Vintage items from a variety of sources.

My collection has been greatly enhanced the past few days by these four items. The first two scans are of a suppercloth that was started by Ken's Mum around 70 years ago. There was only one corner to do, and the edges to finish off, but she never got around to it. I don't feel quite so bad about my UFO's when she gives me hers!! I finally finished it off last week, and a friend is going to crochet the edge for me.
Ken and I took his Mum to visit some elderly relations on Sunday; Ken's Uncle A. who is 91 and his wife G. who is 88. They still live in their family home, as does Ken's Mum, but they hadn't seen each other for a few years, as at that age of course, people don't get about like they used to! It was wonderful to see the three of them catching up on news of grandchildren, and reminiscing about the past. When I brought out MIL's suppercloth to show her, the conversation switched immediately to the 'fancy work' they all used to do in their youth. Auntie G. disappeared for a few minutes, and returned with the napkin pictured below. She said it was all that was left from a set that she had stitched, and she had forgotten it was still around until she was looking for something else recently. I asked if she had kept anything else that she'd stitched and she said "No, I gave most of it away to friends and family for gifts. Anything I kept for us, wore out eventually and ended up in the rag bag". Ken and his Mum looked at me and chuckled - I had nearly choked on my cup of tea!! I was given the napkin, as Auntie G had no further use for it.
Finally, some lovely items via eBay. Another crinoline lady teacosy from England, and a magnificent apron from N.S.W. When I saw this on eBay, I pounced - put in a huge bid, but nobody else wanted it, so I got it for the listed price of $25. Hard to tell in this pic, but the stitching is superb, and the apron has been hand crocheted all around. There are no ties though, so I suspect this was done to enter in a show, as so many of these beautifully stitched aprons were. You could hardly wipe your floury hands on that now, could you!!