My great-grandmother, Mary Brown Young, wife of John Costello crocheted this wall hanging of the Last Supper.
Yes, you read that correctly – she crocheted it. And if I am remembering right, she got the pattern from the newspaper.
I did a quick search of newspapers.com and found several articles in Washington State that have an embroidery pattern for the Last Supper. Then a quick Google search pulled up all sorts of hits, images, patterns, etc for the Last Supper as a crocheted wall-hanging. Apparently, it was a thing.
This framed wall hanging is IMPRESSIVELY LARGE. It is wider than my arm-span. It hangs in a bedroom in my Aunt Barbara’s home. Because it is so large and under glass, it was a perfect candidate to photograph with the Google Photoscan app.
It turned out pretty well considering its size and the fact that it is hanging so high on the wall that it almost touches the ceiling. I wasn’t sure I would be able to line up my phone with all four circles, but it ended up being great.
You can see a wee bit of glare and artifact, but ignore that and marvel in my great-grandma’s super impressive crochet skills instead!
She could also tat. She was a talented little lady from Scotland. I treasure every item I have that was created by her.
Happy Monday, I hope it’s a wonderful week filled with genealogy discovery! I have my last class today in the Certification Discussion Group led by Cari Taplin and created by Jill Morelli. It has been awesome and definitely deserves a post of its own. xoxo
How extraordinary. I admire anyone who can crochet, but to make something as detailed (and do it so well) is really amazing.
Thank you, Su! I am quite impressed also. Very likely, in part, because I am positive that even with the very best teacher, I would never finish such an item. Give me old dusty records and photographs any day and I will turn them into something special, but a crochet hook and the appropriate thread/floss/yarn and I’d be lucky to make a lopsided doll scarf. 😉
Hehe. You and me both.
Haha! ❤️
Amazing, what a treasure. Her choice of colors really complements the details. Looking on Etsy, a similar vintage crochet pattern appears to be available: https://www.etsy.com/listing/271582553/last-supper-filet-crochet-wall-pattern?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=the+last+supper+kit&ref=sr_gallery-1-5
Thank you for sharing the pattern link! It says that it’s from the 1940s, that sounds about right to me. 🙂
Nice. People still make these using cotton thread. Same type of thread that makes doilies. Tatting, thread crochet and la e making are somewhat similar. Lovely piece.
Thank you, Ellen! Oh, interesting, I hadn’t really thought about it that way but I suppose you are right about them all being similar. She wasn’t the best seamstress, the backs of some of her sewn items are pretty bad ;), but her fine crochet and tatting work was amazing!
Amazing. I wonder how many hours went into making it.
Me too!! Definitely more than I could get through. But she probably thinks the same of me with my endless page turning through old parish books. 😉
LOL! It is what makes us all different and thus interesting!
YES, exactly!! 😉
Stunning. Quite impressive.
Thank you, Eilene! ❤️❤️❤️
That is so, so beautiful. And even better because your great-grandmother made it. I have a few things my grandmothers (plus great and great-great) made and I treasure them so much.
Thank you, Debi! Every single heirloom is such a treasure. ❤️
Before I got serious about genealogy, I loved to crochet. My grandmother taught me in 1976-1977 when I was living with her and going to college. I still have the first afghan I made in the famous zig-zag pattern of the 70s in 4 shades of green. Wool crocheting is a lot faster than with the thin cotton thread they use for dollies and this kind of ART. Beautiful work.
My Mom crocheted a lot of blankets in the 70s and 80s. She did several of the very common rose pattern from the 80s. I’ve crocheted a handful of things but I am NOT good at it. Haha!
Lovely work. My grandmother crocheted the exact same Last Supper as a gift for my parent’s new home in 1950. She also did the Lord’s Prayer around the same time. I have the original patterns for both. She also did tatting. I guess that was common for women in that time period. My great-grandmother was a quilter.
What wonderful treasures, Pam! ❤️