Blog & News

At our Sunday lace, Jen brought a magazine that I had not heard of before. Ornament Magazine. 

She was drawing our attention to a piece on the Threads of Power exhibit. But when I went looking around I noticed other lace stories too. It does not seem to be available on the website as an article. But you can buy back issues, it seems. ToP is in Vol. 43 No. 3. 

Maybe we should pitch Ipswich to them...?

Another lace article: 

An Unbroken Thread |The Story of Armenian Lace

I am thinking about driving to Nashville, staying overnight on the way.  Are there anyone interested in driving to Nashville next year?  If we are driving, I would like to share the cost of gas and hotel of one night stay.  Please contact Sumiko.  

I try to remember to check this blog from time-to-time, and just saw this interesting article about the French lace community history. 

https://laceincontext.com/new-article-on-french-lacemakers-tools/

The Open Access part isn't in place, so I have written to the author for a copy. 

I just got an email from MFA Boston about Renaissance Italian women in art, and they say it includes textiles. So of course I went to see if they meant lace, and it looks like they do. They appear to have a copy of the Parasole book included in the exhibit--so I bet there's some lace too.

https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/strong-women-in-renaissance-italy

Runs until January 7, 2024. 

Friends of Patty will gather on Wednesday, November 8 at 5:30pm at Indian Hill Country Club in Newington, CT for a celebration of life for Patty. I will be there and would love to see others from NELG, if you can make it.

Jill

Long time NELG member and past President, Patty Foley, passed away peacefully in her sleep on September 20 after battling cancer for 5 years. Her wishes were for no services.

For Patty, the glass was ALWAYS half-full and her enthusiasm was contagious. We will miss her fire and determination and the example she set.

RIP Patty.

Jill

In the IOLI talk about flax, Elena mentioned that Kimberly Alexander's UNH class has something underway about flax production in the region.

I found this site about it: https://theclio.com/entry/169623

Congratulations to all who entered the Big E Creative Arts Competition! See results on their website now. All blue and red ribbons!

I had heard a lot about this Dress Diary book because I follow Kate Strasdin on social media. But I didn't expect it to be hugely relevant to lace. Well, I should have known better.

First, her diary starts with Honiton lace on her wedding dress (scroll down on that first link to the last image). There's a whole chapter on lace making, partly because Kate is a lacemaker and this diary came to her via her local lace group! It's a lovely tribute to lace culture.

Then there are more lace samples, and just today I scanned the QR code in the book to get to this page with additional fabric samples, and there I also found black lace!

16 stunning Victorian textiles from The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes

In a separate interesting twist, on that page is a swatch of a Mrs Balestier. Mrs Balestier = Maria Revere, daughter of Paul Revere. She was friends with Anne in Singapore, it turns out. 

That said, it's mostly not about lace, but it reminds you of the importance of textiles and the economics around that. And I like it as a reminder that history is not sepia-toned. Some of those fabrics are just wild! 

Apparently, there will be many pickle-flavored food offerings at the Big E this year! Who knew? 

See this link: https://www.thehour.com/living/food/article/the-big-e-new-fair-foods-2023-18300978.php?sid=5ba858bf3f92a454704faea5&ss=A&st_rid=ff38f303-d407-45d6-9408-171792c0b85b&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CT_HR_MorningBriefing