Part 1 was the crewel post in case you were wondering. Over the years I have rescued a number of beautiful unloved needlepoint pictures from thrift stores, most tossed in a pile with a bunch of old frames or linens if unframed. I have never paid more than a few dollars for any of these. I really appreciate all the hard work and many hours that went into making each piece. Needlepoint was very popular in the 16th and 17th century and involves pulling wool or another fiber through canvas in little stitches called tent stitches to make pictures and patterns. I think of it as paint by number with wool. I had no idea there were 3 types of tent stitches depending on the order of completion and each has its own purpose even though to the untrained eye they all look the same. I want to show you some of my collection.
This next one is an example of petit point and used embroidery floss instead of wool. I found two of these so I think they could have been made for chair covers or matching cushions. The detail is fantastic and I love the reverse side with all the threads . I left the price tag on it from value village . Yes that says 1.49 ! That probably works out to pennies per hour labour.
The last one is something that has been in my family for as long as I can remember and was a thrift store treasure my father found . You see I inherited my love for treasure hunts. It has always hung in our dining room as a reminder for us . It is a part of a biblical proverb that simply put means don't worry you are being cared for. Have a wonderful weekend and happy hunting.
You have some really lovely pieces. I'm glad there are still people out there who appreciate and treasure all the hard work that goes into stitching. Thanks for sharing those!
My mom gave me some crewel work last night that she stitched for me. I'm going to try to put it up on my blog today.
Posted by: Christina | February 15, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Wow Margie!
As always I am very impressed with your treasures!
These needlepoint pictures are so beautiful. I also love the picture of the reverse that you included.
(There is a Cuban Artist who made a series of embroidery of texts containing political ideas but he only showed the reverse of the embroideries which looked like abstract works. Nobody could see what it was behind it and that was a whole statement about how some ideas lose sense when they are not read from the positive side. I thought that he was so creative!)
Thank you for sharing your treasures with us!
Elsita :)
Posted by: Elsita | February 15, 2008 at 05:58 PM
Wow Margie!
As always I am very impressed with your treasures!
These needlepoint pictures are so beautiful. I also love the picture of the reverse that you included.
(There is a Cuban Artist who made a series of embroidery of texts containing political ideas but he only showed the reverse of the embroideries which looked like abstract works. Nobody could see what it was behind it and that was a whole statement about how some ideas lose sense when they are not read from the positive side. I thought that he was so creative!)
Thank you for sharing your treasures with us!
Elsita :)
Posted by: Elsita | February 15, 2008 at 05:59 PM
Wow Margie!
As always I am very impressed with your treasures!
These needlepoint pictures are so beautiful. I also love the picture of the reverse that you included.
(There is a Cuban Artist who made a series of embroidery of texts containing political ideas but he only showed the reverse of the embroideries which looked like abstract works. Nobody could see what it was behind it and that was a whole statement about how some ideas lose sense when they are not read from the positive side. I thought that he was so creative!)
Thank you for sharing your treasures with us!
Elsita :)
Posted by: Elsita | February 15, 2008 at 06:01 PM
Wow Margie!
As always I am very impressed with your treasures!
These needlepoint pictures are so beautiful. I also love the picture of the reverse that you included.
(There is a Cuban Artist who made a series of embroidery of texts containing political ideas but he only showed the reverse of the embroideries which looked like abstract works. Nobody could see what it was behind it and that was a whole statement about how some ideas lose sense when they are not read from the positive side. I thought that he was so creative!)
Thank you for sharing your treasures with us!
Elsita :)
Posted by: Elsita | February 15, 2008 at 06:17 PM
oh my, you have really collected some gorgeous pieces. I really love the windmills. It is so amazing to look at a piece of needlepoint and think of the work so lovingly done.
Posted by: blair | February 18, 2008 at 11:36 PM