Well, thank you for all the comments about the quilt top.
I considered the various options suggested here, and in the end have decided on something very simple which I was inspired to cut out last night after re-reading Rebecca's comment. I also very much like the idea of a binding made from Liberty Tana lawn, but probably won't do that because I don't own any, and I'm trying to use up the fabrics I have. In addition, I have chosen the fabrics for the back after many trips up and down the stairs (my fabrics are in a chest of drawers upstairs); I hadn't quite realised how few pale/white background fabrics I have (about four). Now all I have to do is finish the border, make the back, tie the layers, and bind it all, and the crinoline ladies will be well and truly ensconced in pastures new.
And I shall also move onto pastures new in the form of posies and vases stitched on viscose (aka rayon).
Now I would never knowingly part with money for something made from viscose. I simply don't like it; I know this from working for Courtaulds plc in the 1980s, and being part of a small team that went to Moscow every month to sell the trio of Courtaulds' man-made fibres - acrylic (Courtelle), acetate, and viscose - to the Soviet Union. (If I digressed into vodka, snow, and Communism at this point, I'd be here a long time.)
I know that viscose is the most natural of the three as it's made from wood pulp, but it has terrible thermal properties, creases as soon as you touch it, and has what I find to be an unpleasant handle that sets my teeth on edge.
Yet I have some really lovely, cheerful, colourful, confident stitching done on viscose which I have bought believing the sellers who described the background as cotton. It's funny how this fabric attracted such exuberant colours and dense stitching, and a particular kind of cotton crewel-work.
Amongst its various failings, viscose also frays and develops holes very easily, so many embroidered old pieces are very much worse for wear. But I think the stitching is of a kind that is worth keeping in the form of a big, show-off-and-admire quilt top. So this is my next project, even though I'm already gearing up to getting very cross with machine-piecing the slippery, slidy, viscosey posies and vases.
First, I love the quilt. What a great and creative use of these things. My granmother and great grandmother embroidered like mad and there is so much of their work lying about unused. Much of it is somewhat worn and tattered - what a wonderful way to actually use and appreciate their work!
The embroidery you show in this post is really remarkable. Not being able to do much more than a straight stitch, I really admire the density and vibrancy of it.
Good on you for making something new and usable out of something old and forgotten.
Jake
www.dapperdreamy.blogspot.com
Posted by: Jake | July 07, 2011 at 17:23
Lovely to look at, even though not to touch or sew! (I'm beginning to feel brave to look into my linens and - maybe - turn them into something more fun than napkins and tablecloths).
But oh, I wish you would digress and say something about "vodka, snow and communism"!
Posted by: Agnieszka | July 07, 2011 at 18:16
That's so strange, my Dad used to work for Courtaulds, at the Greenfield site until it closed in 1985.
The quilt seems a wonderful way to help these old tablecloths see new life.
Posted by: Rhian | July 07, 2011 at 19:36
Totally agree about viscose.I don't really like to even touch it.I look forward to seeing your next project.I am obsessively crocheting squares from your latest book.I am loving the way they are all so different.(have a look on my blog to see my progress so far).
Posted by: busybusybeejay | July 07, 2011 at 19:48
Oh Jane, I am rather thrilled to have inspired you in any small way as you have been such a darned big inspiration to me these last 5 years or so.
By the way, I know you aren't buying any fabric, but do you know that Liberty now sell ready cut and folded bias? It all comes on rather lovely wooden spools and isn't such very bad value. Just sayin'....
Posted by: Rebecca | July 07, 2011 at 20:12
Jane! Look at Melissa's blog at : www.tinyhappy.typepad.com
Serendipity that she is also cutting up embroidered cloths on the other side of the world. Two imaginative and creative ladies I really much admire!
I actually quite like the drapey feel of viscose when it's been washed hundreds of times!
A trip to Moscow once a month during the Cold War! Must have felt like being in a bond movie. I'd have loved it, being a tiny bit obsessed with eastern europe...
Posted by: geraldine | July 07, 2011 at 21:34
oh i cant wait to see this !!!!
Posted by: nancy l | July 07, 2011 at 22:43
I can't think of a better use for what must have been quite a pile of linens, otherwise languishing in a chest of drawers! The quilt top is simply fabulous Jane.
Good luck with the viscose - amazing embroidery, but I'm intrigued as to why it would have been chosen over cotton or linen for the original projects.
Happy stitching! Definitely knitting and crocheting weather here.
Posted by: catherine | July 07, 2011 at 23:20
Looks fun & uses something that woud otherwise moulder away in a cupboard.
I dont think art should be cut up & reused, but we are talking about getting rid of a few metres of man made (mostly) fabric with nothing on in, right? To compare with Manet is insulting - surely it is the equivalent of male-crafts like wood carving or watching football, and noone ever seems to want to keep them. If Jane starts chopping up a Manet, then she'll have real problems...
Posted by: MissHeliotrope | July 08, 2011 at 01:52
I have found that when I sew with synthetic materials the right machine needle makes all the difference in the world in achieving good results. This article in Threads explains the science very well. Here is a link to it:
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/3751/machine-needle-know-how
Posted by: jo | July 08, 2011 at 03:57
i love them which are made by hands and i remind me of my mum ,who is good at handiwork .so familiar feeling .and i like it very much .thank you.
Posted by: Italian villas | July 08, 2011 at 04:10
I think what you are doing is fabulous and clever. Rebecca's comment yesterday stayed with me, too. After my mother passed away, my sister and I came across all these lovely gift items,large and small, tucked away and saved -- for what? For when? It saddens me still. Yes, use, create, and enjoy!
Posted by: Madeline | July 08, 2011 at 04:23
Love it all - and dont mind viscose too much - although I have 1) never tried to sell it to Russians, 2) never tried to sew it into a quilt top. As always, can't wait to see the results and the fab photos. Perhaps when I'm a grown up I'll be able to 1) make lovely quilts and 2) take fab photos... here's hoping.
Posted by: knitlass | July 08, 2011 at 09:38
I recognise the top vase of flowers! My mum stitched that. It was a kit from a women's magazine. She was a very keen needlewoman & started teaching me to embroider when I was 5.
Posted by: carole | July 08, 2011 at 10:34
My dad worked on the factory floor at Courtaulds in Coventry & we were all fascinated (this was the 1950s) by the new man-made fibres. We all thought they were amazing although admittedly we didn't embroider on them. They were of their time I think and provided a lot of employment for men returning from the 2nd WW. I think it's amazing the way you're taking vintage and making it new, am sure those ladies (& perhaps gents) who embroidered these colourful and joyous items would appreciate you breathing new life into them.
Posted by: Ella | July 08, 2011 at 15:22
I've had some success working with lame (the shiny stuff, don't know how to get an accented e)... I "basted" the pieces together lightly with a school glue stick (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glue_stick, do they call them something else in England?). It washed right out and kept the pieces from sliding all over. Of course the right needle and thread are critical too.
Good luck!
Posted by: korinthe | July 08, 2011 at 18:45
What cheerful flowers! I'm all for using them again and giving them a second life.
Just a thought - have you thought about applique? Maybe if you cut out the pieces and stitched them to a backing they wouldn't be so slippery? It should strengthen the holey viscose too, especially if it was bonded to the backing with something like Bondaweb.
Posted by: Sally | July 08, 2011 at 20:10
I can totally relate to the bar work. But it is so much fun! And as always, I am in awe of your delicate needle work.
Posted by: Milly | July 10, 2011 at 12:44
lovely embroidery
Posted by: Beth | July 11, 2011 at 02:42