Grandma's Everyday Mandala
My name is Sherri Lynn Wood, and my grandmothers' names were Georgia Marie Wood (Grandma Wood), and Harriet Schmakel Waechter (Grandma Sam).
My hope for this blog is to share the scope of my creative interests, thoughts on the life/craft process, and to build a community around the concepts of grandmotherly wisdom, care, and devotion embedded in the making of craft.
This being said, my grandmothers were not saints. As a young child, I often felt shamed by my father's mother (although she totally mellowed out as she got older), and my mother's mother was very creative, but a little batty (and often overlooked as the main provider for a family of six). Both my grandmothers lived far away so I didn't get to know them to well. Harriet inspired me to sew. When I was in 4th grade she sent me beautiful swatches of fabric remnants left over from her drapery business.
I was fascinated when Georgia gave me a cowhide and wool carriage blanket, as she shared childhood stories about riding across the frozen Indiana farmland to attend winter wakes with her family in the horse drawn buggy. Apparently attending wakes, and attending to the dead were regular community events. It's hard to imagine.
Grandma's Everyday Madala, was made in 1999, from a vintage table cloth, crocheted doily and plastic flowers. Just as it was dedicated to the legacy of my grandmothers' vision and their devoted perseverance to the domestic life, to caring for the home and family, I now dedicate this blog in loving memory of my Grandma Wood and Grandma Sam.