Re: [lace] bobbin holders
My favorite holders for continental (Swiss) bobbins is a U made of wood. John Aebi is one of the makers of these. I know there's a Belgian gizmo that's like a large U with a spike at the bottom, but these are different. The wood is thinner and there's no spike. Instead there are two fine holes drilled through the wood. One hole goes through the tips of the U and the other goes through the solid part of at the base. The narrow part of the bobbins fits between the arms of the U, about 9-10 pairs. A pin through the tips keeps them in, and it plus another pin through the base hold the holder in place. With long pins (like divider pins), I can stack several of these U's and their bobbins. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA robinl...@socal.rr.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
Re: [lace] bobbin holders
When I first learned bobbin lace (20 years ago) I was taught to use a working cloth underneath the bobbins for a particular element. When that element was finished I just lifted a working cloth with both hands, keeping the bobbins flat and the cloth taught, and lifted it to the side of my work. Eventually there could be half a dozen cloths stacked with bobbins quite neatly. When they were needed I just lifted the next layer and started to work them again. I have to admit to using the 'flats' now to move bobbins around but again, extra working cloths make life so much easier. Cheers, Shirley T. - Adelaide, South Australia where the cool change has arrived and we're hoping for some rain. Other parts of Oz have been inundated but our fair city is still lacking rain. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
[lace] Lace Exhibition in Birmingham
I managed to get to the Lost in Lace exhibition on Thursday. There is still some building work going on in the Museum and Art Gallery, which if you go in by the main entrance is between the Bridge Gallery and the stairs down to the Gas Hall, and a lot of the lifts between floors are out of action because of this work. I first looked at the lace in the Bridge Gallery - this is a relatively small selection of lace from the large lace collection I know Birmingham museum has in store, but includes examples from different regions and centuries, and some tools of the trade. One case shows a pillow with work in progress, the attached bobbins being bone Midlands - though many pairs are missing, so it doesn't give quite a true picture. There is some lovely point de gaze on display, Honiton, Branscombe, Beds, etc; as well as the black lace (Chantilly) that forms the basis for one of the exhibits in the Gas Hall. Going through and down to the Gas Hall, you are met with quite a different view of lace, that makes you wonder if the definition of lace needs to be changed to holes surrounded by... . A large black lace curtain and pelmet effect surrounds two columns - and looks very realistic, until you get close up and realise that it is not made of threads at all. There is a hanging of crystals on intertwined threads in the centre - like a chandelier - and a room setting of black steel cords intertwined like a web filling the space in front of three huge long white dresses - there is a video display next to this showing the (speeded up) process of the exhibit being installed - really fascinating to watch. The black lace caught several of us out - without reading the description panel, you go into a room where there is a film showing of the lace shown under an electron microscope, with background noise of a silkworm eating its way through mulberry leaves... we all expected the moth to appear on the screen having chomped its way through the fibres! There are some large installations that look, at a distance, like lace, and some that show holes surrounded by . which are perhaps not quite lace-like, but if you can think outside the box (ie don't go into the Gas Hall expecting to see lace made from threads, you won't) it is quite a stunning display. The Museum tearoom's afternoon offer of cake and tea/coffee for the price of the cake was too good to miss (cheaper than probably anywhere else in the city centre!) and provided a chance to sit down. Wondering through other galleries, I spotted other textiles on display, including some lace in unexpected places - Birmingham Museum has *never* had a policy of displaying textiles. As a child, I can remember two dresses being displayed in a glass case between the gallery where the permanent exhibition of glass resides (Birmingham has a fine collection of glass, including some of Edward Burne-Jones' stained glass windows) and the tea room, but that was it as far as textiles went. When we had Sheila Shreeve, a curator who was cataloguing the lace collection, to talk at our lace day in 1993 Mom commented that she didn't know Birmingham had any lace - she had lived in the city since her birth in 1922 and had been a frequent visitor to the museum. It seemed the museum directors over the years decided that no-one was interested in textiles... and so they were kept in store. About the only other textiles I can remember in the Gas Hall were when there was a Chinese exhibition which included a silk loom (with demonstrations) and demonstrations of Chinese embroidery - but that was a travelling exhibition, not permanent. So, if you get the chance of coming to Birmingham between now and February 19th, do make the effort to go and see the exhibition - this will show them that textiles are important, and people are interested! I didn't buy the exhibition catalogue - I need the £25 it would have cost to pay for other things at this time of year... and there is currently the Birmingham-Frankfurt Christmas Craft Market in the city centre with lots of tempting stalls to buy Christmas presents from... (I now have a small glass locomotive!). I did wonder if we should arrange and have a lace-in at the museum whilst the exhibition is on! (There is a monthly knitting group that meets in the tea room at the museum, so the idea is not quite as far fetched as it seems...) In message CAEXvTvOf85+QucF6BjiQS=azw5crexpag8jpvobwfcpysg5...@mail.gmail.com, maria greil mariagr...@gmail.com writes I have just known about an exhibition at Birmingham Museum which may interest you: 'Lost in Lace' is its name. Maybe some arachne member in Birmingham could tell us a little bit about it. This is the link: http://lostinlace.org.uk/home -- Jane Partridge - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site:
Re: [lace] Lace Exhibition in Birmingham
On 10/12/2011 12:08, Jane Partridge wrote: I managed to get to the Lost in Lace exhibition on Thursday. There is still some building work going on in the Museum and Art Gallery, which if you go in by the main entrance is between the Bridge Gallery and the stairs down to the Gas Hall, and a lot of the lifts between floors are out of action because of this work. I first looked at the lace in the Bridge Gallery - this is a relatively small selection of lace from the large lace collection I know Birmingham museum has in store, but includes examples from different regions and centuries, and some tools of the trade. One case shows a pillow with work in progress, the attached bobbins being bone Midlands - though many pairs are missing, so it doesn't give quite a true picture. There is some lovely point de gaze on display, Honiton, Branscombe, Beds, etc; as well as the black lace (Chantilly) that forms the basis for one of the exhibits in the Gas Hall. Going through and down to the Gas Hall, you are met with quite a different view of lace, that makes you wonder if the definition of lace needs to be changed to holes surrounded by... . A large black lace curtain and pelmet effect surrounds two columns - and looks very realistic, until you get close up and realise that it is not made of threads at all. There is a hanging of crystals on intertwined threads in the centre - like a chandelier - and a room setting of black steel cords intertwined like a web filling the space in front of three huge long white dresses - there is a video display next to this showing the (speeded up) process of the exhibit being installed - really fascinating to watch. The black lace caught several of us out - without reading the description panel, you go into a room where there is a film showing of the lace shown under an electron microscope, with background noise of a silkworm eating its way through mulberry leaves... we all expected the moth to appear on the screen having chomped its way through the fibres! There are some large installations that look, at a distance, like lace, and some that show holes surrounded by . which are perhaps not quite lace-like, but if you can think outside the box (ie don't go into the Gas Hall expecting to see lace made from threads, you won't) it is quite a stunning display. The Museum tearoom's afternoon offer of cake and tea/coffee for the price of the cake was too good to miss (cheaper than probably anywhere else in the city centre!) and provided a chance to sit down. Wondering through other galleries, I spotted other textiles on display, including some lace in unexpected places - Birmingham Museum has *never* had a policy of displaying textiles. As a child, I can remember two dresses being displayed in a glass case between the gallery where the permanent exhibition of glass resides (Birmingham has a fine collection of glass, including some of Edward Burne-Jones' stained glass windows) and the tea room, but that was it as far as textiles went. When we had Sheila Shreeve, a curator who was cataloguing the lace collection, to talk at our lace day in 1993 Mom commented that she didn't know Birmingham had any lace - she had lived in the city since her birth in 1922 and had been a frequent visitor to the museum. It seemed the museum directors over the years decided that no-one was interested in textiles... and so they were kept in store. About the only other textiles I can remember in the Gas Hall were when there was a Chinese exhibition which included a silk loom (with demonstrations) and demonstrations of Chinese embroidery - but that was a travelling exhibition, not permanent. So, if you get the chance of coming to Birmingham between now and February 19th, do make the effort to go and see the exhibition - this will show them that textiles are important, and people are interested! I didn't buy the exhibition catalogue - I need the £25 it would have cost to pay for other things at this time of year... and there is currently the Birmingham-Frankfurt Christmas Craft Market in the city centre with lots of tempting stalls to buy Christmas presents from... (I now have a small glass locomotive!). I did wonder if we should arrange and have a lace-in at the museum whilst the exhibition is on! (There is a monthly knitting group that meets in the tea room at the museum, so the idea is not quite as far fetched as it seems...) It sounds really interesting, Jane. I will be coming down to see the exhibition some time in the new year, tho I'm not sure exactly when. I'd be happy to combine this with a lace-in - you know me, I'll make lace anywhere, on a train, in a museum ... Let me know if it's going to happen. Lesley just below the snow-line in Marple, Cheshire, UK - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com.
Re: [lace] Lace Exhibition in Birmingham
Knowing I'm not going opt be able to get to this, I thought I'd search the internet. The exhibition's website has an impressive picture of what looks like the main hall, showing the scale of some of the pieces: http://lostinlace.org.uk/ Sue sueba...@comcast.net - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
