Blog & News

If you were thinking about entering the Big E but held back because you weren't sure how you would get your beautiful lace there, relax.  I will once again be taking items out to Springfield.  So go ahead and enter (it's only $5 per item!), and plan on connecting with me to make the transfer.  And good luck to all!

Bryce

A fiber festival was held at Niort in France in June.  The blogger Yolande has documented it for the world at http://fils-aiguilles-passion.blogspot.com/ .  It is well worth the time to look at if only for the bobbin lace chess set, but there is much more quality work to see.  Enjoy!

The Big E is now accepting entries.  Please consider entering so we have a great lace display.  Simple items work as well as complicated or long term endeavors.  I hope you all can enter.  Entries do not have to be completed at this time as long as you can get them finished by sometime in August.  We will let you know the members who will be bringing entries to the Big E at the beginning of September at a later date.  For more information, here is a link to the Creative Arts Catalog: http://www.thebige.com/p/competitions/creative-arts/340

Mount Vernon has a wealth of videos discussing the use of lace in Colonial America.  Here is a link to the page with many of them.  See: http://www.mountvernon.org/video/all/

This is an amazing piece of work......  it is tatted

http://venturinifamily.us/wp/index.php/lucy-concistre-venturini/tom-venturinis-great-aunt-final-closeup-3200-pixels-1024x512/

Sadly, the American Textile History Museum in Lowell MA has closed its doors.  They had made a concerted effort a few years ago to revive the museum and reached out to us.  We did a couple of demos there, but truthfully, there wasn't much traffic.  We also spent some time identifying some donated laces for them.

We live in a culture that has fundamentally changed.  The old model where families once went to a museum for an afternoon isn't common now.  We spend a lot of time online, be it on a computer, smart phone, or other device, and it is hard for a museum, particularly one like the American Textile History Museum, to compete with this level of stimulation. 

I wish the best for the staff as it closes.  This is always hard.  Where the collection and old machinery goes will be determined by their bylaws.  For the rest of us, whether we know it or not, a little bit of our cultural history has disappeared.

There is a new blog called "Let's Lace" that has been created by a New Zealand lacemaker. Posts include:

• A quick guide to resizing a lace pattern
• Ten tips for great prickings
• Things I wish I knew when I started making bobbin lace
• Ways to document lacemaking
• Let's talk Lace bobbins...Lace tools....Lace books
• and many more

You can find the blog at https://letslace.com/. For those of you on Facebook, there is also a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/letslace/?fref=nf

Jill

The first 44 of several thousand laces in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC went online this morning (http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/lace-collection); more will be added as they are approved.

If you scroll down, you will see thumbnails of each of the images. By clicking on 'expand' in upper right corner of each lace you get more information, and then to see more images and more information click in lower right 'view full record'. Clicking on the image will open a new window, where you can zoom in.

The first part of the collection to go online was the War Laces made in Belgium during WWI http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/world-war-one-laces

Enjoy!

Jill

I am sad to report that Jeanne Goodwin has passed away.  I knew her from NELG meetings as well as some demonstrations.  Despite her illness, she showed a strength of life that went beyond her condition.  I remember her as a positive person who did her best and frequently volunteered for NELG.

My greatest condolences go to her family.  She is a great loss, and I will always remember her well.

The Big E special theme this year is its Centennial.  There will be two awards per division, an adult and a youth.  Each exhibitor is limited to one special theme entry which needs to be  indicated on the entry.  So, if this interests you, it is time to get working on it. 

And, of course, please also get going on any lace entries for the Big E.