Good news for you lot, but hard work for me!

Further to my post regarding changing this blog into a website, or splitting it up into different blogs, I now have a solution, thanks to Anne. In a comment to my post, she suggested putting labels on the posts here, so that readers could 'call up' a category by the label name, and everything under that label would appear as a seperate list. In a negative frame of mind, I replied to Anne that because this was my first blog, and I have never upgraded the template when Blogger changed, I didn't think I could put labels on my posts. But after I wrote that, I had a go at doing it. VOILA! It works! Now don't get excited. There are 797 posts at the time of writing this, so it is going to take me forever to label them all! Some will be tricky because I'll have two different items on one post, so I'll have to fiddle around I guess. But what the heck? It saves me (a) creating a website (b) splitting this into several blogs, and it will keep me off the streets for a while, LOL! Thanks again, Anne!

New doilies and my first TAST sampler.

This lovely set was reasonably priced on eBay, so I decided to bid, seeing I have in my stash an unworked tablecloth with this design stamped on it, but no instructions. Now I'll have the originals to follow!
This is my first sample of stitches for the TAST group on Stitchin Fingers. I'm quite proud of myself! We were given the task of stitching Herringbone stitch in any form we like, and as I am not very imaginative, I started off with one row of plain Herringbone. Then I started looking at what others have done, and then I started looking at all my embroidery books...and came up with some ideas of my own! Well, sort of. Adapted from others, shall we say.

Great new website!

Poor Ken. My long suffering husband is sitting patiently in the lounge room, wondering if and when we are going to have any dinner tonight. It's after 7 pm and I've spent much of this weekend on the computer. Just as well dinner will only take a few minutes to prepare (last night's cold roast chicken warmed up with a can of vegetable soup - great stand-by!).
So what has been so fascinating that I can't tear myself away from this little screen? For the past year, I have been adding stitching blogs and websites to my IE Favorites List, and decided it is about time I moved them from there to the sidebar of this blog. (I know, it's supposed to be on the side, but it's ended up at the bottom of the page somehow...). So of course I had to re-check them all to make sure they are worth a second (and third) visit, which took time. A lot of time. One of the newer sites I'd only had a cursory glance at, but when I had a closer look, I got sucked in well and truly.
SharonB has created a website like no other, for lovers of all kinds of textile crafts. Stitchin Fingers has Groups, Forums, Discussions, Tutorials, in fact just about everything you could wish for on a craft site. I've joined three groups, one of which is a working group where the members commit themselves to learning one new stitch each week and practising it, working variations of it, and so on. Sharon did this last year on her blog and this group has the same name "TAST, or Take A Stitch Tuesday".
Several of my blogging friends have already joined Stitchin Fingers, and I'm sure if you are reading this, and you check out the link, you'll see what the attraction is! See you there soon!

An old Vogart transfer

I've been buying up these plain tea towels whenever I find them, and they are HARD to find! I don't see them in retail stores - mostly on eBay or in second hand/opshops. They are perfect for my collection of vintage transfers, and I've done a few in recent years, as it makes a nice change from cross stitch all the time. I'm working on this one at the moment for a friend.

My latest finish.

I can't wait to post this - I've framed it since this photo was taken, but haven't got around to photographing the framed article! I'll do it later... I've been working on it for ages, but couldn't post progress reports in case Lee-ann saw it. It is an anniversary gift for her and Rob, who have turned out to be great friends with us. She is such a sweet lady and whenever we see each other, she always has a surprise package of goodies for me that she has discovered in opshops. I'll be cross with myself if Lee-ann reads this blog before the weekend. But they've been so busy, and they are visiting us on Saturday night, so the chances of her having time to read my blog are pretty remote...fingers crossed!

Table Runner

This lovely runner arrived today from one of my favourite eBay sellers right here in Melbourne. I think they have an antique shop, and list some of their wares on eBay as well. The linens are always immaculately presented, and it is hard not to bid on just about everything they list!

All this for $8!!

There are op shops that are true thrift stores. Then there are opshops that pretend to be antique stores...at least the people working in them like to think they are, and price their stock accordingly. Our local Brotherhood of St.Lawrence op-shop is run by dear old ladies who are happy to get a few dollars for their charity, and don't haggle over prices if a customer thinks it is too high. I usually 'tip' them an extra dollar or two because their prices are ridiculously low! They don't get much in the way of vintage linen in there, but last week somebody must have dropped this lot in and I came at the right time! This is a "carver cloth" - something that was common pre-WW2, I believe. This is an excellent example on ecru linen. The next two photos are close ups of the exquisite stitching on the cloth.
Centrepiece on cotton. Closeup of centrepiece detail. This is one of a pair. And so is this, one of a pair.
Again, there are two of these napkins, probably made in China or the Phillipines, where a lot of this style of embroidery came from (and still does). I don't collect it usually, but this design is not as common as some of the others around, and I think it is lovely.

I'm thinking of changing this blog...

...and I would like some feedback. When I started this blog, I had no idea how much it would grow, and what would spring from it in the way of other blogs. This one gets more hits than any of my other blogs; there have been over 88,000 according to the stats counter, and in a vast array of countries!
The reason I created the Aprons Blog and the Peacocks Blog was in response to emails and comments from people who had a special interest in aprons and embroidered peacocks. In removing those two subjects from Patra's Place, it reduced the size of the blog and make it a bit easier to find other things. So now I've been thinking about reducing it even more, and creating further blogs for specified subjects. For instance, I could put my own stitching on a separate blog, and that way, the readers who like to see what I'm doing (as I do with many other stitchers) don't have to go through all the vintage stuff.
The 'vintage stuff' could then be split up into Tablecloths, Doilies, Teacosies, and so on, again to enable readers to go straight to an item that they might be interested in. I had once thought of doing blogs on themes such as crinoline ladies but then I'd want to go further and split up the rest into other themes, and that would be an absolute nightmare!!
My final option is to create a website, but this has its own limitations for me. First of all there is a cost involved. Yes, I know - there are 'free' website hosts around but if you read the small print, there are conditions attached to those. Then there is the work involved in creating a website. One of my friends has just done this, right from scratch. She did have some expert help in the beginning, but is now pretty much on her own, and while she can fiddle around the edges, she still needs experts to help her do more complicated changes. She'd never even had a blog, so was completely in the dark about websites! When I showed her how blogs work, she said they are so much simpler than websites, and proceeded to show me how a website is made....EEEKK!! That's not for me!!
I look forward to your comments, or emails if you don't have a blog account yourself.

One old, one new.

I keep trying to cut down on my eBay spending, but when I see something like this for $10...well, do you blame me for bidding?
In order to photograph the above cloth, I had to remove the one I presently have on my dining table. It is so pretty, I decided to snap it as well as the new one.

Two more...

This is a home made cushion cover, which looks pretty, but ordinary at the moment. My plan is to put something in the centre square, such as a doiley from my collection. Or, I could iron on one of the many transfers I have, and embroiderer something myself. Either way, I just couldn't pass up this pretty item with its possibilities!
I nearly missed this tiny gem, while I was riffling through a large box of doilies, most of which were crocheted and held no interest for me. But when this fell out of the pile, I grabbed it! It is a cover for an old fashioned powder compact. The embroidery is beautiful, with grub roses, one single strand used for the leaves, and delicate crocheted edging. It is embroidered on both sides.

Two doilies from another thoughtful friend!

I had lunch with Val today, and she gave me a late 60th birthday gift - an Origami box she'd made herself, containing these doilies, which she had found in a country store.

Sandwich tray doiley

Isn't this sweet? My friend Louise found it in an op-shop and thought of me immediately. I'm so lucky to have friends like her!

New doilies!!

I received these lovely doilies in the mail today, from Robyn, whose new blog I added to my sidebar just a few weeks ago. She had the cottage doilies on her blog for sale, and when I offered to buy them, she mentioned the crinoline lady doiley that her Mum wanted to sell, and asked if I wanted it. She didn't have to ask twice! Thank you Robyn - love all three of them!
This blog has been very quiet lately, as I have deliberately NOT been checking eBay for linens, and no op-shops these days seem to have anything worth buying. But I made a fatal mistake tonight...I looked at eBay. Only for a minute, mind you! An hour later, I'd put about 20 items on my Watch list. Really shouldn't have done that; I might be tempted to buy something/all of them. Oh well, I feel like indulging myself a little. Now that I'm 60, I am able to access my superannuation, and have arranged to have a monthly payment into our bank account, to 'top up' my wage, which is meagre because I only work part time. So, a small spend-up now and then on my collection (which is really an investment after all, don't you think?) can be tolerated.

What's news?

I spent the first Tuesday of this month at the Embroiderer's Guild as usual, in my volunteer role as 'Front Desk Hostess' which means I sit in the library (which doubles as a reception area) and answer the phone, greet anyone who walks in the front door, and catch up on EGV gossip. Not that there is any gossip as such, but another member is there in her role of Librarian, and we chat to each other as well as the members that drop in during the day.
The Display committee were busy setting up the new display for the month (it is changed once a month). This month's work is from members of the country branches of the Guild, and I was blown away by the quality of their work. All the work done by the experienced stitchers in the Guild is stunning, and this was no exception. A few projects used Australia's ongoing drought as a theme for their work - bush huts in arid land, on fire, being rained on...and so forth. There was stumpwork, blackwork, Jacobean work, Hardanger, quilting, patchwork, cross stitch, you name it. For anyone in Melbourne reading this, if you can spare the time to drop into the Guild (170 Wattletree Road, Malvern) this display is well worth a visit.
The July display is going to be "Doilies" and members have been asked to submit their favourites for display. I asked the co-ordinator how many she needed and she said "How many do you have?" "Probably about a thousand" I replied and she said at once "Oh gosh no, not that many! Just pick half a dozen favourites". Gulp...I love them all....Another Group leader has asked me to do a talk on my apron collection at the Guild in June, which I have agreed to do in spite of it being a working day for me. I don't get these opportunities very often, and I don't like to knock them back, so I'll have to ask my boss to cover my shift for that day.
One of the many nice things about my day at the Guild is being able to sit and stitch in between phone calls etc. I put quite a lot of work into the anniversary sampler I'm doing, so in another week I hope to be able to show it to you here. In the meantime I haven't got anything else to show - sorry!

Happy recipients of my cards!

The two 60th birthday cards I made for friends this month (see previous posts) have arrived safely and been acknowledged. My friend in country Victoria already has a 25th wedding anniversary sampler that I stitched for her, and she was equally delighted to receive my card.
The other card was for a lovely lady in Germany, who emailed me immediately it arrived. She said she'd never seen anything like it, and was delighted to have one made just for her. She also said her elderly mother was very impressed, and commented that you rarely see young girls like me sewing any more. Young girls like me? Thank you for the compliment, Astrid's Mum!
So what is in the pipeline at the moment? I haven't quite finished the EGV Leaf Challenge, but as it isn't due until September, I'm not too worried about that yet. I am flat out on another wedding anniversary sampler for a dear friend who might read this blog occasionally, so I can't show the progress, but it should be finished by the end of next month. I have a fairly large project on my tapestry frame, just started, but not due for completion until December, so again, I'm not stressing over that....yet. If I don't watch myself it will be November, then I'll have to go like a cut snake and finish it!
In the meantime, when I'm at the nursing home with my client for three hours, I always have a couple of vintage doilies to work on to while away the time when she is having a snooze, or not feeling like communicating with me. I find my stitching has a calming effect on her; no talking, just the gentle rhythmic movements of the needle in and out of the linen, and she seems happy to watch my hands working for some time before she gets anxious again. Then I put it away and find something else to occupy her.

Yet another unique blog for craft lovers!

My friend Barbara in the USA has a thing about mens' ties. Actually, she is interested in lots of things, all of which make her blog a constant source of delight to read. But she has been blogging about ties on and off for a couple of years, so last year I sent her a parcel of ties to play with, in return for a parcel of goodies she sent me. I don't know if she has used my ties yet, but she has created a blog showing what other people have done with ties - do have a look! Here is the link: Artful Ties It is full of fantastic photos of clothes, bags, and quilts, all made out of ties!

Another fascinating blog to take a look at!

I'd just finished the post below about Robyn's craft blog, when I remembered the other new blog on my list - Crazy Haberdasher. Marian collects vintage needlecraft accessories such as needlebooks, patterns, and other interesting paraphernalia. Like me with my linens, she has enough to fill a museum; in fact she tells me that she and her husband plan to do that one day. Marian also lives in Victoria, but a long way from me, so at this point in time, we are not able to visit and admire each other's collections, but when her museum is up and running, she has suggested that I display some of my collection which would complement hers. What fun to anticipate this!

New addition to Other Blogs That I Read.

As most of you know (the people who read this blog regularly), most of my linen has been found on eBay and I have about twenty favourite Sellers who often see me bidding on their auctions. Some of them have been inspired by my blog to create their own, and Robyn is one such person. She sells all kinds of craft stuff on eBay, but has created a blog so people can see everything she has for sale, without going into eBay. Not only does she have vintage linen, but many laces, buttons, fabrics, and other interesting stuff, so I've added her blog WattleInspireYou to my list. (The link is here to save you searching.)

Perfectly stitched vintage linen.

This little sachet to hold hankies is so beautifully worked, there is no way I would put anything soiled in there! It came via eBay from a lady who has collected only the best quality linens and is now downsizing her collection...while I upsize mine ;-)

The other 60th birthday card.

I didn't get to finish this card before our holiday, but worked furiously all weekend to do it so I can post it tomorrow! My friend's birthday is the day after mine, so it should get to her by Wednesday, as she lives in a country town in Victoria. The other card I had finished is for a friend in Germany, so to get there by the 20th, it will also have to be mailed tomorrow. When Ken saw me working on this one he said "Are you stitching yourself a birthday card?" Funneeeeee....