A lifetime of craft

Ann Wheeler (1st July 1936-7th April 2014)

On April 7th 2014  my Mum lost her short battle against cancer. She was my teacher, my inspiration and my friend. She introduced me to knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, dressmaking, photography, flower arranging, cooking, cake making and cake decorating. With a family of six children, making things was infinitely cheaper than buying them. I have fond memories of christmas cakes and trays of bread pudding. Dresses were made for special occasions and I was delighted when she agreed to make the cake, bouquets and some of the bridesmaids dresses for my wedding 25 years ago.

One of the crafts which remained unique to my Mum was that of egg decorating. I was still living at home when she began this craft which involved using real blown eggs with doors cut and hinged, then smothered with beads and pearls. Each child as we were married were happy to have a special egg for the top of the cake. As her skills improved, the eggs become more and more delicate and complicated. 

The family have had to clear her house and it struck me that the world has lost a crafts person of great skill. Her vast stash of crafting materials will be sent to the egging guild for redistribution and the collection of eggs that she created have been divided between the family. Its all very sad. I did manage to salvage the photographic record of all her decorated eggs which fills three photo albums. 

As a footnote to this blog I would like to say, share your craft as widely as possible. Teach, display and distribute. It is a gift which may well leave when you do.