Crafter by Night

Mabel and The Cat in the Hat

Many people live near their extended relatives while growing up. I was not one of those people. I lived near none of my extended family and traveled to see them about twice a year. What I did have was a next–door neighbor named Mabel Mattingly, who was a pretty darn crafty lady. She was in many ways my stand-in grandmother and gave me a deep appreciation for things done by hand.

Mabel made me my first quilt, which I will show you all sometime. Should I have children, that quilt and its matching pillow is my daughter’s. Mabel also made awesome apple turnovers, the like of which I’ve never had again. She provided our house with various jellies and jams for all the years I was growing up in that house. She used to go to Louisiana to visit her family and pick mayhaws and come back and make ‘em into jelly. Mmmmm. She also had a big garden and taught me how to garden as well. I had a postage-sized plot out back that gave me great joy. She canned a lot of vegetables- she is the reason I adore pickled okra today.

One of the major things that Mabel did was make ceramics. She was not a wheel potter, she was a ceramicist; she used molds. She had hundreds of molds on shelves in the garage, all tied up or wrapped with giant rubber bands.  She had a big, deep kiln by the door to the kitchen, so deep that my small self couldn’t reach the bottom. She made me various things over the years, and I have 2 of them – a little turtle to put plants in, and a black witch hat. I also have a very pathetic vase she made with me – it’s the paint job that’s mostly pathetic. Mabel was an excellent painter – her colors were even and her finishes glossy. My witch hat isn’t very complicated, but some of the paint jobs she did were really intricate.

Hope you enjoy the little show that my kitten Callie put on with the hat that Mabel made me. Although I don’t know what happened to Mabel after she moved away, I always feel big warm fuzzies for her whenever I get out her handicrafts and remember the things she taught me to love.