This beautiful hedge of berry bushes on a corner in a nearby suburb really caught my eye on saturday as were were out and about. Autumn is in the air, and because the arbol borracha is out in flower, we are having quite a bit of rain, and the air is cooler more often now. 

Although I found this beautiful fine piece of spiderweb lace in the antique markets on saturday, (only 350 pesos which is currently about $13 or $14 US….) it has been a long wait this week for blbogger to sort out the problems preventing many users publishing text or pics. What a treasure this is – the finest example I have ever seen, so far, of the nanditu lace from Paraguay – otherwise known as spiderweb lace.
This hankerchief is approx 12 inches across, and the irregular section 4 to 6 inches across in places, the fine silk fabric very thin and worn away in a spot near the upper edge.

However, great excitement, tomorrow I am actually going to Paraguay for a few days with visiting friend Kitty, on a Girls Own Adventure trip, and among other things plan to go somewhere to see this being made, if we possibly can – we have a contact.

POSTSCRIPT 27/3 someone asked if I was planning to use this or possibly frame it – I may use it sometime, but I am more likely to place it in my box of various lovely things, and just take it out and either show friends or myself, again. I do have a very nice piece of venetian lace in a frame, given me by a sister, and I might mount it sympathetically to go alongside … nothing definite planned, but I know one way or another I will always appreciate it’s quality and beauty. the finest new piece I could find ( and bought) was expensive but not this fine.

…and is moving into some new work. One technical thing that had bugged me was that I found with one of the leathers I plan to be using a fair bit, the machine stitching was (a) obtrusive IMHO but also (b) did not glide evenly under the machine foot anyway, and I was getting some skipped stitches – on both my bernina 1230 in Aus and my 1008 here. I had some helpful advice re a roller foot from a fellow quilter in WA, and I will look for one some time when I am a bit closer to the nearest Bernina dealer ( at this it is point Venezuela – ) The only satisfactory solution has been to admit the leather bits need to be applied by hand which can be done by the stitch coming up from behind, taking in some but not all thickness of the leather, and going back into the fabric again. I now understand that positioned pieces can be held down temporarily for compositional process using pins and then safelty pins from behind, too, while all the pieces are all being applied. There might be instruction books around for this kind of thing but I don’t have them! Just as I couldn’t find any instruction on how to make a gold nugget for a communal quilt project, using very shiny gold lame, brown acrylic paint painted on in the pattterns of the indentations to the nugget which were quilted into as well, and then the whole shape was formed into a low relief ‘bagged quilt’, really, althoughI had never heard of that term. The edges were sitched onto the backing and it was/is somewhere still probably, a successful creation. Anyone with “Down Under Quilts” #1 premier issue, March 1988 , will find an article with a good size illustration in the centrefold pages – interesting for someone who at the time had no notion of ever taking up quiltmaking. I have only just discovered Treasure Gold and Treasure Silver metallic waxes, and have worked out under what circs they need fixing, or leaving to mature in the air.

I recently made up that word – “samplising” to cover the process of making samples, trying out new techniques and materials together, or new materials with old techniques, whatever. Some would call it “playing”, but to me it’s more than that, learning what stuff will do, thinking of other things to do as we go along as flashes of inspiration pop up; and what I have learned so far, in the past few days since recovering from jet lag and gathering my creative wits about me, is that:

• a leather punch can be a tool of fascinatingly creative potential…..and, with house guests who are very easy to have around, punching little dots out of leather is a wonderful thing to do while having drinkies out on the terrace early in the evening, while whoever is cooking does their thing.
• that the black suede printed with shiny dots which I bought in Aus really loves being rubbed over with metallic wax – the dots grab the wax far more strongly than does the suede….
• the grey suede with shiny elongated dots heavily stamped into it really likes the metallic wax too, but the surface of the dots and of the suede grab the wax MOL equally…
• Using a piece of sequin waste as a stencil for dots, using the miracle wax I found great joy in the result on knit-backed vinyl textured to look like a very fine lizard skin
• as a result I love the metallic wax, too …. how come it took me so long to discover this stuff?

Our current visitors are readers, and can go for long spells without feeling the need to fill every minute with talk, as some guests almost seem to feel is their obligation… mind you, we have known them nearly 4 decades. So, I have just finished reading Di Morrissey’s “Barra Creek” (loved it – very light but very strongly related to the northern Queensland setting and lifestyle depicted – took me right back to the Mt Isa days. Some time today I will start Robert Drewe’s “Grace” which was being discussed when I dropped in to visit my old book discussion group while visiting Aus recently. I hadn’t read the book but was so fascinated by their duscussion that, since they meet in a book store/cafe anywaywhere the book was staring down from the shelves at me, I bought it then and there.

I think it is probably a summer months thing, but it was pleasing to see maybe 40% of the antiques stall holders out in the Plaza Matriz on tuesday morning this week. A friend from Australia is visiting for several weeks, and we were wandering around the downtown leather and artesanal areas to help her get her eye in – on a pre-shopping survey if you like, of what’s currently on offer in floor rugs, leather jackets and bags. Leather goods are so lovely here and compared to Aus, much less expensive.

So moving through from the Plaza Independencia to the Ciudad Vieja (Old City) round to corner we came to this array of antique stalls I had always presumed were only there on saturdays. I don’t go downtown and into the old city often during the week.

The top two of these hand made lace inserts – no idea how old but I’m guessing early C20 – are on very fine linen, and were made to insert into fine table or bed linen. The lower one is all pattern darning on fine net or tulle, a lovely poppy design with each petal a different filling. It is the finest net darning I have ever seen, and would have been made as an insert into a fine silk blouse or dress is my guess, and from the style and the period when those things were in vogue, it could be anywhere from late 1890’s to early 1940’s. Whatever their ages, they are all a bit dingy, and photographed against a dark grey b/g.