Vintage stuff and TAST week 36

TAST week 36 brought forth the Cable Chain Stitch which is one I had not tried before so I really enjoyed playing with this one. My fabric of choice is 14ct Aida in a rust color so I decided lighter colors of thread would show the stitches better. The left vertical column was stitched with two strands of DMC floss. The top of the middle section was a double Cable Chain using two strands of DMC floss and then I whipped the inner loops with a single strand of DMC floss and added a row of detached Fly stitches using a double strand of the floss. For the middle section I repeated the double Cable Chain using a white #16 perle and whipped the inner loop with EdMar Nova in a lilac which I also used for the Fly stitch. For the zigzag row on the bottom of the middle section I again used two strands of DMC floss. For the top grouping on the right side I thought some flowers in the Cable Chain would look nice so I used a white #8 perle. For the "leaves" I 'slipped' under the cable first with a dark green #5 perle and then with a lighter green #8 perle. The two greens give the look of a Lazy Daisy or Detached Chain. Wondering if I could curve this stitch I worked some of the Cable Chain with #8 perle and added the slip. I then filled the centers with Colonial Knots worked with two strands DMC floss. I really enjoyed playing with this stitch.

A few weeks back one of my Aussie friends, Vivian of anlabyhouse, purchased some lace collars on ebay and was willing to part with some of them so I was able to purchase two of the collars. In the middle you will see one of the 'original' pieces and around it you will see how I picked it apart to use on various cq projects. I may do some more picking before I begin to dye some of the parts. The second collar will also be picked apart.

Yesterday (Sunday, Sept. 9) My #1 son and I attended the last of the family reunions for this year. We had previously planned to stop at an antique mall on our trip back home. The reunion was about 45 minutes from home. I am sooooo glad we stopped and am doing a happy dance!!!!!!!! There among all those booths we spotted a box of vintage "floss" ..... I was really looking for antique tatting shuttles and the one they had was not in too good a condition and since I already had two of that type didn't see the need for this one. Besides one I had was from my grandmother and the other from the mother of a family friend - both shuttles being 95 years old.

In this box of threads were full and partial skeins of Royal Society Celesta, some Persian Floss, and some Roman Floss. The ticket on the box said "17 skeins and 13 spools" for a cost of $24.50 plus tax. Somebody doesn't know how to count. When I got the thread home, and while my son was looking the companies up on the web, I started sorting and counting. There were two partial skeins of Cortecelli silk, other partial skeins were wound onto 14 wooden spools and others onto three styofoam spools. There are 80 full skeins of "washable silk". The manufacturer of this gorgeous thread was Heminway & Bartlett's a company established in 1888 and in 1922 they added Cortecelli in 1932 the company was bought out by what is now known as Coats & Clark. The labels on all the Persian and Roman floss read Heminway & Bartlett's and give washing instructions "Use warm suds made with Ivory soap or other pure neutral soap, rinse well in warm water, squeeze dry as possible between clean cloths, shake out then press face down on flannel. Do not fold or roll up the article while wet. Avoid cheap soap, boiling water and hard wringing." The skeins contain 10 yards. The 12 Royal Society skeins are 4.5 yards each and say "Ivory soap recommended for washing colors".

Just that morning before picking me up, my son put in a bid on some of this type of floss on ebay of approximately 45 skeins. After he returned home he checked and that lot sold for more than $100. Didn't I get a bargain!!! I have pieced a crazyquilt vest and these threads are just the right colors for that vest .... just how lucky can I get!!!!