Remembering....

My girls say I should go back to the beginning and record as much of what I have 'created', so its a way to remember....
So here goes...why an interest in needlework, crochet, sewing, growing plants, painting and so on...possibly because it has provided with me with my own space! I love details...and have found sewing fascinating, as things get created with thread, or pruned a plant to look perfect in a miniature, or suddenly give out amazing flowers...the latest now is learning to use water colours!
Lets share the needlework first....
I did this piece when I was in college. It was in cross stitch and took the entire 3 years of college as I worked on it very sporadically. However it is one of my favorites as I remember how challenging it was to actually start the work. I had found the pattern in an old 'Needlecraft' magazine, but had no instructions and had to create the colours on my own. There was an old needle work shop on Muhamad Ali road in Bombay, run by Muslim gentleman and I used to go there on my way back from college to try and match the threads and look for the shades I wanted! The owner was a very old man who was as facinated by me as I was with him....I didn't fit his image of a 'needlework' person as he told me once....'aap tho modern ladki hai! Silai ki kaam tho hamare ladkiya karthe hain...jo ghar mein baithe hain!' And he facinated me as he made beautiful tatted lace, sitting on his 'gadha' in his shop. He told me in the old courts of the Muslim emperores it was the men who made the finest laces...that were used by the royalty! Somehow I have never gone back to look for the shop again...there is a huge flyover there now and none of the landmarks remain familiar...But what a shop...sequins and ribbons and threads and needles and a hoard of old design books!