A lovely day out ..and lots of new stock.

I had a lovely day on Wednesday. OK, so I had to set off at 7.15am to the depths of the countryside, sit in a very cold, draughty cattle market shed and then concentrate very hard on the "machine-gun" delivery of a sale by a cattle market auctioneer (if you have seen sheep or cattle being sold you will know what I mean!). Some of the locals who attend bring their own cushion, blanket, flask of coffee and sandwiches and have a day out ( sitting in a cold, leaky wooden shed for hours?) ...they are made of stern stuff in the Northumberland countryside.  But I bought some great textiles....quilts, linen sheets and pillowcases, damask cloths, lace, tapestries, blankets and embroidered tablecloths. There will be more but I haven't unloaded all the car yet!

A bit like this one but fortunately (given the weather in the North East) it all fits inside!

This is a sample of some of the quilts - very typical of the Victorian period and now very sought-after roses and paisley designs.

And superb hand stitched quilted designs - the hours of work involved is incredible.

At this auction the lots are all tied up very tightly into bundles so it is impossible to really view any of the items before buying. It is really like buying blind  but it does make it interesting when you get your purchases. Have I bought a bundle worth twice or three times what I paid for it?....or do I just have a lot more cleaning cloths!  (Let me tell you I need more cleaning cloths like a I need a hole in the head). So now to explore some more lots - fingers crossed these ones have some treasures amongst them!

More auction treasures.......

This week I bought a couple of boxes of textiles from a local auction - a real mixed lot! There were linen sheets, linen pillowcases, lace edgings, tablecloths, monogrammed towels and a bag with vintage clothing. What made it really interesting was that in the past someone (I assume a woman as I can't imagine a man doing this!) wrote little notes about many of the items and slipped them inside the linens. So in the clothing bag were two beautiful silk shawls below............................... this red one

........and this cream shawl with butterflies and flowers hand embroidered across the whole shawl.

                                                   There was also a hand worked lace collar

With an accompanying note to say that the collar had been worn by "my mother on her going away dress Aug 1902"

There was also a gorgeous silk camisole or chemise that had a note to say that it was part of the same lady's going away clothes. The camisole is all hand stitched.

The sheets had notes to say that they were embroidered by Auntie Tilly Donkin and then suggested that they be given to one of the boys in the family if they "managed" to find a wife. Obviously, they couldn't be trusted to look after the sheets without a wife! And presumably, they never found a wife (or at least one who wanted to inherit the linen sheets).  There are more treasures in these boxes to come to light yet .. and more notes!