A wedding is an incredibly special time for families, even more so for a grandmother with a close bond with her granddaughter, the bride.
Judy Jenkins, a current resident at Westview Acres at Good Samaritan Society - Waconia in Minnesota, took on her biggest embroidery project yet when her granddaughter
Jessica asked her to embroider her high-top shoes for her wedding.
From dish towels to wedding shoes
“I mostly do dish towels. Everyone needs them,” Judy said.
When her grandkids get married, she makes a set for them. She also contributes her dish towels to welcome baskets for new residents at Westview Acres.
Judy Jenkins
She has one framed embroidered cross-stitch project from when she was young that she likes to display on her front door.
Her most remarkable project began with a simple request from Jessica: to embroider shoes for herself, her maid of honor, a bridesmaid and the flower girl. Judy accepted the challenge, despite never having worked on shoes before.
“She brought the shoes over and she picked out what thread she wanted. It was a very colorful wedding,” Judy said. “She went online and showed me how to make the kind of roses to put on the shoes. I would show her pictures as I was working, and she would tell me things to add or if she wanted more colors. She was a very big help to me.”
Judy shared the project went well and she was able to take her time because she had several months to complete it.
“The little flower girl’s shoes were harder to do, because I couldn’t get my hand in her shoes,” Judy said. “She was thrilled with hers, too.”
A state fair surprise
Creating the shoes for Jessica’s wedding was a moment of pride for Judy, but she didn’t expect the recognition that followed.
Her family secretly entered the embroidered shoes into the 2025 Minnesota State Fair – and Judy won a blue ribbon in Creative Activities.
“I was in the car, about to leave from the clinic after an appointment,” Judy said. “My phone rang. It was my daughter-in-law calling and she said she has something to show me. My family started showing me pictures around this room and then showed me that the shoes had won. It was a very big surprise. They never gave me any hint that they had done that and I’d never think to do this. I didn’t think of my shoes as fair-worthy.”
Judy and her granddaughter, Jessica Espinosa
A labor of love
“She lives pretty close and we see her often,” Judy said. “I was with her a lot when she was growing up. It was fun to do them for her and these shoes were part of her wedding plan. I knew I wanted to try and do this special thing for her.”
For Judy, embroidery is more than a craft – it’s a form of therapy.
“It’s a diversion from everything else,” she said. “You just sit down and forget about everything going on.”
She admits that occasionally she’ll put her projects away to do a bit of reading, but she enjoys it so much that she often stitches while watching TV.
What’s next?
Although she recently earned a blue ribbon for her work, she has no plans to enter more contests.
“I’ve been busy, so I haven’t done any dish towels in a while,” Judy said. “I don’t think I even have one in my own drawer that I’ve worked on. I’ll get back to it after a while.”
She likes to keep busy, so doesn’t plan to stay away from embroidery work for long. When she’s not at home working on her projects, she also plays the organ at St. Bernard’s Church and is part of a book club.
Judy also is looking forward to seeing her big family come to visit for the holiday season.
“They’re all coming for Christmas. It’s really something when they all come up here,” Judy said. “This time of year is hard for travel, but I love when they show up.”
