The 1950s in Fruit

My entryway is a sort of modified mudroom, complete with a built-in storage bench, atop of which is my small set of fruit pillows (strawberry, pear, pineapple, watermelong, and eggplant -- the misfit). I don't think about them consciously, but I see them every time I enter as do my visitors.

Today, however, I am thinking of them -- because an acquaintance from years back asked me about them through Facebook. She remembered something I had forgotten: the pillows dressed the set for Painting Churches, which I directed more than 20 years ago.



When I look at the pillows, I see my mother. I remember and admire her flair for sewing and her love of whimsy. She made these 1950s home accents from a pattern, probably McCall's or Butterick. (Those were her favorite pattern makers, and I loved thumbing through their pages while she chose fabrics.) She embroidered seeds on the watermelon slice, appliqued the triangles on the pineapple, and stuffed and hand shaped the stems and leaves.

It's a strange and wonderful thing that the same object can stir such different memories and associations, and it's lovely that Caroline's question stirred me. Because Caroline asked about them, I touched these pillows and felt as if I were touching my mother's hands, something I have not done since I was 16, soon before she died.