More doily dalliances.

                           Once again lets hear it for the doily, more great ideas to feast upon.

An invite or an envelope the choice is yours.

www.marthastewart.com

Three steps to a paper flower again from Martha Stewart.

A delicate doily table runner, mix and match.

Shed a little light on your lacy creations.

Finally getting all arty, a beautiful installation by Emilie Faife.

(instructions for creating similar lampshade type constructions are in an earlier blog 23rd September.)

Do what you can, with what you have,

where you are.

Theodore Roosevelt.

Remember it doesn't have to be perfect.... as long as your happy with it.

Enjoy your weekend (rush out and buy some paper doily's.)

Sorry that I can't credit some of these images, if you get in touch I will do so, thanks.

New cloth, old cloth.

I've been working on several different pieces this week all of which are totally different visually but use the same layering techniques. I really enjoyed this one, putting together some fabrics and bits of vintage lace to make a quiet gentle cloth that has a nostalgic feel to it. I don't generally make pretty things but I wanted to use the vintage handmade lace that was in my collection. I think that it has a restful feel to it with the soft colouring and the stitch rippling the surface.

Like a lot of people with an interest in textiles I have many bits and pieces of old cloths, they are from a time gone by when women made, and used doilies, tray cloths and other pretty things. The work that went into making some of them is amazing, handmade bobbin lace, drawn thread work, cutwork etc. I tend to just get them out every now and again, enjoy their beauty and then put them away again. I wanted to find a way of using them and honouring the women that made them.

The slow process of hand stitching leads to a different result.

Tilleke Schwarz.