SALLY'S PIN STORY.

Thank you to Sally for her charming story, which we shall add to Kirsty Hall's collection.

'Grandmother's Diamonds'

My grandmother was born in 1881 in a mining family of north-eastern England.  She wanted to be an artist, but times were hard, and against her wishes, when she was 13, she was apprenticed to a dressmaker.  She ended up using this skill to support her two small children when her husband was killed in the last month of Great War and so spent a lifetime on creating and repairing garments.

By the time I knew her she had stopped sewing, and had no wish to ever sew again.  Whenever any part of her garments failed, she mended them with safety pins.  If they were in a visible place she wore them proudly, and when my own slightly embarrassed mother remonstrated simply replied,

"Yes, I'm wearing my diamonds today."

PATCHWORK MYSTERY THICKENS.

Apologies to patchwork quilt historians here and in the US, for creating a mystery over my patchwork bedspread,  posted below, and suggesting it might have come in 'kit form'.  If it was in 'kit form' it would change the history of patchwork, and I don't want to make a mistake in changing the course of history.

This picture shows the quilting on the back side of the piece.

It is very unusual to find two patchworks this similar to each other from this era. They have both ended up in the same county (Cumbria), but we think it was only by chance. The patchwork my mother saw in the exhibition was bought at an antiques shop in London, and my bedspread was found in Windermere at my great grandparents house. It was never used here, and it is very unlikely it was made by anyone in my family.  It was either bought, or given. 

I am so intrigued, further investigations are needed. Could there any more patchworks of this design?  

JOHANNA'S LOVELY DRAWING.

Johanna, your drawing of Kirsty Hall's Pin Ritual at Prick Your Finger last Saturday, is very special. Everyone looks so busy and thoughtful, which indeed they were! Do come again x

Johanna's drawings are at www.flickr.com/photos/84168298@NOO/3226462453

A LIFE IN CABLE.

My mother lent me a wonderful book on Irish crafts, and in it I found the meanings for the traditional cable patterns.  I think it is important to know what we are knitting! They usually relate to fishermen's lives, sea, earth, sky, marriage, and sons to take his place.

Starting second from top left, the Marriage Lines, or Crooked Road is a zig zag stitch, depicting the ups and downs of married life (usually shown running from shoulder to the hem of the garment).

The Tree of Life, middle row, second from the right symbolizes a long life and sturdy sons.

The Irish Moss, (seaweed with medicinal properties, also used for making blancmange) represents wealth to fisherfolk. The Honeycomb bottom right is a tribute to the bee, which was considered a lucky omen if fishermen saw them before going out to sea.

cable and rope stitches are of all types and represent the sailor's ropes, and the Diamond, usually formed in Moss St represents wealth. 

For more information you'll have to buy the book, 'Traditional crafts of Ireland' by David Shaw Smith, Thames and Hudson.

MY BEDSPREAD.

This week, I am working from my parents' house in the Lake District.  It's lovely and quiet here and so cosy in my bed.  I thought I would write from my bed and tell you about the bedspread that I am not allowed to sleep under. It sits on a chair by the window while I am resting.

When my great aunt died, my mother was clearing out the back of a cupboard and found a patchwork bedspread. It was filthy and dusty with a few holes. She gave it a wash, patched the holes and I was delighted it ended up on my bed. It is a proper traditional piece.

Then mother was invited to a ladies lunch where they went to an exhibition about patchwork.  To her suprise she saw our new bedspread hanging in the show.  Here is the picture from the catalogue. 

The caption read, 

"A large chintz central panel of a palm tree with foliage and birds with stylised oriental leaves of 1815-1817 surrounded by a furnishing floral pattern dating from the early 1800's. This quilt is an excellent example of the original vegetable dyes. Particularly note the blue on yellow squares with green leaves. The selvedges indicate the narrow width of the material."

The curator said it was originally sold in kit form, so our bedspread would be slightly different, but it has the same panel with the birds and simular surrounding patches.

I am not allowed to sleep under the bedspread anymore, or drink tea any where near it, but it serves as a lovely welcome when I come home. 

ELIZABETH ALEXANDER 2009 INAUGURATION POEM.

BORROWER'S PINS.

Thank you to Colleen who mailed us this charming pin story to add to Kirsty's Pin Story Collection. 

It is from chapter 2 of the Borrowers by Mary Norton. The Borrowers were little people who lived under the floorboards and had to borrow everything they needed from the humans above.

" How cosy those winter evenings could be. Arrietty, her great book on her knees, sometimes reading aloud: Pod at his last (he was a shoemaker, and made button boots out of kid-glove - now alas only for his family); and Homily, quiet at last, with her knitting.

Homily knitted their jerseys and stockings on black headed pins, and, sometimes, on darning needles.  A great reel of silk or cotton would stand, table high, beside her chair, and sometimes, if she pulled too sharply, the reel would tip up and roll away out of the open door into the dusty passage beyond, and Arrietty would be sent after it, to rewind it carefully as she rolled it back."

For more pin stories, come to Prick Your Finger for tea on Saturday afternoon.