Thanks to all who responded to The Nesting Place registration on Wednesday – I was really just as surprised as many of you were, to see the class full in 20 minutes. I think I’ve answered most inquiries personally by now, but in case I missed you, and if you want to be on an “advanced notice” list for the next run of this class, then please do feel free to drop me a line and let me know! I don’t have an official “guaranteed waiting list,” but I’ll send out a short advanced notice to those who are interested in the class.
On to other things: I’ve been reading some old needlework books lately. The books I’m reading are actually real books (the kinds with pages, and some even have hard board covers!), but I think a couple of the titles are online, so I’ll try to dig those up for you and point you to them in the future. If I come across any tidbits that I think you’ll like to hear, I’ll definitely take note and share them with you!
Speaking of old books, one of my favorite “vintage” publications is Needlecraft Practical Journal, which was a “descriptive and illustrative journal” on various needlework subjects published 7 times yearly by the Manchester School of Embroidery around the turn of the 1900’s. It covered practically every aspect of needlecraft – all types of embroidery, crochet, lace-making. Each issue would contain “lessons” as well as practical examples and projects. Each journal was only about 15 pages long, and inside those pages, they packed a good bit of information, as well as a LOT of advertising. The image above is taken from Issue 55, which is on “Embroidery Shading.”
I’m not sure if it’s the colors in the above piece, or the shading, or the style, or what – but it’s always been one of my favorite images from an old publication. I just like it!
I haven’t found any free online sources for Needlecraft, but if you look hard enough, you can find the old publications still through eBay, used book sellers, and so forth. I found a stack of them at a local library sale years ago, donated by some estate that had no use for them anymore. Their loss, my gain! You can also find digital reprints of the journals for sale online in various places – just do a search for “Needlecraft Practical Journal” and you’re bound to turn up some reprints for sale.
I’m going to continue browsing through old books this weekend, and sign off until Monday. I’m recuperating from a nasty bout of food poisoning (hence, yesterday’s silence!) … which I would never dare to blame on my mother’s cooking!
I hope you have a terrific weekend – see you Monday!
