hit a dead end when Martha called. She was delighted that someone was taking interest in her grandmother’s book. It turned out that Jacqueline had lived with her son and his wife (Martha’s parents) for her last few years before her passing at 96 years of age a few years ago. I shared with Martha that I would like to do 100 days of stitching over the summer following the pages of Jacqueline’s book of stitches and I wanted permission to photograph and mention the book and post the videos. This would start my days off with creative joy, engage my followers who also love to stitch, and serve as a tribute to Jacqueline’s work. Martha immediately sent me written permission.

Martha was so pleased with the idea that she sent me copies of all of Jacqueline’s books as a gift. She went straight to her parent’s house after our conversation and sent me photos of Jacqueline’s room with her gorgeous works of stitched art proudly displayed on the walls. She also asked me if I would be willing to Zoom with her parents, Jacqueline’s son and his wife, because they would love to meet me. Martha is similar in age to me with a teen daughter who would be happy to find me sharing this story about her great grandmother on social media.

I’m planning to make 20 modern pincushions featuring all 40 pages of Jacqueline’s stitches over the summer. I’m so please to be bringing this nostalgic sense of joy to a loving family who misses their loved one and would love to celebrate her work. This is one summer stitching project I will be very proud of for years to come.

Note about the author: You can find Brandy Maslowski anywhere online as the Quilter on Fire and she really could use a boost in the quality of her scissor collection.