Alice..the fan sounds lovely.
It will be a treat when we can see it. I wonder how you kept your
sanity.....but that is not a problem with lace makers....who's sane anyway
;-D))))?.
BarbE
Texas
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alice Howell" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, May 09, 2009 12:33 PM
Subject: [lace] Beds in color - my story
I made a Beds fan in color....in fact, it has 13 different shades of color.
I did a lot of planning before making the fan to decide where and how I
used each color.
The one thing that was different from normal Beds work was the trail
intersections. I had trails with different colors so they could not
combine and redivide the way Beds trails usually do because I had to keep
the colors separated. I had some intersections where I had to just work
one trail across it, then work the other trail over the top of the first
one and make a couple sewings to connect them. Not true Beds tradition
but necessary to the color line.
Also, I have to admit to mixing silk and cotton in this fan in order to
get the color shades I wanted. Most of it is Guiterman's silk but a shade
or two were cotton plus there are a few leaves made with DMC embroidery
thread. I couldn't find the right colors in anything else. Since I never
expect this fan to be washed, at least in my life time, I'm not worried
about the mixing of threads. It was made for fun, for the challenge, and
satisfaction of a unique project completed.
Since I don't have a picture to show you, and don't have the computer
expertise to generate one, I'll give a description. It's the Beds fan
from Louise Colgan's Fan Book.
The fan was made in shades of tan/brown with very dark brown on the lower
edge of the curve and gradually changing to ecru on the top edge of the
curve (nine color shades). The middle part of the pattern has three
trails that snake their way back and forth across the width, constantly
intersecting. Two trails started in the bottom corner and were done in
medium brown. The third trail started in the top corner and was done in
ecru. Where the two brown trails intersected, I could use the traditional
Beds crossing, but the ecru trail had to go over or under the brown. It
was varied so that it looks like the trails weave in and out of each
other.
The very center of the pattern has a detail made with nine leaves. For a
color spot, these leaves were made with four shades of gold/rust/peach.
These were the bits made with embroidery thread.
The fan sticks were made by Aebi. The outside sticks were from a wood
burl with shades of brown/tan. It was the sticks that started the whole
thing in those colors.
I still remember that, with all the color changes, I had to wind 165 pairs
of bobbins. To separate the shades since many of them were very close in
color, I sorted my midlands bobbins in identifyable piles by color, maker,
design, or style. There were black bobbins, flower bobbins, Margaret
Wall painted bobbins, plain white bobbins, spiral bobbins, animal bobbins,
etc. Each set was kept in a separate plastic baggie with a code number
for the color and notation of the type of bobbin.
It would have been much simpler to have made the whole thing in one color,
as the pattern intended. I spent as much time planning and preparing as I
did in actual execution of the lace.
As you can tell, I'm not a strict traditionalist. If the lace item is not
intended to be worn and washed, I use whatever thread available that fits
my color and size requirements.
Alice in Oregon .. with two days of warm and sun before the next storm
front.
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