Cross stitch work on display

FARMINGTON – A complicated pattern of neatly stitched threads form Laurence Wilbur’s works of art.

On a canvas of linen, his exactly-measured and counted threads create paintings that depict soft flowers, beautiful women and idyllic cottage scenes. Wilbur’s work comes from more than two decades of patience and artful dexterity.

A collection of Wilbur’s cross stitch work is currently on display in the Ben Franklin Library at Franklin Memorial Hospital through March.

Wilbur was born in Farmington, lived in Jay as a kid and moved to Wilton as a young man, he said. In 1941, he got married and worked at the local woolen mill for 13 years until he was hired to work for the venerable shoe company, G.H. Bass in Wilton.

For the first 28 years with Bass, Wilbur worked as a handsewer and then hit the road to demonstrate at trade shows and stores how the famous Bass “penny loafers” were made.

“I was send all over the world,” Wilbur said. A two-week stint in South Africa also included going on safari; he visited the Bass store in Hong Kong, then went to China. He traveled Europe showing his craft and frequented cities across the U.S.

“You name it, I did it,” Wilbur said of his travels.

With all those years of stitching shoes together, the leap to cross stitch art seems like a natural one to the uninitiated.

“Cross stitch has nothing to do with hand-sewing shoes,” Wilbur quickly countered. Although, he does admit one and only one benefit, he can sew equally well with either hand. “My left hand is as good at stitching as my right,” he said.

It all started like a lot of good things do – in a happenstance sort of way. His daughter Vera Williams in Georgia, is a cross stitch artist from way back and would give her artwork as gifts.

“My daughter made Christmas stockings for everyone in the family but me,” Wilbur said. As he continued to wait for a stocking, he decided to get a how-to-cross-stitch book and see if he could make his own stocking. At the same time, he wanted to find something productive he could do when his wife pursued her favorite past time – watching television.

“I found I really liked it and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said. Now at 23 years of cross stitching and counting: “I never did get a Christmas stocking,” he quipped.

At 87, he has no intention of slowing down, cross stitch-wise or other. Wilbur’s latest accomplishment came in the fall when he received the Certificate of Merit from the Odd Fellows Grand Lodge of Maine. A 60-year member of the Oddfellows Williamson Lodge No. 20 of Wilton and Livermore Falls, Wilbur with the lodge members decided to give large donations to community service projects. Among the benefactors have been the hosptial’s medical library, NorthStar EMS, Good Shepherd Food Bank in Lewiston, Hospice House of Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice in Auburn, Oddfellows’ and Rebekahs’ Home of Maine in Lewiston and more.

“It’s nice to donate this money and enjoy seeing it do some good,” Wilbur said. These days, he is living in Northport, a small town located between Belfast and Lincolnville on Route 1. More of his cross stitch work can be seen on display at the Camden Bank in Belfast.

The Ben Franklin Library at FMH is open to the public and located next to the main reception desk. A librarian is available for assistance Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information, contact the librarian by phone at 779-2554.