A Box Of Old Lace

My husband and I are already climbing the walls with cabin fever.  Spring fever actually.  This has not been a terribly cold or snowy Winter but every year, by mid-February, we need to get out!  So, we went a flea market yesterday.  It's an indoor flea market and not one of our favorites but it was something fun to do. 

I never find much at this flea market but this time, I hit the jackpot!  Look at this box of old crocheted and tatted lace:

There are a few pieces of manufactured lace in here but most of it is handmade.

I washed it yesterday when I got home and now it's ready for pressing. 

I don't know why, but I just can't leave a box of lace like this sitting around a dirty old flea market.  I already have more than I will ever use but this is just such a treasure to me.

If you're lucky enough to find some beautiful vintage and antique lace in a flea market, garage sale or thrift store, here are the directions for washing old lace.

In this article, I recommend a product called Orvus.  I do not know if it's still available or not.  I don't have any here and have actually been using Dawn dish washing detergent.  My thoughts on that are, if it's safe to use on precious wild life, caught in oil spills, then it's safe for textiles. 

Crazy Quilt Blocks for Christmas Ornaments

I finished up the 3 crazy blocks I was working for Christmas ornaments.  Well, I finished the stitching but I still have to sew them together:

This one took me a little bit longer than the others because I did the tatted Christmas tree myself and then sewed it on and beaded it.

 I also did the tatted lace myself on the blue block.  I have a ton of vintage tatting but I like to do my own now and then so I don't forget how to do it!

And then here's the one you saw the other day:

I have these pretty little ornaments to hang from the point at the bottom of these pieces.  I found them at Michael's before Christmas last year:

I had planned on sewing these together today but I don't think I can squeeze one more thing in.  Maybe I can sew them up in the morning.