Rescuing Vintage Cross Stitch

Last month I got a lovely little collection of cross stitch pieces in my lot of fabric for my friend's quilting class. She kindly allowed me to keep them, so first I decided to clean and frame the two samplers that came in the collection. Cleaning cross stitch can be tricky, but there is a process -- and please note, this is my own process. I am not an expert, and for any valuable vintage needlework you should consult a professional cleaner or conservator.

This particular piece has a lot of red embroidery thread. I will guess it's DMC brand, which tends to be colorfast. However, in my experience red almost always bleeds, and I'm not positive about the brand of thread, so it would be risky to water-wash it (to test the thread, snip a tiny piece from the tails on the back side, weet the snippet, and place it on a white paper towel to dry. If it bleeds, it will leave a color mark on the towel.) Luckily this piece also has no patchy stains or foxing.

I first tape down the piece to my cutting mat and remove all the surface dirt and dust using my cordless handheld vaccuum, which has very gentle suction. You can rubber-band a piece of mesh over the end of a regular vaccuum hose to keep it from damaging a needlework piece.

I then press the piece from the back side using a pressing cloth, with the steam on.

Finally I go over the front of the piece with a lint remover, which usually gets whatever the vaccuum didn't.

After trimming and framing, here's the final result.

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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.

Best Thrifts of the Year, Part Two

Today I'm looking back at my best thrifts of the year to date in fabric. #4 is this collection of quilt kits, as it's the one that was the biggest surprise and also made me very happy, as I'd missed out on a similar lot that ended up going for a lot more at auction. #3 is this box of scrap fabric which I bought for $3.99 last month. I didn't post about it on the blog, as I just got around to sorting and measuring it. All together it's 54.35 yards, which works out to seven cents a yard. #2 is the lot with which I won my thrifting challenge bet. It was in brand new condition and will be making some local quilters very happy at this year's guild show. #1 is of course the enormous 103+ yards lot I bought for $15.00, which is still the largest and best thrifted fabric haul I've made to date.

Fasten Your Seatbelt

Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds is an epic, dazzling film that hurls you into the Korean version of the afterlife while showcasing some of the most impressive special effects I've ever seen in any movie. The story begins with the death of firefighter Kim Ja-Hong (Cha Tae-hyun) who jumps out of a burning building with a child in his arms. The kid lives, but he dies at the scene. Two strangers inform him that he has passed away right on schedule, and toss him into a vortex that takes him to the world of the afterlife, where he meets his three guardians: Gang-rim (Ha Jung-woo), Haewonmak (Ju Ji-hoon) and Lee Deok-choon (Kim Hyang-gi). At the gates of the afterlife Ja-Hong learns that he is considered a paragon (an exemplary person who lived a noble and self-sacrificing life) and is eligible to be reincarnated -- but there's a catch. First he has 49 days to make it through seven hells in which he will be judged on his sins. His three guardians will help and defend...

Rayen

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