Several members have written brief notes about the Autumn issue #172 of LACE, from The Lace Guild, England. This is another - from afar. Many times, I have recommended membership because the bulletins are so inspiring.
This is a very historic month, marking the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI on November 11th. In Belgium, we saw many tributes to this anniversary and many red lace poppy displays.  Poppies (usually paper) are worn by people around the world on Armistice Day. This poppy tradition is acknowledged on the front and back covers of LACE. This issue has many articles about British lace groups and individuals making poppies. Enough to make me regret giving up lacemaking in favor of writing about lace. The Lace Guild and Lace Museum is asking for volunteers. This is a wonderful way to meet interesting people and to learn about lace so that you can properly inform the public about it. Please consider helping, if you are located near The Hollies. Reports of lace Summer Schools are enough to make one very envious. Everyone looking so happy in color photos. Angela Thompson, a long-time friend who has visited me in Maine twice and influenced my collecting habits, has contributed an 8-page article about Filet Embroidered Net. A subject rarely written about, it was one of the earliest laces developed and inspired the making of Filet Crochet and eventually Machine Filet and Chemical Lace Filet. This is a lace that was made by European queens and their attendants centuries ago. Angela also explains how she keeps an inventory of her lace collection. There are several articles about Gil Dye. She surely deserves a lace halo for all the time she spends with lacemakers of all skill levels, historians, collectors, etc. It is lovely to see how many special opportunities there are to get away to learn from Gil. Wonderful color photos of reproductions of the earliest bobbin laces accompany these articles. Finally, an article by Dianne Derbyshire (member of Arachne) about the lace opportunities at Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham. Gawthorpe closes Sunday, Nov. 4th, for the season, but I always take the opportunity to encourage everyone to read about the activities there. They may influence program chairwomen who are trying to come up with agendas. Keep going back and back to previous years. There is a lot of interesting educational information, some about lace, from this facility. This English textile collection is second only to the Victoria & Albert: http://www.gawthorpetextiles.org.uk/ Jeri Ames in Maine USALace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
