This was a 2023 EGA Online Class with Terri Bay. Stitched on 28-count linen using size 8 and 12 perle cotton, it was started in July of 2023 and completed December 2023. Back in high school, my mother gave me a Hardanger embroidery book and I had really enjoyed making a set of placemats that were featured in it. I hadn't done much in the way of whitework embroidery in the intervening years (decades!), but when I saw this little project offered as an EGA online class, I thought it would be a great way to get back into it. It was a fun and surprisingly relaxing project to stitch, despite the counting required!

This is from the Bobbin Lace Student Manual made with cotton thread and is 5" across. I was introduced to Bobbin Lace at the textile show at Stan Hywet and was intrigued; even more I was happy there is a Columbus group. I’ve been working through the lessons and #6 was the most complex I have attempted. Bobbin Lace is very different from embroidery and even needle lace. Then again, it’s pretty simple. As with all things, it requires patience and practice. I can’t wait to make more pieces.

The Lacemakers of Central Ohio (LOCO) meets every Wednesday morning in Columbus. I’ve been a member of this bobbin lace group for 5 years. This piece took 1-1/2 years (working sporadically) to complete, beginning the project in September 2023 and completing it in February 2025. It was not an easy piece, but included elements I’ve come to love, including the Spanish fans. Now I have to finish or mount it. 

This is one of the earliest pieces of crewel work I made, probably in the early 1970s. It’s stitched with wools on twill and was then padded and mounted onto the footstool. It’s possible I purchased this at Williamsburg or I could have gotten it in NYC. I made several pieces using this technique but it’s the only one I still own.

I made this in my teens and it’s traveled with me ever since.

I learned crewel from both my mother and grandmother and cherish this one.