Erica's Stitches

I found this lace at a thrift store?  What is it? I recognize some techniques but others I don't.  I found a Needle Lace book at the library and found more of the techniques but nothing put together like this. The blue background is synthetic fabric so it's not very old.  It reminds me of fabric from a bad bridesmaid dress. The thread that made the lace on the outside is the same thread that made the inside lace. There's a spiderweb in the very center of the flower and dove's eyes surrounding the flower.  The bars in the flower are needle woven.  But, the rest of the flower?  I haven't seen anything like it before. What I like the best are the flowers around the edges.  That is something else I've never seen before.  I'm going to have to try to duplicate one.

It was time to come up with a new design and I didn't have any ideas.  So, I asked a friend for an idea.  Her response was "something patriotic". I started thinking of fireworks, picnics and parades.  But, nothing I could see in a sampler.  So, I went with my favorite subject, flowers; stitching them in red, white and blue. I have a hanging basket on the patio overflowing with red, white and blue flowers and the combination looks great together.  At the greenhouse, there were many to choose from.  Red geraniums or salvia.  Blue petunias or lobelia.  White petunias and verbena.  All were beautiful. My sampler uses imaginary flowers. Now, I'm thinking of making more bouquets for different seasons.  Maybe a Harvest Bouquet or a Spring Bouquet.  Hmmm, I'll see what happens ... This pattern is for sale on patternsonline.com .

It's finally finished - my "make do" quilt. 20 old polka dot nine patches. 3 old Dresden plate blocks cut up into Dresden fans. And 4 new butterfly blocks to complete the quilts. One pieced backing of leftover fabric. I had to buy the batting.  I should have used 30's fabric scraps for the binding but I wanted a black binding so I ended up buying that too. I think the result was worth it. Usually, this is when I toss the quilt into the washer.  However, the polka dot nine patches are so delicate that I'm afraid to. I'm ready to start on my next quilt now.

The current Piecework Magazine has an article on Depression Lace - something I'd never seen before. The project is an apron that didn't appeal to me but I still wanted to try the technique. Depression lace is normally stitched on gingham using the grid as part of the pattern.  I stopped at the local quilt store and they didn't have gingham.  I looked through every bolt to find one with a suitable grid and ended up with this red fabric.  It's not traditional but it worked. I've stitched two so far.  Each with very different thread colors.  You can't tell, but the main thread above is a silver metallic. I think I'll be making these into ornaments. I'm going to be looking for more gridded fabrics and trying lots of color combinations. Here are some other instructions .  The stitches are different but the effects are similar.  I incorporated the running stitch into my second try, which wasn't used in the Piecework de