Kindle joys

So, I freely admit it, I love my Kindle. I love that it is small, compact and that I can carry it everywhere. I love that it is easy to read. I love that I can download a book almost anywhere at anytime. The reason I truly am head over heels in love with my Kindle- free books. Oh, yes, you heard me right. Through the Gutenberg project you can download over 30,000 books. That is a whole heck of a lot of books that I would never have had the opportunity to read. Most of the books I've downloaded have been women writers that I would never have been introduced to. Some of them are a bit sentimental and maudlin, but that's ok. Except for the part where I was choking back tears on the train. I just finished reading Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield. I was compelled to find out who this woman was and I reading her bio I see she was kind of extraordinary. I also read a couple of novels by Elinor Glyn and they were a little racy for early 1900. I looked her up and she was the forerunner for women's erotic fiction. It is just amazing. I've downloaded a couple of more books to try by forgotten women authors. I'm grateful for the opportunity to discover them.

I've been thinking lately about the line between craft and art. I've always viewed my sewing as a hobby that isn't very arty. I have begun to realize that it is an art, one that connects me to a heritage. Reading lost books and rediscovering lost arts gives me a sense of belonging to a larger community of women. I think since my family is small that I often feel adrift. I'm realizing that my family tree looks very different from one of patrilineal descent. I do not have a patrilineal line to follow, but I do have Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Elinor Glyn, Gee's Bend quilts, Alabama Chanin, my mother, my grandmother and great-grandmother. Plus any woman who embroidered a pillow case or tatted a doily. I always feel compelled to buy them because I think of the women who took the time and care to make them and in my heart I need to give their art a home. I have been thinking about embroidery as art and seen other artists using embroidery in a very different fashion. I am toying with the idea of telling the lost narratives with thread. I've been on an interesting journey of discovery lately and I'm not sure where the path is leading but I'm willing to follow.