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| Stitching a sampler using my great-grandmother's hoop. |
Several
years ago I was fortunate enough to inherit my great-grandmother's embroidery
basket. It has to be old enough to have
been from the late 1800s because my grandmother remembers her mother having it
when she was very young and it being quite old at that time.
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| My great-grandmother's embroidery basket. |
When I
received it, it was full of needles, beautiful old thimbles, a pair of tiny
scissors and lots of pretty cotton flosses in a myriad of colors. Plus a wooden hoop. I was thrilled. I also received a nice stack of her old
embroidery transfers some with price tags still on them for 5¢ and 10¢!
In the
years that I have had her basket I have completed many projects and happily
used up most of the floss. I have also
used some to the transfers. My favorite
being for a set of Day Of The Week
dish towels that I am currently working on as a side project.
Last
year I came across a vinyl bedspread bag stuffed FULL of sewing and craft items. You may remember an earlier post
about my great find and another one last spring about me organizing the mess of embroidery floss and incorporating it all in with my current stock.
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| Templates from Down To Earth |
Lately
I have been working on my gift list. I
printed off two patterns from a fellow blogger over at Down To Earth. She is a wonderful lady in Australia.
I have
been using up a lot of the odds and ends I had from my efforts of organizing,
in fact I was able to eliminate two cards of miscellaneous floss already. While I watch TV or a movie I sit and
embroider.
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| Eventually these will be turned into quilt squares for a Christmas quilt. |
So far
I have finished:
·
a
Christmas cross-stitch quilt square project I've been working on for 12
years! Now to actually make the quilt.
·
two samplers to frame and give as gifts.
·
two Day Of The Week Dish Towels, only five
more to go.
My
youngest has expressed an interest in learning this fine art. I am thrilled about that and I will happily
be teaching her, I believe I was her age when I began to embroider. I would certainly hate for this pastime to
become lost.
Do you
embroider?
Oh, yes, I embroider and like you thoroughly enjoy it. I learned as a child nearly 60 years ago and never let the skill go idle.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte
WV
So glad to hear from a fellow artisan. My first project I remember was a pillowcase. What types of things do you do?
DeleteI have used embroidery in a variety of ways. I have added decorative touches to clothing made for my sons as toddlers. Many of our household decorations are representative of my use of embroidery. Also quilt squares have been made for lap quilts and infant quilts. It is enjoyable to incorporate embroidery into Christmas gift items.
DeleteAn unusual way I like to use embroidery is to outline portions of printed pillow square or panel yardage. That technique really highlights portions of the overall picture. Those parts just pop out then.
There is no limit to what can be done with embroidery. I so appreciate my mother teaching me to sew and embroider as a child.
Charlotte
Charlotte,
DeleteThose are wonderful ideas. I especially like how you outline fabric to embellish them more. I may have to do that myself. I'd never even thought about it.
Beautiful!! I've "dabbled" in embroidery and love it to bits!! But hope to have a bit more "free" time in the future to learn more... I think it's such a beautiful art! :)
ReplyDeleteIt would be neat for you to incorporate a little bit of embroidery sometime in your quilted pouches and what have you. You are so talented.
DeleteI used to love to embroider but haven't done any in a long time. My mom did some dish towels for me and I treasure them. I kept them for a long time before deciding to go ahead an use them. They have become a bit stained with use, but I will keep them and use them until they are rags - and they are holding up very well so far. I've been visiting WI's (The Women's Institute) and one neat thing they do is to have all their members sign a table cloth and then embroider the signatures. The average age of the ladies in some of these groups is quite high so I think it's probably nice to remember those who have passed away.
ReplyDeleteI'm still going through you archives. :) I saw your embroidered Christmas squares and I think in my vast craft supplies I have some of those. I remember buying them somewhere after Christmas marked down to a steal. Where they printed in color for you to use to do the needlework? If so, I know I have some. I don't know how many but I think I purchased quite a few. Obviously I haven't done anything with them yet!! :) Are you still planning to make a quilt with them?
ReplyDeleteCandace Posey - Louisiana
They were printed in color and yes I do plan to make a quilt with them... someday (sigh). It has taken me ages to finish those squares. I bought them almost 20 years ago!
Deletei am guessing mine were bought that long ago. I honestly forgot I had them until I saw yours in the picture. I have been really trying to not buy crafty/quilty things in the last few years. The good news is my pre-children stocking up prepared me for crafting later when money is tight. I only buy to finish up a specific project and only if I have nothing else that works.
DeleteCandace
I have so much in my stash too. I'm going to make a point to try and use up a lot of it.
Delete