A very profitable month!

This past month has seen my linen collection expanded quite substantially by various means: Ken's Mum, Opshops, eBay and on Tuesday a gift of UFOs from one of my colleagues at the Embroiderer's Guild. The first Tuesday of each month is my volunteer day in their office, and there are usually one or two other ladies with me. We each have our own tasks, but once the gallery is tidied, and the phone isn't ringing, we sit and stitch, or check out the latest books and magazines in the library. Most of the other ladies know I collect vintage linens, and one of them is also a collector, especially of aprons. On Tuesday she handed me a bag full of items, explaining that she was having a clean out of her stuff and thought I might like some of it. I was so pleased - especially because the two unfinished cloths had all the stranded cotton needed to finish them! Here they are: An unusual centrepiece - quite old I think. One end nearly finished, the other end about half done. It will need to have the edge crocheted. Half finished supper cloth. I'm confident of finishing off this little piece. The only stitches are buttonhole, stem and satin - easy-peasy! And the crocheted edge is beautifully done. Funny how some people used to work the edge before they started the embroidery...a lot of my vintage UFOs are like that. This cloth has only a small amount stitched. The material is a light brown coloured kind of rayon - it doesn't feel like linen or cotton. Closeup of the corner that has been nearly completed. I doubt if I will ever complete this cloth - I couldn't match that fantastic stitching! This is a 'new' completely unworked supper cloth, with a Robin and apple blossom in each corner. Unfortunately, no instructions for colours or stitches, but W. said she will help me work that out. This is a close up of one corner. W. collects aprons like I do, but she decided not to keep this one, so I gained it for my collection.