My Maternal Grandmother, who passed away a decade ago and the one who was the quilter in the family, also did embroidery. These were at my parents' house, who have both passed away.

I seem to be taking over as the family quilter and maybe I will be like her and will have made one for everyone in the family.

pillow cases

Your Grandmother did beautiful work. You're so lucky to inherit them.

Those are beautiful, you are so lucky to have inherited them Pam :D :D :D

Oh Pam those are gorgeous! What a wonderful keepsake from your grandmother - see where YOU got the creative gene from!

K x

Very nice.

What talent! You are so lucky to have those!

Those are beautiful!

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW :!:

Your grandmother did gorgeous work!! What a beautiful inheritance.

What wonderful treasures you hold!! I personally love those type of vintage treasures-thanks for sharing! Skeat

Thanks all. I am grateful to have them. They have been packed away in tissue and plastic bags though plastic is supposed to not be the best thing for cloth.

I think the last one with the yellow crochet'd border would look great with her yellow Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that is on my spare bed but, the quilt is covered with a white down comforter to protect it anyway.

I will wrap them up in muslin and put them in a tightly sealed container. I have two daughters to pass them on to, my son probably wouldn't care one way or the other!

So beautiful!!! What a treasure to have!

Kyia

Pam, these are surely a treasure & bless you for knowing what you have!

Is the lace tatted or crocheted on the edges? I can't quite tell from the photos, probably tatted.

My Mother tatted & I finished the last thing she was tatting when she passed away. You can see exactly where I started & she stopped...but it was finished!
Mama could carry on conversations , sometimes waving her shuttle around to make a point. I screamed at anyone that even looked toward me as I have to COUNT the stitches. :roll:

Your pillowcases are totally wonderful & thank you for sharing.

Riley

They are crocheted, I don't think she tatted. She did doilies, of which I have a few too, and pot holders and afghans.

It's great that you were able to finish what she started. My two daughters don't seem to have an interest in sewing so don't know who would finish anything I leave behind.

I've been looking at the purses here and elsewhere and maybe I could get my eldest to sew if it was purses she could design herself.

I hear that!

We have 2 daughters & 2 granddaughters that could care less to learn what end of a needle you thread.

We can cry together I suppose? SIGH

Your Gran's embroidery work was phenomenal!

R

That is all just gorgeous!!

What beautiful work. Think of the time those took. Easy to see where you got your talent.

They are all beautiful - and it looks like they're still as brightly colored as the day they were embroidered! I suspect your grandmother was like mine and saved them 'for good.' Both my grandma and mom had unused, embroidered linens in drawers when they passed. Imagine how old they are - Mom was 92 when she died in '05 - and they're too delicate, though still as brightly colored as yours. I hope someone on this thread will suggest ways for you - and me - to display AND preserve them. I don't want to keep them hidden away in a drawer!

How super! My grandmother, who raised me, embroidered and crochet the edgings of 10 sets of pillowcases for me to put into my hope chest. I don't know if young folks today have hope chests. I'm 65 now, married 36+ years and still have a set of these pillowcases. I am so happy you have these treasures. When I was a little girl, Gram would embroider and she had a little hoop and threads for me too. My first project, which took all of Lent (the 40 days before Easter) to work on in the evenings, was a set of 7 kitchen towels. Gram used a gingerbread cookie cutter to mark the towels. She used those towels until they were all worn out.

I do use one set of the pillow cases in the guest room. The fabric wasn't as delicate as the rest. It really suited our Victorian farmhouse in CT - and one of my quilts is on the bed in similar colors to the embroidery.

Those are wonderful - what a treasure for you to keep and hold on to for the memories!

Yes, it's too bad to keep them hidden away where they are never seen. Aren't there types of glass that would protect from UV rays? I don't know how good they would be for preserving the colors, and the whiteness, though.

Those are beautiful. i LOVE hand embroidery. My grandmother, mother and I all did/do it. Its fun. Thanks for sharing

Grandma did beautiful embroidery :-)

Pam.
Those are so beautiful and especially precious because your grandma made them. I know you can get archival boxes to store them in. They are not supposed to be in an airtight container. You might be able to get information about storing or displaying them from a local museum. Or perhaps the smithsonian web site?

I myself use my treasures my mom made. She was no way as talented as your grandma, but, I can tell you this. I have enjoyed them being out where I can see them.

Here's a link... http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmah/antqtext.htm

K x

Thank you for the link - good information. In addition to the pillowcases, I have Mom's and Grandma's dresser scarves and quilts from both grandmothers and 1 from DH's maternal grandmother. We're so lucky.

MIL didn't treasure it - used it as 'blanket' to wrap things when she moved, then wadded it up and threw it in a corner of FIL's airplane hangar. DH found it, asked if we could have it, knowing I would LOVE to have it. One of the MANY things MIL and I had 'differences' about!

Grandma did a beautiful job. And you are doing a great thing to preserve her memory and her work! I have a Hospice lady that I care for that does beautiful work - just to keep busy. It's almost a dying art!

How lucky you are to have such a keepsake of your Gram. I would keep your treasures in a old pillow case & every so often , refold them so you don't get fade marks or lines. Her work is just beautiful, thanks for sharing.

Priceless heirlooms. How wonderful it is for you to have them. I can tell you are a person who will treasure and preserve them.

Adrianlee - I'm so glad that your Grandma actually USED her towels. So many saved them like my Mom and her Mom. That's why I use the pillowcases and dresser scarves I inherited. The guestroom they're in is darkened except when guests are here, so they're sort of 'conserved'.

How old are your daughters? My mom tried and tried to teach me to sew and I never had an interest. Until I got in my mid 30's and now it has hit like a ton of bricks.

In time they may just decide to take up the very ADDICTING habit!

Those are really beautiful and you are so fortunate to have them.

very beautiful. i hope someone will someday post MY embroidery/quitling and be proud if it!! :)

Im 37 and have 3 hope chests! I have my mom's, my granny's and one small one I bought to store the memoirs I have of my dad (he died when I was 18 ) so...the spirit is still out there. And if I don't have kids...they'll go to my neice at some point. I have several friends who have them too...and/or have started some for their girls. We just need to keep making stuff so people continue to fill them :)

They are beautiful; she did such a wonderful job.

What wonderful heirlooms!!