7.5.15

Great Finds!


The Minnesota Textile Center is a favorite place for enthusiasts of all things fiber.  They have several galleries, an amazing library, a shop, a dye lab that can be rented by members, classroom and lecture space. In addition, the Minnesota Handweavers have a large space filled with rooms and weaving equipment. When I hit Minneapolis and St Paul it is always a stop and a place I like to support.  Every spring they have the Textile Garage Sale which is a great place to pick up used equipment, fabric, yarn, thread, patterns and books. There is also a silent auction for larger pieces of equipment (looms, knitting machines, sewing machines, etc)  This year I am happy to say I won the bid for a serger.  I'm still learning how to use and it's been more fun than frustrating.

Vintage textiles were also in my shopping basket.  There is a great pin on Pinterest for some brooches of old embroideries so I will give that a go.  The needlepoint was to be remade into a new pillow but it needs a lot of TLC.  After removing the old rotted backing I gently washed it and blocked it.  The more I worked with it the more problems I was finding.  It was made with two colors of yarn, one wool, one acrylic, there are lots of missing stitches and it is wonky.  The pillow idea has gone by the wayside and smaller pillows or pincushions are more likely.  If you have any ideas for what this might become I welcome them!

Please forgive the upside down orientation of this image...computer glitch that I cant seem to fix.

2 comments:

Mereknits said...

It sounds like an amazing place to visit. The vintage needlework is beautiful even with the missing stitches. I think you should frame it.
Hugs,
Meredith

Laura McGrath said...

I'm in a Facebook group called Quiting Vintage where people use old doilies, hankies, and runners and quilt them, you might want to check it out. I found an old doily last summer that I mounted on a piece of hand dyed fabric and just started to quilt it. It looks beautiful!