When I first heard about Christina lace pillows. early in my lacemaking experience, they cost about $80. That was just as out-of-reach then as $1000 is for most people now. For years I thought about them and wished ... but was also pretty happy with what equipment I had and had fun making lace.
Then in recent years I came up with a very simple alternative I don't even know now if I adapted someone else's idea or if it is all my own! I cut a circle about 18" across from quilted fabric, with a hole in the middle about 5" across. Sew this to a backing of heavy plastic of the same size and shape and cover all raw edges with bias tape. This goes over your lace on the pillow, plastic side down. The bobbins fan out to lie on the quilted fabric. As you need to move large numbers of bobbns aside, you just turn the "donut", without disturbing the placement of the bobbins. I like the feel of the quilted fabric under my hands as I work and the quilting helps a lot to keep bobbins from rolling. It works for me and I no longer yearn for a Christina pillow at all. This device is NOT meant to keep threads from catching on pin heads. I use another piece of heavy plastic with a small hole in the middle directly over the pattern and the pins for that. Doris Southard in Iowa - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
