Memory Lane Monday -Crazy Patchwork -The beginning

Somewhere in cyberspace is the blog I first wrote up for today....wouldn't you think  blogger would be kinder to me on my birthday today of all days. (I am 74...lets hope the years hasten slowly from now on)  Oh well here we go  again....

As I have been getting older I tend to reminisce more about the "good old days", and times past.  I was thinking about my stitching journey and where it began, and so have posted photos of 'the beginning'.

When I was a young girl all girls learned basic embroidery or 'fancywork' as it was called, at primary school. Our teacher was a  Miss Suttee. (dont ask why I remember her)  

In those days girls prepared their "Glory Boxes/Troussou" when they were teenagers in preparation for their future marriage.  Emboidered doileys and duchess sets were popular, and we purchased the sets which were   stamped designs on linen.  

Not long ago I passed on to my daughter some I had embroidered way back then,   that my mother had kept and used for years.  The linen must have been of very high quality  because these worked duchess sets and doileys in good condition, are now prized by embroiderers and textile artists to  for use  in new creations.

In 1992 I discovered embroidery again, when I saw a crazy patchwork bear in a Craft Supply shop in Gympie owned by Debbie Mercer who is now the resident tutor at All Threads Embroidery in Brisbane. I signed up for a workshop and have not stopped since. Which only proves it is never to late to learn.

Prior to the workshop, I thought I could work out this "crazy patchwork stuff" so proceeded to cut up pieces of fabric into shapes and tried putting them together like a jigsaw....you dont have to laugh I did  that mtself when I discovered the correct way.   It turned out ok in the end though.

It wasn't easy getting all those bits to fit in

This was the cushion from that first workshop in 1992

Another cushion I made

The crazy bug had really bitten me by this time, and i began making pieces to fit into jewellery box tops.

Cq bags were next on the agenda.

This became a clutch purse.

Then came the bears....

These are just a selection...a lot of work I have produced happened before the era of digital cameras.   I am definitely going to have to get a scanner to update these records.