Oops, I did it again - Rabbit Hole

How does this happen???

So, I was just looking to finish my linen repostero of malla and pulled work, when I started researching fringes. Ann Marie Decker pointed me to her Pinterest and I found this... Wow, macramé with cutwork, this piece is beautiful.

What we are given:

Its dimensions are H x W: 18 × 84 cm (7 1/16 × 33 1/16 in.)

Border, 16th–17th century; linen; H x W: 18 × 84 cm (7 1/16 × 33 1/16 in.); Gift of Frances Morris; 1951-111-67

What we don't know (and will be part of my research) :

  • What is country of origins?

  • What are the stitches used?

  • Is the fringe part of the main part of the fabric or is it a separate piece?

  • What was the planned final usage?

What I love:

  • Tassels

  • macramé pattern is almost bobbin lace in its intricacies.

  • And then there is the cutwork. Holy moley... so much awesomeness.

Then I went looking at the rest of the collection

Thinking pretty pouches... Long arm cross stitch is easy...

Here is my YouTube on it:


Here is a beautiful longarm cross stitch and (Spain); linen, silk, metallic thread; 1971-50-224

And then I found this

It is more cross stitch from the 16th century!


Its dimensions are

H x W: 44.5 x 46 cm (17 1/2 x 18 1/8 in.)

Cite this object as

Panel (Spain), 16th century; Previously owned by Herman A. Elsberg (American, 1869–1938); silk on linen; H x W: 44.5 x 46 cm (17 1/2 x 18 1/8 in.); 1947-37-5


Oh, it gets better...

Oh, my goodness, the raised sun:

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 97.8 x 265.7 cm (38 1/2 in. x 8 ft. 8 5/8 in.)

Cite this object as

Altar Frontal (Spain), 16th century; silk, metallic thread, garnets; H x W x D: 97.8 x 265.7 cm (38 1/2 in. x 8 ft. 8 5/8 in.); Gift of Elizabeth Cochran Bowen; 1937-31-1

This is where the fun comes in... DETAILS!!!!

Cute little angel

The late 16th century shows the beginning of stumpwork.

The sun

Look at those raised golden rays of the sun. the face was on a padded form, but is no longer.

The palace

Just a beautiful layering of different stitch techniques.

There is more to look at on this website, but, hopefully, it helps you to see where my mind goes when in a rabbit hole. In this case, I found a museum website that has amazing public domain images. I have made sure to document what information they gave me about the photos. Asked myself questions about where I need to go next. Pulled some details with my photo editing software... generally, had a fun afternoon.... Now, to go search out more of this rabbit hole.... find your rabbit hole in this collection at https://www.cooperhewitt.org/ They have a variety of mediums to look through.