Ninth Day of Christmas
Four little pincushions with black etched designs dying
to become blackwork on a sampler.
2nd Day Needle Books
Needle Books! Old ones, vintage ones and lots I made. The old ones, two beautiful ivory ones and some favorites in Bristol Board. Paper from the 1950's and then a series I made. Enjoy!
Two very fine ivory needlebooks with beautiful carving, c1820, with forget me knots and pansies. You have to look carefully to see the pansies.
In keeping with the spriti of the needlebooks I've collected, I stitched the one on the left and applied snippets of tiny machine-made Valenciennes lace.
Four paper needlebooks: clockwise from top: to commemorate Queen Victoria,
a handwritten poem in a most spidery hand,
'AMI' on the front, the date of 1840 on the back and alphabets on the insides.
Purple silk and perforated paper.
My large needlebook to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice. My personal favorite and I miss having it. I gave it away about five years ago and I still miss it.
Notice I made a bookmark for the needlebook, and on the back of the bookmark is my favorite quote about Jane Austen from Virigina Woolf: "of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness."
DH and I had such a good time on a long walk: we wrote descriptions for each of the Bennet women as in the one that shows:
"witty needles for Elizabeth" and I stitched them and sewed one to each page.
Here's the good part: I gave the needlebook to a small collections library that has all the first editions of Jane Austen's novels.