The other day, I posted photos of a mystery stitch, and received some really good response from readers who offered a variety of ways to construct the unknown stitch. Today, I’ve got a couple pictures of a hand-made lace, and knowing that many of you are very knowledgeable about lace of various types, I thought I’d post the photos and see if you can come up with the type of lace, or perhaps determine the techniques involved in making pieces that look like this.

The photos come from a reader who recently visited an exhibit at the Utah Quilt Guild museum. They had a display on lace, with various types of lace exhibited and named. They called these two samples “Mystery Lace,” as they didn’t recognize the type, with a request for any information. The visitor took photos and sent them on to me, and I thought it would be fun to send them on to you! I’m no lace expert, that’s for sure!

If you click on the image above, you’ll see a larger photo, so hopefully the details will be a little clearer.

I’m pretty certain those center flowers on the above piece are appliquéd over the ground.

Again, click on the photo for a larger image.

Crochet? Knit? Hand-made net? Needle lace flowers? I don’t know! The only two points I’m sure of: it’s made by hand, and the center flowers in the first photo are appliquéd onto the ground, not stitched as part of the ground.

What about you? Any clues? Or do you happen to know of any lace that has a similar look?

Another question that happens to pop into my head is this one: why the strange shape? This isn’t a standard “doily” shape – it’s not round or oval, square or rectangular. It’s a rather odd shape, isn’t it? Any musings on why?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the above! Feel free to comment below if you have any thoughts, insights, comments, suggestions…..

And now, I’m off to work – out to the workroom, where it is quiet and cool and I’m pondering Big Things and little things. Literally! I’ll show you the difference tomorrow! And later this week, I’ll give you a sneak peek (very sneak) at my upcoming online class project.

Enjoy your day!