Peacocks at the Guild.

I'm happy to report that my presentation today went over without a hitch - the power point set up worked perfectly, my linens looked good displayed on the boards, and I had lots of nice comments.  Best of all, my niece Susan and two bloggy friends were also present - thanks girls!
I didn't have a chance to take detailed pictures of the display, not even one of me with it!  But Mel and Christine took some, and they have promised to post their photos on their respective blogs.
Here are the pictures I took...darn camera, these still look wishy washy...

Below - Christine and Mel on the right, talking to another Guild member.

 A tablecloth draped over the top, Lakshmi's peacock on the right, my CQ block under that, and four versions of one Semco pattern in differerent colourways on the left.

 Small cloth at the top left, pillow slips, and on the lower right a runner.

 Small table cloths at the top, beaded shawl underneath and a runner on the bottom right.

 Table runners (the Americans called some of these  "piano scarves" on their eBay sites), and a cushion cover on the bottom right.

Another lecture about my Aussie linens.

It's a busy week ahead.  On Saturday I'll be at the Embroiderers Guild talking about my embroidered peacocks, as I've already mentioned here previously.  Next Thursday I'll be doing another talk about my collection at Mill Park Library, but I've just seen the write up about me on the Whittlesea Council website, and I'm going to have to do a quick rethink about my presentation!  The description is:

Come along and learn more about the hobby of collecting, and see some prized collection pieces.
Find out what it takes to manage a collection including seeking, locating, acquiring, organising, cataloguing, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to you.

Collector, Gina Wilson will share her collection of vintage, hand-embroidered linens includes tablecloths, doilies, aprons and tea-cosies.   Gina has a particular interest in pieces that mark milestones in Australian history, as well as native flora and fauna.

 EEK!!  I was led to believe they wanted me to just talk about my linens, but this looks like they are expecting something far more professional.  I have NO expertise in cataloguing, and as for seeking, locating, acquiring, organising and displaying....well, all I do is find my stuff at opshops, garage sales, or eBay, or have it given to me.  It is washed, ironed and packed away in a cupboard or chest of drawers! 
Guess I'll just stick to the last part and show the audience some of my favourite Aussie linens and tell them where I got 'em...

My ginghams on display at The Guild.

Last month, one of the Guild ladies who is responsible for the displays in the Gallery contacted me to ask if I would consent to having some of my linens displayed for the month of June.  Apparently they didn't have enough items to cover all the display boards for June, and didn't want to leave them bare.  E. has seen my collection (well, some of it) and remembered the gingham cloths and aprons with Chicken Scratch embroidery. 

So I took my ginghams along today as I was on volunteer duty, and we pinned them all up on one side of the gallery.  Gosh, it is going to be 'Gina week' there on Saturday!  I'll be pinning up some of my embroidered peacocks on the other side of the room on Saturday for my talk!  But they'll be coming home with me again later in the afternoon.
 Here they are along one wall of the gallery.

And here they are a bit closer: aprons.

 Table cloths.

I don't know what was wrong with my camera today.  These photos looked all washed out, and even though I've tried to fix them with the computer's photo fixing facility, they don't look much better.

Linens all gone.

I packed up all those linens on the preceding posts, and posted most of them off today.  Jane in the U.K. and Wendy in the U.S.A. - yours have gone by airmail in an Australian Post 'tough bag' marked 'craft fabrics'.  They should arrive in a week or so.
Sylvia, your shelf border lace has been sent in a small white box.  Hope it is the right length for your shelves!
 It should arrive by Monday.
Sharon, your pile is in a plastic bag and I will give it to you when I see you at The Light Factory, unless we catch up beforehand.
Christine, I'll bring your lace pillowslip along on June 8th.  If you and Mel aren't coming to the Guild on that day, let me know and I'll drop it off to you at home.
I hope you will all post something eventually on your blogs to show me what you have done with these linens!

No restrictions on countries!

I haven't looked at my stats gadget for months, but I've been playing with the template tonight (do you think it looks better?  I thought it looked washed out before), and was looking at all the other things that can be done on blogs.  Well, the stats thingy tells me I still have a number of readers from countries other than Australia, USA and England.  So I want to let you know, dear readers in other countries - that you are also welcome to ask me to send you any of the linens in my previous seven posts.  I'm not asking for payment or postage costs - fabric is so light, postage costs are insignificant, and I just want these nice linens to find a good home.  Some of them have already been 'claimed',  so it is first in, best dressed.

The last lot of linens - white work, crochet, and tatting. First page.

These are the last of the bag of linens I was given recently.  I have loved the job of cleaning them up and pressing them ready to photograph for the blog, and give to a new loving home in some cases!  I used the mauve cloth as a background because they would have got lost on a white background, and a brighter or darker colour would have drowned them.

Some lovely examples of filet crochet here.  I may keep these myself, unless one of my readers would LOVE to own them... but NOT to cut them up - I'd never forgive that!

This small cloth is possibly a guest towel but it is on very thin fabric.  Difficult to see here, but the stitching is (I think) pulled thread work on a very fine scale.

Crocheted mat, nice but nothing out of the ordinary.

The piece below looks very old to me.  It is unfinished cutwork, on some kind of fine fabric that could be silk.  I'll be taking this to our Guild next week to see if the ladies there can shed some light on it.

Two lengths of crocheted edging which are the same length as the shelves on my kitchen wall.  I'm thinking of attaching them somehow to the shelf - I love that olde world look!

This cloth is simply beautiful - so much work has gone into it.  The colour is hard to capture - it is darker than ecru, but not as yellow as the bottom photo suggests.  If I used a flash, it looks white, so I didn't.

The last lot of linens, second page

I think the first two pieces below are known as Shadow work, done on a very fine net material. 

The rest are white work and cut work.

This one has been spoiled by a burn or mould mark in the centre.  But the rest is fine, and if it was left as it is, you could simply place a vase or something over it for display.  Otherwise it could be cut up to recycle as something else. 

The last lot of linens, third page.

Sometimes I can't tell the difference between tatting and crocheted edges; this one is a query.

This is definitely tatting.  I can think of a dozen uses for it!

Pretty crocheted edge.

White work doiley

Filet crochet insert

The stitching on this doiley is done in a thicker thread than stranded cotton - possible Perle cotton.

Small square which matches the long runner I featured in an earlier post.

Table cloth, Huckabuck guest towels

Apart from the white and ecru cloths, there is one done with coloured threads.  The stitching is exquisite, just perfect when you look at the back. (but neither of these photos are of the back)

There was one tray cloth:

And three huckabuck hand towels.  I love these old fashioned towels and usually have one or two on the towel rack in the bathroom, regardless of whether we are expecting guests!

The photo below is of an unfinished duchess set, started by Mrs H (the lady who gave me all these linens)
I saw it sticking out of a box of tapestries, and asked Mrs H about it.  She pulled it out and had a good look, then decided she would never finish it, so gave it to me, a bit surprised that I would want somebody else's unfinished work.  I think it is gorgeous; it only needs the purple background pattern and a bit of leaf and petal, then I 'll ask one of our Guild ladies to crochet around the edges for me :-)

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.