Yesterday, at quilt bee, my friend Margaret shared 2 vintage pincushions that were in her family. The first one is made of silk with a lace edge and has a very soft natural fiber as the filling. She took it apart right in front of our eyes, as she will try to restore as much of it as possible. We could not identify the fiber inside. Maybe some of you will have some ideas.
 |
| the silk, which is very thin, is quite faded on the top |
 |
| the bottom section is less faded and sits on a glass base. not sure if the lace is crochet or part tatted. |
 |
| here it is removed from it's glass base which has quite a jagged age. it was not glued but just stitched over the base. there were many needles found in the stuffing. |
|
I, kidding, said that the glass base looked like a weapon. Maybe some violence was committed and the pin cushion was made to hide the evidence. My imagination goes wild sometimes.
 |
| just another view |
The second pin cushion is in much better shape. It is quite large (about 6 - 7" in diameter) and very hard to the touch. I imagine it is filled with
emery. The lace piece was obviously moved from one side of the pincushion to the other, as you'll see in the images. The lace is a tape style bobbin lace and there is needle lace done in the center of each motif.
 |
| tape and needle lace doily over the satin like cloth pin cushion. |
 |
| the reverse side of the pincushion where the doily originally was secured and the cloth exposed has faded leaving the doily pattern. |
Margaret has lots of interesting vintage items left to her from family members and I love that she shares them with us. If you have any experience with these type items or have any idea what that fiber is in the first image, please share.
