Generational gifts.

Spent the day yesterday driving up to Seattle to pick up my Mom (her car was here) and bring home a couple chairs my sister is sharing with me (love you Jess). A long drive, but made much more delightful with Mom and me chatting along down the freeway.

She is here for a couple days scrapbooking. She loves it. And of course, this is a good place to come if you want to scrapbook. Just a couple goodies here and there. It is fun watching her work and I love hearing her share stories and feelings about the pages she is creating.

She gave me this sewing machine awhile back. It has been in the closet...living a quiet existence until I could find a new home for it in the studio and figure out how to set it up just right. Mom brought it in here today and set it up for me and I am all ready to sew on my pages now. I love that look. Some of my favorite scrapbookers, like Cathy and Mellette, do tons of sewing on their pages. Having the machine set up like this will make it easy for me to add a zig zag here and there as I go along.

This morning she typed up the following for me...something I will use on an upcoming layout:

Generations of Women Helping Women....
The History of the Singer Touch and Sew Sewing Machine.

After graduating in Clothing and Textiles from Oregon State University in 1971 Al and I moved to Coos Bay.  I was able to get a job at the local Singer Sewing store teaching classes in Sewing with Knits. This sewing machine was the top of the line Singer in 1972.  It cost around $200.  Al and I didn't have $200.  So my Mother-in-law, Marie, loaned me the money to buy this machine.  I used this machine to teach classes at the Singer store and less than a year later, got a job teaching Sewing with Knits and other sewing classes at Southwestern Oregon Community College. When we moved to Federal Way in 1982, I became a Clothing and Textile Advisor for Washington State University and taught more sewing classes for women around the Seattle/Tacoma area. Ali, John and Jessica all learned to sew on this sewing machine taking various sewing workshops through the 4-H programs that I was involved with. Thanks to Marie for helping me buy this machine and now I am sharing it with Ali so that she can add stitching to her scrapbook pages.

I love being able to have another voice on my layouts. Her personal perspective in my books. And the generational sharing continues...she has purchased all kinds of computer equipment for me over the last few years. Things that I could not afford on my own, things that have made a difference for me in my job and my pasions. Thanks Mom.