Coloured embroidered centrepieces, larger doilies.

This doiley isn't anything out of the ordinary until...

you have a closer look at those stitches.

The next two are folded over for the photos - the shape suggests tea cosy covers?

This one has been washed with something red, as it has pink dye on it.

Two Blue Willow pieces, the top one I may keep as it is beautifully stitched.

This one has a whole in the centre and isn't much good for anything other than cutting up for craft.

Coloured embroidery doilies.

I got all these ironed as promised in the previous post.  I also had the rest of the white/ecru linens soaking overnight, and hung them out today to dry.   The day was cold and wet and even though the linens were under shelter, they didn't dry at all, so I had to bring them inside tonight, and iron them while they were still wet.  Not a bad idea actually - saves using steam to press them.  So they are now waiting to be photographed - but not tonight!
Here are the smaller doilies - most of them up for grabs, so just leave a comment here for any that you would like.

 This doiley (above) is the only one I would like to keep as the stitching is superb.

White linens.

I've washed and ironed the first batch of linens from the stack I showed in the picture here. I sorted them out into large white linens, smaller whites, large coloured embroidery cloths, smaller coloured embroidery doilies. The coloured cloths and doiles are now soaking in the laundry and will be hung out to dry tomorrow (Sunday). All going well, I will be ironing them tomorrow night, but probably won't have enough time to photograph them all and post them here, so you won't see them until Monday.
In the meantime, here is what I've cleaned up so far:

This is one of two very large cotton clothes with heavily crocheted edges.  This one has a seam down the centre, and I suspect it was originally a sheet that was worn through, and subsequently cut in half and re-sewn to make a 'new' sheet.  Some time later maybe, the crocheted edge was added to make it a bed topper for a single bed.  (I've got it hanging over the shower recess in this photo - while it is still damp, it's too big and heavy to put on the clothes horse, and I don't like to put any of my vintage linens in the electric drier.)


This is a lovely supper cloth with beautiful white stitching, and in very good condition.  No stains at all.





Another white supper cloth with gorgeous fillet crochet instead of embroidery.  Also in perfect condition.




This is a pillow slip, plain cotton with a lace edge.  Rather tattered and probably not usable as a pillow case, but I wondering if any of my readers would like it in order to salvage the lace edge for a future project?




A little white doiley that is pretty but not out of the ordinary....

 until you put it on top of a coloured piece of fabric - voila!



This photo shows the drawn thread work on a very long table runner which is in good condition apart from several stains that didn't come out with Napisan.  It is such a shame, and as I was pressing it, I was wondering what could be done with it in its present condition.   I was thinking about all the patchwork table runners I've seen in craft magazines that I'd like to make one day, and I had a light bulb moment - why not use this runner as the base for a patchwork runner, filling in the centre to hide the stains, but leaving the drawn thread area as it is for a border?  What do you think?

A lot of work ahead for me!

Last year, a lady who I shall call Mrs H, contacted Bundoora Homestead after my linens show - she wanted to give me her family linens when she moved from her home to a smaller unit.  When I spoke to her she said she would offer her linens to her daughters first, and would contact me again early this year.  I have a list of contacts who spoke to me along similar lines last year, but I haven't pursued any of them for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I don't really need to add to my own collection; in fact I cull it regularly to try and keep my collection manageable.
Secondly, I have always believed that it is better for people to keep anything handmade by their ancestors in the family so future generations have an opportunity to admire their work.

Yesterday I received a call from Mrs H. She said she had got all her linen from the cupboards and was ready to part with it as she would be moving soon, and did I still want it?  I said I would love to have a look, so today I visited her and was pleased to hear that her daughters had all taken a few items to keep, even if they don't use them. However, there was still a lot left, and rather than see it all offloaded to an opshop as Mrs H was going to do if I didn't take it, I ended up bringing it all home.

Most of it is whitework - crochet and cutwork, some very beautiful, but mostly common designs that I already have samples of in my collection.  The embroidered items are nice, but nothing out of the ordinary as far as my own taste goes.  I will spend the next few days soaking them all in Napisan, and ironing them as they come off the line - believe it or not, my favourite part of the sorting process!  Then I will decide what, if anything, that I wish to keep.  The rest I will show to my colleagues at the EGV, and whatever isn't wanted at that point....well, some of it may well end up at our opshop, but I'm thinking if I post photos of individual items here, some of my readers might like to take them off my hands?


I've been doing some more work on my Peacock sampler and am quite happy so far with the colours I've chosen.  There are more motifs to be worked in the light purple, and two of those will have a gold filament thread running through them, so it will add another dimension to the overall piece.  One thing about cross stitch samplers - it is easy to pull out something if you don't like it, as they are mostly small individual items!

Have I used my new machine yet?  No....but I've cut some fabrics out for Ken's bike quilt.  At least it's a start!

Not stitching, but cute!

A few minutes ago, our cat Tiger jumped up on to the chair Ken had just vacated after closing down his laptop for the day.  Ken laughed and said "Are you going to look up Dine?"  As the cats are waiting to be fed, it seemed quite possible that Tiger was going to google Dine or Whiskas to see what was available!

In today's mail.

Jane over at Loopy's Place is multi-skilled when it comes to crafts; she embroiders, quilts, knits, and will have a go at just about anything else with textiles.  Whatever she doesn't keep for herself, she sells through her blog, and now and then I check out her 'shop' to see what goodies are there.  I couldn't resist these two cuties - I love baby elephants, and the bathroom sign is so neat!

Someone asked me today what have I made so far on my new sewing machine.  Felt like an idiot when I replied  "Nothing"  and she laughed and said "You're not afraid of it, are you?"  Well...if you really want the truth...

Peacock sampler update.

I did some work on my Peacock sampler at the Guild on Tuesday.  I had shown it to some ladies at the Guild last week, and asked their opinion of my choice of colours.  I said I'd thought about introducing a third colour by stitching some of the motifs in yellow or teal to add some colour.   K.  suggested using teal (blue/green) on just the tail of all the peacock motifs, and maybe added gold or silver filament to the purple for some of the other motifs.  I didn't get to finish the second peacock this week, but I'm happy with the way the tail looks.

I found this book in an opshop today, for $2.  I know of Margaret Rolfe, in fact I have one of her other books on patchwork designs.  This book was first published in 1987, and I've just spent most of tonight reading it...just like a good novel - I couldn't put it down!  So many fascinating stories about the quilts made here in Australia by pioneers, and later, quilts made by women during the two world wars.  A very important historical document if one is interested in the history of quilts.

I am such a dill with technology!

Last Tuesday I finally got the nerve to load the bobbin and thread the machine. Another half hour studying the instruction book, and I put a piece of scrap fabric in and pressed the pedal. WAAAA! Massive thread tangle on the back! Turned out I hadn't run the top thread through properly. Nor could I figure out how to use the needle threader, so I did that by hand and eye....Long way to go before I start making stuff! I'll be heading back to the shop for a five minute refresher course next week.
My own fault - I should have unpacked it and started playing with it the same day I picked it up while the lessons were fresh in my mind.
However, once I'd re-threaded it properly, I was able to try out a few stitches, changing the length and width of them, and trying out the various functions of the computer buttons. I did a zig zag edge around my peacock sampler, as it was starting to fray, and I had no problem with machining that.

I'll get it out again this weekend and play a bit more with the standard foot, then I might try out the other feet and see what happens. I'm dying to try the buttonhole stitch, as there are so many applique projects I've had on hold because my hands ache so much when I do a lot of button hole stitch by hand.

I don't know how others manage, but I am no good at learning something unless I'm actually shown how to do it. I'm no good at teaching myself computer stuff from books, although I can figure out embroidery stitches from a good book. Fortunately for me, there is usually someone around to show me what I need to know. For instance, I have never done a Powerpoint presentation, although I've been to many, and thought what a great way to illustrate what you are talking about. While I was drafting my speech about my peacock collection, I was wondering what would be the best way to show some of the smaller items in my collection, and I remembered the Guild ladies' Powerpoint presentation at Bundoora Homestead last month. So when I was on volunteer duty at the Guild on Thursday, I asked Jenny (the admin. lady) if she knew anything about it. Silly question! Our Jenny is very clever with all things computer-related, and she showed me on her computer how it is done. She said if I make a start on it at home and load my pictures and text on to a USB stick, she will show me how to set it up at the Guild with their computer and projector in plenty of time for my talk in June.

When I got home on Thursday, I turned my computer on, looked up the programs, and there it was - Powerpoint 2007, just like Jenny had shown me! So I had a bit of a play with stuff I had on the hard drive, and it wasn't difficult at all. I'll be busy over the next week or so taking pics of my peacocks and putting labels on them. See what happens when you put something into practice immediately?