Looking around our home I realised that we have many special tapestries/cross stitches that we treasure and I’d like to share. Made for us by family, friends (and a few purchased)
Pride of place goes to my mother, Ruth, who made these two beauties for me about 60 years ago.
The famous chapel at Kings College at Cambridge University, where I “studied” for 3 happy years (not all in the Chapel). Embedded are the University and Kings College crests
The Crest/Coat of Arms of St Thomas’s Hospital and Medical School, London, where I also studied for 3 years (and improved my golf).
The cross and sword refer to the city of London. The Nightingale bird on the right represents Florence Nightingale who started the Nursing school. The two choughs (popularly know as the Becket bird) represent Thomas Becket after which the hospital is named. The spears in the crest represents Thomas the Apostle, who was speared to death.
Sticking with family (as one surely must), dear Jodi, Marion’s daughter, has made many lovely pieces for us over the years. Here are a few
Now to medical connections.
I was recuited to Duke University by the chief of GI, Ian Taylor. This one was made for Marion and I on our wedding in Durham in 1991 by Ian’s wife, June
And from my dream team at Duke: Laura Lail, Rita Oden and Marilyn Schaffner. These special people moved with me to MUSC
They made these for me
Here are three that we bought
They did 
Disagree 
And, back to my Mum. She was a terrific artist in oils and watercolors. This one has pride of place over our mantlepiece, painted on one of her favorite beaches.
This painting includes a photo of her for an odd reason. When it was complete the right corner started to look odd. It turned out that some bugs had eaten all the way through the wall into the back of the picture! Instead of trashing the whole picture, we added her image.
And here is the last painting she did, the view from her window in the retirement home. Unfinished for obvious reasons.
Thanks for joining me again. You may have noticed some rabbitty themes. Those who read my last post will know that I was NOT named after a rabbit, but we seem to like and accumulate them.
https://drpetercotton.com/your-name-is-peter-cotton-really-what-was-your-mother-thinking/
Were you wondering about the distinction between tapestry and cross-stitch? I was.
I read that “tapestry usually involves tent stitches while cross-stitch involves a stitch with the shape of X. Both these are types of counted thread embroidery”.
All part of life’s rich tapestry/cross-stitch.