In one of the small museums was this antique bed, rather awkwardly photographed through the bedroom door but there was no other way to catch any impression of the lace cover .

We saw a lot of this lace, but didn’t buy any. Which is not to say it was not beautiful but because of its guage IMHO is a bit limited to decorative table cloths and covers such as this, and you do see a fair bit as curtains. There is a fair bit of clothing featuring this lace, but even as cap sleeves or appliqued sections it seemed to be catch any jewellery I was wearing so I didnt buy any. 

In the town of Itaugua where we dropped a few dollars on Nanduti lace, this piece was in the process of being finished off – some kind of edging to be worked around all those units on the edge… which is quite long – this commissioned cloth is almost 5m long by nearly 3 wide, and represents about 6 months’ work by the several people who made the inset units and the edging, set the pieces in to a nice quality cotton fabric and did the final finishing steps culminating in washing, starching and ironing.

The work, fine but not the finest we saw, is in about #8 cotton. Too big a piece to make on spec for tourists, this piece would have been ordered by people whom our guide described as newly rich who are wanting all the trappings of old money – as soon as it can be made/purchased/commissioned, to go in large new fancy homes. The cost will be about US$650. Something similar in the very finest work we saw could cost several thou.US$. Either would look marvellous on a large table in a large room. 

After lunch yesterday, my visiting Aus friend and a Uruguay friend went to see the embroidery and lace collection owned by a man from a large older Uruguayan family. What we saw in his Montevideo apartment included enough household linens for several homes. ( although each of his several homes apparently has a similar quantity of stuff – mind boggling) He, L, and his wife R, clearly have differing views on how much is necessary /enough!!! (reminds me of a well known quilting friend and hubby in Perth WA)

The pieces we saw included a portion of very high quality various whitework and cutwork cloths, some absolutely huge, a couple over 4m length. Many came with matching serviettes; there were some curtains ( a gorgeous Italian cutwork one with panels of an embroidered mesh lace hanging between the bedroom wing and the living room) some pillow cases and hand towels. Much of the embroidery was done by his mother, and other work commissioned by L. himself, clearly a devotee of embroidery and lace. Venetian lace afficionados – eat your hearts out. I did not have a camera with me, and would have felt a bit awkward, anyway, considering this is the first time we have met.

R. wants him to sell a lot of it to give some space in the cupboards and drawers in their home – and he is clearly reluctant… there was a very beautiful piece of Assisi work that took my eye, but whether we would ever be able to be able to agree on a reasonable price is yet to be seen – the emotional component of any price he is likely to suggest will be large, and I feel I will not be able to justify any purchase…. but although I have found some absolute gems out on the street feria de Tristan Navaja on sunday mornings, there are a couple of things I would really love to have.

My Aus friend, still not really accustomed to the different daily timetable here, by 7pm was looking a bit anxious re the hour; but I knew DH would know that with my Uruguayan friend I would probably be late home, as usual – at 7-30pm visiting Aus husband phoned ” to see whether he and DH should eat or wait dinner?” but, by then we were really pressing our departure, and the guys’ faces were a picture when we staggered in about 20 mins later, weary, a little bewildered by all we had seen, but absolutely stone cold sober and more than ready for the glass of wine offered. The dinner was on the verge of being completely cooked – all I had to do was stir the gravy and my Aus friend set the table – I am always grateful and impressed with how DH steps into the breach on such occasions!

Apart from the wonderful cultural experience for my visiting friend of sipping tea from a glorious antique tea set, in a lovely apartment furnished with antiques and lots of lovely stuff, it was a lovely textile afternoon. Thanks to my Uruguayan friend, V.

Ornate and practical – this thread is somewhere between #5 and #8 equivalent, totally cotton, they say machine washable – very cheap for visitors and the very few middle class Paraguayans left; and so ultimately expendible maybe, for every day living .

In the right style of house a table setting of this kind of thing would be simply gorgeous.

But by comparison the finer stuff is breathtaking. 

Overlapping the one above onto one of the much finer coloured ones pictured below, shows the difference between the various grades available- the coarser of course is cheaper, and often applied to clothing – even some of the skirts we saw were of this but IMHO the garment would be a bit scratchy – a bit of starch and lots of ironing are needed to totally flatten it out after washing if it is of cotton, which most is. I do have a couple of pieces in Aus which are silk fibres.