Giving Cross Stitch a Bath

The second cross stitch sampler that I thrifted is this lovely sampler with lambs and bunnies. It is slightly soiled and stained, so I think it needs a soak. Please note I am not an expert in cleaning vintage needlework, and for any valuable pieces you should consult a professional cleaner or conservator.

For soaking purposes I'll use my handwashing bin, cold tap water and a little mild detergent. I did a thread test first, and the embroidery thread did not bleed. I then treated the perimeter of the cross stitch fabic where it had the worst foxing with stain remover. You can also rub in a little baking soda and water to remove stains (I use an old soft toothbrush to apply it,) but that can also bleach out very old embroidery cloth, so do a patch test first where it won't be noticeable.

Lettin the piece soak for six hours was the next step. I then rinsed it out and hung it to air dry.

After pressing it the same way I did the Santa sampler, this is how it turned out.

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Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Better than Fried

I cut some chives from the kitchen garden to make garlic-chive baked fries for dinner. This is a great side dish for veggie burgers. Click here for the recipe from Taste of Home.com.

The Mercantile

If you don't mind walking 33K square feet in retail space, The Mercantile may be the vintage/arts store you'd enjoy visiting if you're ever in Orlando. I certainly did. Because it was busy I didn't take any photos in the store, but it's absolutely amazing and chock full of antiques and artisan creations, most of which were pretty reasonably priced. For $21.00 I invested in a picture of sailboats for the guest bathroom I'm redoing, and a fairy mystery jar of cool stuff. The jaw was hand-painted and decorated, and utterly charming. I think I wanted the jar more than the contents. As you can see the contents were both generous and pretty cool, too. I finally have some vintage gloves to use for my art quilter bingo challenge!

Rayen

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