Vintage Stitches

This is a little work-in-progress.  I'm totally winging it...just adding little bits of fabric and stitchery as I go along.  Looking forward to getting back to it over the weekend...even though, the to-do list is looming large.  But I may abandon it in favor of a stitch or two.

I started out with a bit of fine white linen.  I think linen is my favorite for stitching on.  It feels good in my hands, and I like the way the embroidery floss slides through the fibers. 

I pulled bits of vintage lace from my grandmother's stash.  I know I've mentioned the beautiful things I got from my mom's sewing room many times since she's passed away, but these bits of lace and eyelet are some of my favorite treasures.  I keep them in jars on shelves in my studio so I can look at them all the time.  When I'm ready to use them for various projects, I'll pull some out and wrap them on shipping tags - that makes it easy to throw them into my bag my vintage train case when I'm going to a friend's house for a little crafting romp.

This is an old image of my train case that I just found, and right now I'm wondering where this little bit of stitched yummy-ness has disappeared to.  I think it might have turned into a little pillow.  I'll have to do a little Nancy Drew-ing later...

Anyhooo...

In my winging-it for this project, I decided to add a border of lace and eyelet...

...all the way around the edge of my piece of linen.  This is a fairly large piece, about 15"x15".  Large for me, anyway. 

And then I began adding bits of fabric - these little circles appliqued onto square fabric scraps, and then a row of "bunting".  Lots of layers, with lots more to come.  I'm enjoying just making it up as I go along.  Who knows where it will end up.  What are you working on today, friend?