Peacocks!

 Melody and I headed off to The Embroiders Guild Victoria to listen to Gina give her talk on her Peacock Linens. Sorry Mel, we can't see your face due to the shadows!

 Gina had a lovely display. The photos don't show up all the detail of the beautiful stitching.

 The black one is actually a shawl.

 This one was designed and stitched especially for Gina by a friend in India. I think it is stitched on silk. (I hope I have that right, Gina. Let me know if it's not.)

 

 Thank you Gina for inviting us along and 

thank you Mel for your company.

On the sewing front, as you may be aware I didn't achieve anything on Friday night. Last night was different. Noel took the boys to see a friend over from SA play in a basketball tournament. As he had to bring an extra boy home, there was no room in the car for me so I had to stay home! I brought the machine out to the lounge where it was lovely and warm from the fire and finished a project. But as it's for a secret swap, I can't show you the finished product yet.

Beautiful Linen Part 2!

Here are some more photos of Gina's linens.

 

Peacocks!

 

Birds.

 Gorgeous flowers.

 Look at the lace edging on these two tablecloths.

 

 Crinoline ladies!

 

Gina also showed us some beautiful crazy patchwork. The colours on this one were so much brighter.

That white one on the top left is actually a mobile phone holder! It's the fanciest one I've ever seen!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing all the beautiful linen. None of the photos really show the linen as good as in person. Head over to Melody's blog to see some more photos of Gina's collection.

Oh, So Much Beautiful Linen! Part 1

Yesterday Melody and I went to visit Gina to have a private show and tell of her beautiful linen. We meet Gina at the Bundoora Homestead back in September where she had an Early Australian Linen Exhibition. You can see my post about it here and Melody's post here.

The first order of business was morning tea. Can you see the gorgeous tablecloth we were using! Then it was time to start ooing and aahing over Gina's beautiful linen.

I love this one!

 Hankerchief holders.
 
Look at all those tableclothes hanging in the wardrobe! I think there were about three or four hanging on each hanger!

This tablecloth has a great story behind it. The tablecloth is the work of Gina's mother-in-law. She started stitching it when she was 12 years old (she will be 100 in a couple of months!).

As she didn't like the colours of threads that were supposed to be used, she chose her own colours. By doing this, her mother and grandmother told her "it wasn't good enough and she had to unpick it and start again"! Needless to say, Gina's MIL threw it into a cupboard and never touched again!

 Some vintage postcards.

 This is one of my favourite tablecloths. It was so pretty.

 This is a Scottish one. The cross-stitching looks like tartan.

 

How cute!

Castles.

 Tea tray cover, tea cosie, egg cover and toast cover.

That's probably enough for now as it is a long post. I'll show some more photos next time. Also, head over to Melody's to see her post.

Thank you Gina for inviting us into your home and sharing your beautiful collection with us.

Early Australian Linen!

Melody and I headed to the Bundoora Homestead today to see the Early Australian Linen Exhibition. There were some gorgeous tableclothes, aprons, doilies, tea cosies and other things. They were from the collection of Gina Wilson (Early Australian Linens). The theme was Australiana.

 

We got to meet Gina and can you believe it, the three of us talked for two hours! These were linens from Gina's family and ones she has found in op-shops, garage sales and on eBay.

 Me, Gina and Melody.

 I loved this Captain Cook's Cottage apron.

 Aren't these budgies beautiful!

 More budgies.

 Budgie tea cosy.

 Kookaburra set not completed.

Close-up of kookaburras.

 Isn't this lyrebird set gorgeous!

Royal Coronation tablecloth.

 A table cloth for the 1954 Royal Visit.

South Australia Centenary Apron.

 Beautiful wildflowers.

 

 This bank book cover was made by Gina when 

she was five years old!

 

 If you get the chance to visit the exhibition, you only have until Sunday. There were many more linens than shown here. Thank you Gina for sharing your lovely treasures. You can see more of Gina's linen here.