About Me/Keeping Family Traditions

IMG_0453Growing up in Rural Missouri , I gained fondness for creativity. There were 4-H meetings at the old community building aka Manila School House, a one room schoolhouse my mother and her siblings attended in her younger years.There were afternoons at my Grandma’s after school spent sewing. Grandma had a real treadle sewing machine. By the weekend, I was watching Mother at her 70’s era machine creating double-knit polyester stuffed animals from her fabric scraps. (The 70’s were something weren’t they?!) At the large family gatherings, I’d chum up to my Great Aunt Zula who taught me the correct way to hold my crochet needle and yarn. Creating items for myself and others became my inheritance. It’s also the richest of blessings.
Learning the ways of being creative has led me to bond with my family & friends by ‘helping them out’ with gifts, fixing the needed article they needed yesterday, and letting them know if their items are worth saving. (Of course we always try to save them!) I also volunteer each year to teach the art of crochet to 4-Her’s in this county. Several of the girls have had their items judged to go all the way to the Missouri State Fair for display. I’m so proud!!
In 2010 we opened our Etsy shop , Katy Trail Creations, to show the world items from our little corner of the world. The items are all handcrafted and genuine with the exception of vintage items . We hope you’ll find something in our shop to give you or someone you care for delight and create a lifelong memory worth keeping.
In the meantime, this blog is the day to day thoughts and experiences in my life. You never know what topic will pop up here!!

9 comments

  1. I love your blog and how much you are connected to your family through crafts. My mother, now in her eighties, and Etsy shop too, though she doesn’t do too much with it. She also has a stall in an indoor market that she runs two days a week, selling her knitwear. She’s does embroidery and tapestry as a break from knitting. My sisters and I used to help her make soft toys in a small workshop she set up in the past. I love your avatar of the old Singer sewing machine. I had one that I bought at an auction many years ago and it was exactly the same as that one, including the wooden desk and drawers. When I got round to buying an electric machine my husband used the old singer desk as a stand for his aquarium. Your photo brought back some very pleasant memories of our early marriage years. 🙂

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    • So pleased to hear your Singer story! I got mine an an auction too only because I was the only one who wanted the job of taking it out of the building. It. is. heavy.
      But I also got it for a steal ($45.) It has everything except the belt which I bought recently online. Luckily I had a grandmother who showed me how to operate it, although that was many years ago. Hoping it’ll all come back to me. 🙂
      I can only hope to be so ambitious in my eighties as your mother. She sounds wonderful! Thank you for stopping by.

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  4. I love the insight on how we always remember the kind Aunt or patient friend who taught us how to knit or crochet. It’s one of those skills you never forget. Your work looks beautiful.

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  5. Hello there, I just recently came across your blog. The name Katy-Trail Creations caught my attention as I know the Katy Trail is in Missouri. I love all the posts of needle crafts you have shared with us as I love needle crafts myself. Though I am not on WP as often, I am looking forward to following your blog. Always, Rose

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    • Thank you for following 🙂 yes we live with the trail directly behind our home. Literally less than 50 yards so it seemed natural to name my blog after it. Nice to hear from you and hope you enjoy your visits!

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