This blog is usually a place where I share some helpful tips or techniques about multi-needle embroidery but this week I wanted to share my thoughts about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.
This special holiday for Americans truly is a mixed message. As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we are constantly reminded to be thankful for all of our blessings but at the same time encouraged to buy more, shop as early as possible to save money. I have honestly only given in to this “Black Friday” mayhem on two occasions. There is absolutely nothing I need or for that matter want to give as a gift that involves standing in long lines and wrestling other shoppers to save a few dollars (thank you to my mother for instilling this into her six daughters, as none of us shop on Black Friday). However, I do like to support local retailers and small businesses as much as possible.
I would think that our blog followers would enjoy their Black Friday even more if it was spent designing, creating and stitching something special for the people on their list. I know I will. My daughter, Lindsey, who is a new college freshman, will be home along with her older brother, John, for Thanksgiving. The last few months have been an adjustment for my husband and I as we encounter the “empty nest” phase. I envision Lindsey and I in my studio creating and stitching something special for family and friends. She loves to tinker in the sewing studio and misses the convenience of having a sewing machine at her disposal while away at college.
Two summers ago, my oldest sister, Mary Pat, taught her how to make fabric coil baskets out of clothes line and strips of fabric. She has proceeded to make them for many friends, family members and even started an Etsy shop all by herself at the age of 17! I love the idea because it uses lots of fabric scraps (which I seem to have an endless amount of).
This coming holiday be thankful you have a hobby and don’t make excuses when spending money on this healthy outlet-it’s good for you! If you have the time share your passion with someone else-you never know where it might take them. Think about visiting your local sewing machine dealer and bring a newbie along, they will be amazed at the high tech sewing and embroidery machines available.
I really do wish more people experimented with different hobbies and crafts. You never know what you can excel at unless you try. Having a hobby is a wonderful diversion from our daily obligations. The world would be a much more peaceful place if more people had hobbies-don’t you agree?
Have a Happy and Peaceful Thanksgiving.
Enjoy a special coupon for my Crafty class “How to Start a Machine Embroidery Business” with Marie Zinno.
https://www.craftsy.com/ext/MarieZinno_4963_H
15 COMMENTS
Lindsey
8 years agoI love you mom!
Linda Mc
8 years agoI agree with you 100% – in addition to sewing and embroidery, I like to knit, bead, rubber stamp, etc. Most crafters I know do have more than one craft they like to do but I have 3 sisters and not one of them has a hobby! Hard to believe.
Lori Woodward
8 years agoGreat advice! I enjoy helping to bring the great craft to newbies! Happy Thanksgiving!
Clem
8 years agoI agree…hobbies are great. I have run the gamut: horse, beading, macrame, crochet. Miniatures, shadow boxes…..now I quilt and embroider. I am the only one out of four siblings that has a hobby. My sister wanted to learn how…she then realized that it is time consuming….nothing went together in two hours…lol….she says she still wants to, but she cannot seem to make time….
Sew n Peace
8 years agoTo be able to look at something that you created with your own hands, and realize that you enjoy what you see and at the same time that you made it, is just absolutely awesome and; your inner core is revealed.
To see the generation behind you find the same joy in it, is priceless….Love you Marie, Lindsey and Eileen…:-) Keep on creating!
Llynda
8 years agoI spend hours in my sewing room doing machine embroidery and regular sewing and 90 percent of it is to give to others or to help others. I’m so grateful that my Mother instilled this love in me.
Rhonda
8 years agoIt is such a joy to create. Thank you for all of your help and encouragement.
Cindy
8 years agoI first learned to sew fifty years ago. After learning to knit, counted cross stitch and many other sewing crafts, I have learned machine embroidery over ten years ago. I had bought a free standing lace angel machine embroidery pattern. I have given many angels to family and friends at difficult times in their lives. Several months have passed and they remind me of how everyday they admire the angels and how it has gotten them through these times. they think of how I have helped them deal with life.
ellen osten
8 years agoHi Eileen, well said. We are sooo blessed to be in a business that supports our hobbies, plus so much more. Thank you for a wonderful blog. ellen o.
Maga
8 years agoI will always be grateful to my mother for teaching me to embroider and use a sewing machine. Those two activities have help me through some rough times in my life and is now a wonderful way of spending time with my daughters when we meet up for girly sewing week-ends 4 times a year. I wish all you US sewers will have a lovely time this week-end.
marie zinno
8 years agoThank you for all the thoughtful posts. We are so fortunate to be able to create and touch so many people with our hobby turned business. Eileen taught me how to sew and encouraged me to tackle machine embroidery…now look what happened. haha
Happy Thanksgiving to our readers.
Marie
Karen
8 years agoThanks for all you give.I will be baking cookies with a son’s girlfriend. She is a great cook but never learned to bake. She is also a sewer.Having only boys and no sisters I am enjoying time with her. I did teach both boys to cook, bake and sew.They had no choice how much they do it now is a choice.
Bonnie Gray
8 years agoI sew,do machine embroidery, knit, do kumihimo beading, cook, and love looking at all crafts. My sister sews, knits and hand embroiders. My brothers both build things. This comes from my parents- my mother taught my sister and I to sew, enrolled us at the Y for seing classes. We always saw her doing some project at night. My father was always doing some project in his shop in the garage. I believe it teaches patience and perseverance which is lacking in a lot of people today.! One of my sons is a carpenter and the other likes improving his indoor and outdoor space with different decorative projects, like waterfalls etc. Hopefully my boys will pass this on when they have children.
Ruth Peterson
8 years agoHappy Thanksgiving, Marie & Eileen! I still embroider things I learned from you in one of my first classes. I sew, quilt, embroider & scrapbook. Love it all, wish there were more hours in the day!
Beth R
8 years agoMy 84-year-old mother is visiting me over the Thanksgiving holiday; I’m helping her work on a T-shirt quilt for her favorite grand-daughter … and we’re having a blast! Mom moves a little slower now than she used to, but loves the challenge.