Monday, April 16, 2012

My Easter Basket Cloth

1 comment:

Denise M. Baran-Unland said...

I had always admired the hand-embroidered Easter basket cloths topping the foods the ladies brought to church at Resurrection Matins to be blessed.

Some of these cloths had been passed down for generations, and I, too, wanted to make one for my family, too, but with small children underfoot, attempting it was frustrating and futile.

I received my chance after my fourth child was born. It was a nine month project. The older kids helped with the younger ones so I could work on the cloth. I literally hemmed it on Holy Saturday.

For many years, there was a yellow stain near the lettering, where Christopher had stood over it eating a piece of whole wheat bread and Squeeze Parkay.

I was a frothing lunatic when the drop hit the cloth, but I already had completed the border and lettering, so there was no way I would start again.

About a decade ago, while showing the cloth to a friend, she offered to remove the stain. I was leery, but she was confident, so I handed off the precious cloth.

She returned it several days later, sans stain, thanks to her kindness and ingenuity...and a toothbrush and Comet.