Entry tags:

balding, chapin, crewel, handwork, treasure chest thursday

I have two pieces of "handwork" done by my great-grandmother, Hattie Belle Chapin. (We called her Mema.)

They were framed by my grandmother, Hattie's daughter, Doris Balding.

Hattie instilled a sense of reverence and respect in handwork in all her daughters.

In some way, a woman's handwork was for them a measure of her worth.

This was Mema's favorite type of decorative handwork - crewel embroidery.






On the paper cover of the back of each frame in her flourishing script, my grandmother wrote:

Done by Hattie Chapin Balding, 1970, in her 83rd year.

I hope to save them for my granddaughters when they reach an age where they can appreciate them.