Basket of Flowers

Just flitting through - thought people might enjoy this Basket of Flowers on a Doiley at Old Gippstown.

In the hundreds I have looked at, I hadn't seen spider web flowers used on doilies.

It is a really simple piece, but beautiful. The stitch used on the handle is interesting:

I am thinking it is laced Herringbone, but I am not totally sure.

Drawn Thread Work

I have always been drawn to Drawn Thread Work (no pun intended). Somewhere, I have a beautiful piece that has come down through the family, but do you think I can find it? No.

It must be the most basic and essential form of fancywork a woman could do - all she needed was some reasonable even-weave white cotton fabric (I think mine are cotton, not linen), and some white thread. I am not totally sure what they used, possibly it was crochet cotton.

Pull out the threads in the necessary places and group the remaining threads, using the white thread. Then add some needle weaving accents - as in the Maltese crosses in the example above. I THINK the spider webs were formed as part of the grouping process.

I am also wondering if it reached its peak in the 1930s Depression - around the time Chicken Scratch was popular. It certainly was a low-cost option that produced stunning results.

So, what I am thinking about now - is does anyone do it any more? I don't think I have seen much in the way of contemporary discussion about it.

There is an entry on it in Wikipedia, but that doesn't really show the sort of work I mean, although there is a good example of hem stitching, which I learned at school. In the 1960s they still taught "proper" needlework in my secondary school. But not a lot I can find on the net.

Think I need to go and have a very serious search for the piece I have. Somewhere.

(Oh, yes. This piece is from the collection at Old Gppstown).

I've been Tagged

Sharon, Annie and Gerry have been kind and generous in naming me on their blogs in the You Make my Day award.

Kind and Generous, as I haven't blogged since 16th December! Although I am closer to returning - 2008 has to be better than 2007.

So Thank You, to the three of you. Please consider yourselves tagged back - you are three warm and generous women with wonderful blogs.

So I have further seven to give out, which may be difficult. As some of you, I know have already been tagged. I am reading, even if I am not writing.

But what the heck, here I go anyway, but in no particular order:

Calidore (love the vest)

Maureen III at CrazyQStitcher

Maureen II at Kenmaur's Corner

Marty at Textiles in Time

Jo at No Matter Where I Go, I Always Meet Myself There

Bear, in her Embroidery Den

and I only have one left, and there are so many. So I am not going to use it. Except to say that, if you are reading this post,please consider it is yours, as it still gives me a sense of wonderment to think that people read what I have to write, and as such, you all make my day.

Thank You

PS There is a nice little log/plaque / whatever that goes with this - but my brain does not have the space in it to think how to grab it. So if you would like it, feel free to grab it off the blogs of the three kind people who nominated me.