LOVELY LACE
Among my "holy stuff" are a few lovely bits of lace, mostly short lengths. The trouble with things like this is that you tend never to use them, always saving them for something really special. So they stay in a drawer or box, and no one, including you, gets to enjoy them, except for the odd times when you get them out and run your fingers through them.
Recently I was browsing through "501 Quilt Blocks and Borders".......not my book, the title always sounded too boring for me......and there was this lovely idea for a Victorian Crazy quilt.
Very simple.
Just panels of short lengths of lace, crochet, tatting, old buttons, antique hankies, with panels of crazy patchwork in between.
A perfect pick-up/put-down/portable project, and a way of showcasing some of those treasures so they can be admired for their own intrinsic beauty and not as part of something else.
So I have begun tacking lace on to velvet...it is incredibly difficult to get it to lie straight! I do not want to starch it, as this may make it deteriorate quicker.
The partly visible piece at the top of this section is Nottingham lace which is imported by an ex-Nottingham lady with a shop here. The bottom medallion was made by "Auntie Mum".
Some of the others were given by Margaret. Margaret's mother used to do heirloom sewing and make exclusive lingerie in Sydney back in the 1930's. But her sewing room door was always kept locked, and Margaret herself was never taught her mother's skills, in fact, she was never allowed to use the sewing machine in case she hurt herself on it! How sad!
I will post more pictures as work progresses.