Downers Grove Lace Day 6/13/09

I finally got my pics downloaded last night, edited and uploaded into blogger but I was tired and it was late so I went to bed!


I know you've seen this on a few other blogs now. Diane, the Lace-Lovin' Librarian, Marilee, the Yarnplayer, Barb Gordon,me, and my sister Linda, who has come to a few lace events with me but still doesn't indulge. LOL! She did get try the bobbinlace though and got half the butterfly done before she had to leave for an anniversary celebration elsewhere. I think at some point I said Marilee and Steph would be there, but I meant Diane. I did email with Steph, who had originally planned to go but then forgot and made other plans!

Janice Blair was the bobbinlace instructor. You'll see some of her exquisite work below and you can learn more about her at her website.



The remainder of this post will be about the lace on display. I just grabbed some quick shots right before I left and then tried to crop out various segments so you could see them better. This is a christening set embellished with bobbinlace.


A close-up of the lace on the dress.


A close-up of the lace on the bonnet.



The mask by Janice Blair won the I.O.L.I. competition one year. Beautiful, isn't it?


A bookmark. Most lacemakers have made their share of bookmarks.



A celtic design in bobbinlace.



Interesting purse.



A lace heart.



Some lace motifs using clunies - or tallies, as they are often called too.



A flower - notice bobbinlacers like to use colors as well as white and ecru too.



Another heart! Almost all the lace was bobbinlace, but I do know they have a tatter in their group and one of the classes was on tatting.


This piece was probably 4 - 5 inches wide. It wasn't long enough to be a scarf but it could be a small runner or my guess was that it was meant to be an insertion on a pillowcase or something. Unfortunately, I spent literally every minute except lunch working on my butterfly so I didn't get to ask around about any of the pieces.


A nice mat.


There are several small pieces here. I think two of them are brooches, a sort of free-form design. Very pretty and I wish I'd learned more about them.


With this and a few other pieces, I got the impression that magic/mystery was a theme of some other event at some point.


And another flower!

Tracy Jackson of The Lacemaker taught a kumihumo class. It sounded fun from the other side of the partitian.

I had an ulterior motive, of couse, at which I failed miserably! My own lace guild used to be fairly active with this one and over time, there was less and less activity. One of my goals with my lace guild is to become more connected with other lace guilds in Indiana and surrounding states. We're duplicating our efforts in many cases, and with small groups, that's financially absurd, IMO. BUT...I don't have time to get all that involved either, so no, I'm not going to organize a Midwest Lacers Coalition or anything, but I do want us to communicate more and offer resources to one another. I'm teaching a group up north in a few weeks. I would love to spend more time teaching "locally" although I love to travel and I love meeting people I would only know online otherwise, but it gets expensive and right now, I think we are all tightening our money belts for awhile.

At any rate, I did get a peek into this group's activity and I plan to join as soon as I can get the paperwork filled out. I'm also a member of the Heartland Lace Guild and have not been able to contribute anything more than dues, but it helps me keep up on what others are doing. We're surrounded by Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois and I know there are tons of lacemakers and groups in all of those states!

I regret that I did not spend more time talking to Diane, Marilee and Barbara. I kept thinking I was almost done, almost done...and I thought I would have another hour after that, but they were closing up! LOL! Trust me, I won't make that mistake again!

Still, in the end, I learned a little more about bobbinlace. I've never done sewings before - and no, you will not see that piece until I get a chance to make another and do the sewings correctly!