“Away We go” by Kay Leckband
For more than 30 years, Kay Leckband has cross-stitched a Santa every year for each of her two daughters. That’s a lot of jolly old St. Nicks.
“I started making them for the one daughter, and the other said, ‘Mother, I want one of those too,” she said.
For the second year in a row, Kay’s festive, expert needlework has earned her honors in the systemwide Art is Ageless competition. This year’s entry, “Away We Go!” will be featured in the 2016 Art is Ageless calendar, along with entries by more than 50 artists age 65 and older throughout Kansas and Missouri.
Kay said it takes her most of the year to complete both Santas. One daughter prefers full-length views in an Old World style, while the other likes whimsical images. This year’s winning entry depicts Santa astride a white horse raising its hoof. Wrapped presents are stuffed all around Santa while snow appears to fall in the dark-blue background.
While her daughters were growing up, Kay made most of their clothes, just as her own mother had done for her. “Whenever I have to start over, I can still hear her say, ‘Rip it out, it’s not right,” Kay said.
As the girls grew up and moved away, Kay turned to needlework instead, while her daughters carried on the sewing tradition for themselves. In fact, her daughter Susan Guest entered two machine-quilted pieces in the 2015 Art is Ageless competition.
Once the holiday season arrives, Kay says her daughters begin putting their cross-stitched Santas out on display. Kay said she’s got an angel motif she’d like to try next year, but it’s hard to break with the Santa tradition. “I told them maybe this year was going to be the last,” Kay said, “but then I already found a couple more I’m going to do.”
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