OLIVIA IN NC

Flattered

Knudsens have always been good to me, but Katy has a way of making me feel loved like none other—perhaps because, unlike the others, we've never really spent much time together. But she's used long-distance mediums to get to know me, and to love me.  I can prove it:

Today she featured my Red Thread book on her wonderful corner of the Internet. (See!) 

(Calling it a "blog" simply doesn't do it justice).

She's celebrating National Sewing Month with post-after-post about all things sewing.

(So glad Red Thread counted.)

Except now that I think about it, Red Thread certainly does count. . . allow me to tie some threads together in my mind to bring it all together—it is all just now hitting me:
___________

I made this book during High School (thank you Mr. Rees for letting it count as an AP Art -worthy class project). That means that my grandmother, Mama Jose (no accent on the e, you notice, so it is not pronounced like your Mexican friend "José," but instead is a nickname for Josefina), was still alive and still living with us in my home. It's troubling to me that I don't remember the details of the hours I spent on this, but I know I must have used her thread and needles and expertise. 

 She must have taught me how to embroider that butterfly,
(could I really have figured that out on my own, was a Google search so productive back then?)

and I must have looked closer at the handkerchief she'd embroidered for my dad,
(who goes by Koki, and thus, the "K," even though his name is Jorge—confusing, I know. But why call James Jim anyhow?)
and really, her first sewing projects with me must have been the inspiration for this.

I still remember going through her scraps when we spent summers at her home when I was little. She would make the most early-90's-appropriate clothing for my Barbies, and for me. Shorts with both legs of opposing neon prints—alternating pockets on the side too.
(Oh, how I wish I were home and could scan these snapshots! Maya, wanna help me out?)

Yes, I owe some credit to Mama Jose for the best sewing memories I have. (Don't worry, Mom, you still win the prize for best cross-stitching memories.) I wish she were here now so she could guide me on many more projects now that I (think I) have more time. We would do more than sewing, too—she was a fan of many crafts. She would make me wallets from folding paper and she loved "mini" things so we'd make cardboard dioramas, too, I'm sure. Next month, it will have been 7 years since she's been gone. But there's reason to celebrate her today—(the last loose end-thread to tie up):

Today is Guatemala's Independence Day! If not for this wonderful "Land of the Eternal Spring," I wouldn't have Mama Jose nor my Papá. Hooray for Guatemala! And for National Sewing Month!

(thanks again, Katy)