I have always enjoyed my projects. However, I usually enjoy them, alone. My friends are super awesome and I love them to pieces, but they are not makers. It’s not their thing. And that is ok. So usually I do all my sewing and creating of anything by myself. However, recently Lisa from Boondocks Ramblings and I started up a winter Crafternoons thing over Zoom, with a few other bloggers, and it has been awesome. I have so much enjoyed sewing while chatting, and the other women are doing their crafty project or chatting and it has just been the most fun. It has also been really cool getting to know these bloggers on a whole different level – and to hear their voices!
I started thinking about how throughout time and the ages, women gathered together for different reasons, and while we do these things as fun crafts, their intentions were more practical. Despite that, these sewing circles, quilting bees, knitting circles, they all provided community for these women. And my curiosity was piqued by this, so I started reading that they provided even more, including a voice for change, for belonging and identity, cultural traditions. And it made me want to learn and know more. And I have found quite a few books that look amazing. This is a new reading and learning project for me – it will probably take a while to do, as I am a very slow reader of nonfiction.
This topic has always been in the back of my mind. And the book that sparked the spark? Oddly, a cozy mystery by Barbara Michaels, called Stitches in Time. There is a comment in there, about women and quilting and sewing, and in it, they mention that women stitch themselves into their work. Women sew and knit and sometimes, they are sitting around their child’s crib, while their babies sleep. Sometimes they do it while waiting on news, while someone is in the hospital, or a loved one is away at war, and this emotion gets stitched into their work. That is sort of magical thinking, but on some level, it has to be true. There would be no actual emotion stuck to it, but that woman would always think about the time she stitched it, whenever she used it. I also think about what the women would have talked about- it may have been one of the only places they were free to just be, at one point in time. I just have lots of thoughts, and none of them organized, and I am really excited to start this little reading passion project of mine, this rabbit hole of women and handicrafts and community.
I have requested one of these books already from the library, and I am waiting for it to get here. In the meantime, I wanted to share the list of books I have found with you!
That all being said, these are the books I found. I have no idea if they are good, bad, boring, well researched- I don’t know. I guess I will find out! Some of them aren’t quite on the mark but close enough and sounded interesting as well!
Threads of Life || This Long Thread || The Subversive Stitch
Red Paint || A Very Social Time || Craft Communities
This Golden Fleece |Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales| No Idle Hands
I would love to hear your thoughts on this! I am also interested in hearing any suggestions you might have to add, even if it is podcasts, movies, etc. Oh! That just reminded me of a movie! How to Make an American Quilt!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
I think that will be very interesting if they are good.
Crafting together has only been an experience for me in school and obviously that was a very different atmosphere. After that, I sometimes did it with my sister, but she doesn’t have the time anymore.
Once I also got had the chance to do it with an old friend – catching up and crafting together. To top it off, it was shortly before Christmas, we had tea and cookies, she did cross stitch, I crocheted wire, we talked. It was so cozy, it could have been on a greeting card.
I wish I had friends I could do that with, but the ones who craft live too far from me.
So now I craft alone, but as I often put on a show or movie for background noise, that is usually what I connect with certain pieces. I had one necklace that wasn’t spooky at all, but it was the middle of the night and the movie was the original Village of the Damned, and then the door opened unexpectedly, totally freaked me out, and in came the ex fresh from a business trip to Japan and looked a bit spooky himself, exhausted from the long flight, lol. All of that was back in my head in a second when I looked at that necklace!
Another kind of craft community that should be interesting are spinners. Last year, I had a serious phase of watching spinning/weaving videos and the history is really fascinating. Unfortunately, I haven’t mastered anything beyond a 10 inch thread myself so far, so I had moved on for a bit, but it’s still on my list (with a drop spindle, not a wheel).
Long comment, sorry! 😉
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I have never really had an experience where I was making something with others, whether we were doing the same thing or individual pursuits, and it has been really cool. I should probably look around for something near me, since I do enjoy it.
That does sound super cozy!!!
That story is the perfect example! LOL. I love it!!
That is a good suggestion. And weirdly, I got an instagram ad for a signing/storytelling class thing. This was the description: For those who feel mysteriously drawn to the ancestral crafts of weaving & spinning…
Join me and three guest teachers for a FREE online gathering on Wednesday, February 19th where we’ll explore the timeless wisdom woven into traditional fiber crafts.
In this gathering, we’ll:
✨Share songs & stories to honor the weavers of our lineages
✨Experience a Cloth Blessing Ritual
If it would have been another night I would have probably done it out of curiosity. Lol. I just have plans for tonight.
And I loved your comment!! It wasn’t too long at all!!
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I read a book years ago (fiction) about a group of women who met up to knit every week and thought that was lovely. I tend to create more and better when I’m doing it with others, mainly because I’m DOING it! That’s why I love art camp and classes. And I haven’t done either since summer. Maybe soon. Looking for a good one.
All those books look interesting and good or interesting in different ways.
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That is a good point! When we are together it sort of inspires us to actually do it instead of getting sidetracked, which is very easy to do!! I hope you find something soon. And we are hoping to do our crafternoon zooms once a month starting in March or April. You are always welcome to join in!
Thanks Jeanie!
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one of my favorite books is The Friday Night Knitting Club. I reread it all the time because it’s just that good. It’s essentially building a community. I started knitting again because my church had a lady who wanted to form a knitting circle. Unfortunately, after a few years (we all grew very close), COVID hit. Then, the lady, who is my mom’s age, had to move in with her daughter across the country. I should try to recreate that circle, but my introverted self is already telling, “No, no, no!” I hope to join in this week’s Crafternoon.
https://marshainthemiddle.com
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I will have to add that to my list! I wonder if that is the book Jeanie is thinking about too! (Marmalade Gypsy) Lol. It is so hard to do these things isn’t it? I am so shy and introverted but I learned during my leadership training that my personal communication style and the way I operate is as a “driver”, who likes to get things done, and also, initiate things. I guess I am a weird combo. Lololol. I scored equally as a driver and an amiable. I am excited about Saturday! I finished my unicorn piece, and my other piece, which was a fox. So I need to figure out what I am doing Saturday. Lol.
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How to Make an American Quilt is a book, too! Also Let’s Move the Needle by Shannon Downey is about community and craftivism and I highly recommend it.
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Oh I didn’t know that! Lol!! And Let’s Move the Needle sounds amazing!
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I was very close to my grandma who raised five children on a cotton farm in Louisiana. She told me a lot about her life. What was your favorite part? It sounds like you worked all the time, I told her. I loved to quilt with my friends, she told me.
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Oh my gosh. I love it! That is exactly what I am talking about! Probably in the midst of all the work she had to do, that was the moment she could also reset and restore her soul.
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Love this post and you are so right about crafting creating community for women. A couple of fiction suggestions on this theme would be Tracy Chevalier’s The Last Runaway and Tuesday Evenings with the Copeton Craft Resistance by Kate Solly.
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Thank you Joanne! And thank you for the suggestions as well!! That last one especially sounds really good!
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When I retired as an accountant I joined a group at my local Senior Center. I have always enjoyed sewing, but didn’t have time before. We meet weekly and make quilts and other items which are donated to charities.
This past weekend I went on a quilting retreat with my sisters, cousin and several others- ten in total. We all had a great time, sewing most of the day, helping and encouraging others, and sharing meals. It was a nice escape from my lonely sewing room in the basement.
Your Zoom meet up seems like a great idea for busy people. You can meet people from everywhere while enjoying your hobbies.
I enjoy reading your blog. You are quite an inspiration.
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Wow that is so nice of you!! When my son was in the NICU, he received an blanket that someone made and donated to the hospital. It felt very special to us, that someone was thinking of those babies and families. We of course still have it. I love that you pass on your quilts to charities!
That trip sounds amazing!!! What a great time you must have all had!
And that is so nice of you to say! Thank you!
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This sounds amazing! It’s always nice when you can find people that have a similar interest in crafts. I was so sad when my friend that I did beadwork with left. 😭 I’ve been looking at local groups where we are now, because my daughter wants to learn how to crochet and sew and I’m halfway decent at the first and garbage at the second. Plus, she’s lefthanded and I struggle with teaching her backwards. She has picked up cross stitch rather quickly!
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That is awesome!! I am so terrible at crocheting and knitting. I wish I could do it! My son is left handed as well, and it is so hard to show him to do things! It hurts my brain sometimes. Lol. I hope you are able to find a group!
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I found a local group recently that meets once a week at a coffee/craft shop – everyone brings their own craft project and works on it but within a group. I haven’t been brave enough to go yet but I do love the idea of it.
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Oh that is so fun!!! I would be like you – wanting to go but being super nervous to try it! I am not good at being outgoing like that. There is a silent book club here that I would like to go to but same.
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These look very good! What a very cool idea to explore these topics. I am late to commenting because I somehow didn’t scroll down enough and WordPress isn’t updating the reader right. It looks so weird now and I miss so much.
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