Murray goes hands-on in her creative crafts

Vickie Murray is a crafty woman.

Murray, 60, of La Monte, has been making crafts since she was 8 years old.

“I started with my mom. We embroidered after supper at night and we really enjoyed that. It was our time,” Murray said.

She began by making embroidered table cloths. The cloths would be sent to her grandmother, who would put crochet finishing around the edges for her.

“That’s one of the first things I remember finishing,” Murray said.

Throughout the years, Murray’s craft skills have grown. She has worked with wood, ceramics, quilts, candles, decoupage and clothing.

“I’ve done a little bit of everything,” she said. “It just comes kind of natural.”

Murray has learned many of her skills from family, but if there is something new she wants to learn, she will turn to books until she understands the craft.

Her love of crafts helped her become one of the founding members of the Show Me Crafters Club 33 years ago

Each year the club hosts two craft shows, which Murray participates in, but the Missouri State Fair is where she focuses most of her work each year. For 11 days, Murray sells her handmade baskets, quilts and other items during the fair.

“It’s really hard to get all of that stuff made for the fair,” she said. “I usually take a couple of weeks off after the fair and don’t do anything.”

Almeta Murray, Vickie Murray’s aunt, is one of her biggest fans. Almeta still has a ceramic Christmas tree that Vickie made for her about 20 years ago.

“She does a good job on everything,” Almeta said.

Vickie Murray is currently making woven baskets, stitched place mats and napkins and embroidered tablecloths.
Each of her baskets are different and she often puts her trademark braided handle on them.

“Most of the time if you see a braided handle, it’s either mine or the lady who taught me baskets,” Murray said.

Although she is her own worst judge, Vickie loves her pastime.

“It’s something I want to keep going for the next generations. I think it’s important to keep out heritage going that way.”