Covid Art 45: Tafel 19

I’ve used one more original page from my embroidery sampler book from my friend Heidi. I paired it with a page from the 1890s Ladies Home Journal article on embroidery, also original paper. It is an old advertisement for embroidery patterns that could be purchased for $.15 (fifteen cents). When I was between six and nine, my mother’s friends would give me little cross stitch kits and I always grew impatient and tugged the floss until it was ruined. I think these friends thought they were paying homage to my mom’s expertise at handiwork but the kits were too difficult for me. Then when I became a teen, I knitted sweaters on Saturday afternoons while watching classic movies. When I studied abroad in Lund, Sweden in 1973, I learned how to weave on a loom, and how to do pillow lace. After college I became snobby about arts versus crafts, and veered into fine arts and away from handicrafts. Alas. By the way, this is page 19, hence the title, Tafel 19, which means Page 19 in German.