Vintage Linens

Aren't vintage linens just wonderful! I just can't pass them up! I may not always buy them--it depends on the price, but I will always stop and look at them. I like to think of who made each piece, why did they make it, why didn't they finish it, did they use it, give it as a gift or keep it tucked away and I always appreciate the time they took and admire the quality of work. Just think of all we could learn if they could share their stories.

Both of these pieces I bought at a thrift store some time ago and didn't pay more than a dollar apiece--that's a bargain! Both of these pieces were finished, but never used and I think they may have been made by the same person.

This one I'm searching for a frame to fit and it will be hung somewhere in the laundry room I'm thinking.



And this one I had a frame that fit it perfectly! It was one of those ugly old brown wood frames that I took and rubbed black acrylic craft paint on, leaving little hints of the wood to show thru ever so slightly here and there--for more of an antiqued look. It really brought the black stitching in the piece out. It now hangs in my kitchen above my pantry area.

I'm not really sure when either of these were made, but I'm guessing the 1930's. I have pictured in my head a woman wearing a full apron (much like Olivia Walton) sitting and stitching these sayings that would have been very appropriate for the time. Wall words in their early form.

To me vintage linens are not only something pretty to enjoy, but something that evokes the feel of another era in time--a thread that connects me somehow to another needleworker somewhere from the past, someone who might have been a good friend to sit and enjoy a good chat with while stitching. So the next time you run across an vintage linen listen to what story it has to tell. Shhh...listen..............