doily fondling day

last week i spent a few hours at Gawthorpe Hall on an "Embroidery Exploration Day" - i've waited a while to post about it as i wanted to sift through my thoughts and reactions 

the session was organised by the Gawthorpe Textile Collection - we were a small group of about 10, this was a good number as it gave us all time to examine the textiles at a fairly leisurely pace - we were also allowed to photograph them, although the reflections off the protective film on some pieces was a bit of a problem, it might  have helped to have something sloping to rest the pieces on to reduce the glare a bit

it must have been difficult to select the pieces from the collection but what we were shown covered a very good range of styles, techniques and ages - it was enough to give an impression of the breadth of the collection and be sure that there would be something of interest for everyone

i wasn't sure what to expect and had wondered if i might struggle with an array of traditional embroidery - i was wrong to worry, the tutor (curator?) demonstrated a wide and deep knowledge of her subject and was very patient with our queries - i would definitely go to another session like this and recommend it to others

this little mountain goat caught my fancy, embroidered on a fine muslin it's detail amazed me - of course the photo doesn't do it justice, but i was quite surprised at my reaction to this as it isn't my usual "cup of tea"

and this darning was so fine that it was almost invisible

the rest of my pics are in this slideshow