Click here for a larger view Photo courtesy of Joe Saladino.
Upon seeing the box of thread featured in today’s picture in his wife’s sewing room, photographer Joe Saladino felt impelled to take a photo of the colorful arrangement. And I for one really like the results.
My mom has been an avid seamstress for the better part of eight decades, and she’s still going strong even today. When she and dad were struggling to raise our large family, she would sit for hours on end making clothes for us to wear to school, patching holes in our jeans, or making a special dress for my sister Helen to wear to church on Easter Sunday. But her real love was, and still is, making quilts.
As a young boy I would sit at Mom’s feet in her sewing room watching in amazement as her latest creation quickly took form, stitch by stitch, “rising” from the pile of “quilt pieces” she had cut from old articles of clothing that had finally been patched for the very last time. I can still remember how my young eyes would stare for minutes at a time at the jars filled with colorful buttons of all shapes and sizes and the ever-present box of thread that was the brightest, most colorful thing I had ever seen. I know it sounds a bit silly, but in the eyes of a three year old country boy there is nothing prettier than a mosaic consisting of dozens of spools of brightly colored thread!
The Lord has been very gracious to Mom, and she still derives immense pleasure from stitching together a quilt that will soon become someone else’s precious keepsake. And even after all these years, I still catch myself staring at her box of thread on occasion, savoring the sweet memories of a special time spent sitting at the feet of a mighty special woman.
Here are the camera and settings used to capture this image:
Camera: Olympus E-520
Lens: Olympus Zuiko Digital 45-150mm
Focal length: 86mm
Shutter speed: 1/25 second
Aperture: f/22
ISO: 1600
What an intriguing photograph, and the accompanying text is absolutely wondeful! Great job all around on this one Mr. Rouse!
Together, today’s picture and narrative are a true delight. The picture is quite good all by itself, as is the narrative, but as a pair they pack a mighty powerful punch.
GREAT!!! That’s all I have to say.
Love it, love it, LOVE IT!
Oh!, what beautiful memories!!!
Very unique and colorful!! I like it!
Todaysphoto.org is one of my favorite photography websites because we get to see beautiful landscapes from places around the globe, and often beyond. But amazing beauty is often found just a short distance from our own feet, if we will only look for it there, as Mr. Saladino did. Wonderful colors and composition sir!
Captivating…also inspires me to dig out my sewing machine…Very nice!!!
What a wonderful eye you have, to capture such a simple but powerful image in an often overlooked setting! The story was so touching, and your mother sounds like a remarkable person. A magnificent piece!
I’m a quilter as well and I have a coffee mug that says, “My soul is fed by needle and thread”. This photo captures that feeling.