I hope to inspire and entertain you with a lot of sewing and a little of everything else!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Back from Vacation!

Hello Friends,
I have been away camping with my Mom and my kids. We had a great time and stayed very busy. We did so many fun activities: beach, playground, talent show, arcade, campfire, delicious meals, thrift shops, and a long zipline for Rosie! She is our daredevil! The tower was 75 feet high and the zipline 175.
Now, for a little sewing...
These amazing place mats were a gift from my Mom around the time I got married. They are handsewn. 
This cutwork is unbelievable. I believe the "net" embroidered areas are called "fil tire" (thanks Janice!). There are also some lovely loopy embroidered areas:

I don't know what type of embroidery that is. I bet Janice, Cynthia, Jeannie, or Martha will know!!
Take a look at the back, hard to distinguish from the front:
Here's detail of the center:
I would never tackle a project like this! It must have taken hours upon hours to make this place mat. Can you believe that the person who made this completed a set of 8?!!!
These are the most exquisite antique linens I own. I treasure them and could not imagine putting food on them. They make beautiful decorative mats for china or glassware. The store these came from is very special. Horsefeathers Antiques is home to a lovely lady who sells the most beautiful old linens and lace. Here's a story about Horsefeathers.
Linking to White Wednesday at Faded Charm

2 comments:

Janice said...

Lisa, I was just thrilled to read this post and see those spectacular placemats up close and personal. Equally exciting was your mention and link to Horsefeathers. When teaching on Cape Cod several years ago, Jeannie, the owner, was one of my students. She opened the shop for us one evening and it was as wonderful as DisneyWorld! I hadn't seen the web site before so thank you for the link and the pictures of your linen treasures. I don't dare miss a day reading your blog!

Cynthia Gilbreth said...

These are absolutely beautiful! and so well worked! The lady who did these certainly was skilled at her craft. I've done a bit of cutwork, but never on this scale. I think those loopy things look like bullions, but am not absolutely sure. I've never done fil tire - this is really difficult, but lovely. What a great find!

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