Sunday, December 18, 2011

Forget the Hokey-Pokey; LACE is What it’s All About!

A few days ago I told you about my two lovely books made by Cat Baumgartner. The Cherish book now holds many of my special embellishments waiting for their eventual turn in a crazy quilt project.  But my first idea for one of these books was to store some special lace - lace that I had been given as a gift and I knew I could never use. It was much too precious. So, I had Cat make me a larger book and stitch the title of Lace on it.  



Have I told you how much I love these fabric books?  LOL


If you read my earlier post, there was a hint and a link to another post showing the lace that I need to find a home for.  It is the vast (relatively speaking, I guess. When you feel the weight of preservation and history bearing down, it seems vast) collection of vintage salesman samples dating back roughly a century.

Click pictures to embiggen

These two pictures represent a portion of the laces; I am hoping they all fit in the one book.  If not, however, I will just have to have another book made.  Don’t you feel sorry for me?  LOL  ;-o


Now I have a dilemma that I need your help with.  How should I display and group them?  I really don`t want to start without a plan.  And I believe that some sort of organization of the laces is desirable, as opposed to just slapping them in helter-skelter.


Some of the larger pieces, like above, will take two pages of this book.  I do not want to fold them on one page, but if they are spanning two pages, they will still be folded a bit.  Of course, I can always pad that portion a bit to prevent permanent creases there, much like we do when we fold our quilts for mailing or storage.

But for the rest of the pieces that fit on one page, should I use only page of each spread, or both?


Should I sort them, like the laces pictured below, in numerical order? Each sample has a stock number and a price (Oh! If we could only get them for that price NOW!)


Perhaps instead of sorting by numbers, I should sort by style. These curved edges look so yummy together, don’t they?


Or, maybe I should throw out the idea of numbering and style and go with sorting them by pattern. See the example below. They all are related laces, all having the same brown stitching and heart motif.


Here is a close-up of this pattern.  Please don’t drool on your keyboard!


As you see, I have some decisions to make.  And many of the laces are one-of-a-kind, meaning that their number appears waaaaay out of synch with the rest, or it is the only one of its size, style or pattern. So there will necessarily be a section at the back of these “onesies” for lack of a better word.


So, I would love to hear your thoughts on how you would organize the laces!  Once I get them sorted and in their pages, I can spend some leisurely time basting them in lightly.


That will be a day later this month or in January when it’s cold, snowy and I don’t have anywhere to go. We can build a fire in the fireplace, and I will sit back in a comfy chair with my coffee by my side to stitch.  I will have to skip the chocolate as I stitch on this!!  LOL


And now I am off to check out Cat’s Etsy shop again.  Maybe I can get Santa to check it out, too, as he shops for me for Christmas.   ;-)

OH SANTA….. here’s a hint:


Hugs,
Cathy maroon

10 comments:

  1. I think you are going to definitely need a bigger book....maybe 4 or 5 books... Hugs Ger/

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like the idea of sorting by pattern. To me, it is more visually pleasing.

    For your larger pieces, are the too big to fit on one page if you lay them diagonally or up and down? I just don't think that you want to have them folded.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the idea of sorting by shape...and you WILL need more books. How about a separate book for each different shape? Straight trims, curved trims, pointed trims, motifs, etc. The lace is luscious! I'm sure you spend glorious moments just getting lost in it! Scrumptious!
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cathy the lace is perfect for CQ.... how can you resist using it. Its beauitful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Too late - I already drooled! I'm with Shawkl in saying you're going to definitely need more books and having a different one for each type of trim would be perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Have you got a towel handy? I need to wipe the drool off my face, the desk, the keyboard...........
    Oh, wow! Looks as though you'll need at least 5 books for sorting your laces.........
    Happy Holidays!

    ReplyDelete
  7. WOW! Like mentioned I think you are going to need a few more books. I'd be happy to take any off your hands if you find yourself on overload LOL!!! Seriously, what a beautiful treasure you have.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Cathy,

    Merry Christmas to you and your family. I also wish you all a Very Happy and Healthy New Year. All the laces are truly beautiful and I think you will also need heaps of books.

    Hugs judy

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the scalloped laces!
    I also think I'm going to need to teach you how to make muslin books!
    Have a Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Cathy

    What a beautiful book or books these laces will make. I can picture London in the future saying my Grandma Cathy made this book and did all the beautiful CQ pieces also.

    Have a Great Christmas my friend and sounds like you have a nice year coming up.

    Hugs

    FredaB

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your visit to my blog and love your comments!