Forgotten crafts

Our quilting group does a lot of this every Tuesday - we stand around a newly completed quilt, full of admiration and wonder.  But this week it was a little different.  We were shown a collection of hand-crafted items which many of us had not realised even existed.

Note our fashion diva Ann's matching shoes

Prize-winning quilter Rae Cashman is an avid collector of vintage craft, and she has often entertained us with her remarkable acquisitions.  But this time she had quite an education lined up for us.

Doyley covers.  Of course.  Anybody born after the Fifties probably doesn't even know what a doyley is, but I can remember a time when no self-respecting housewife would be caught without a doyley placed under just about anything that sat on a table or dresser.

But doyley covers?  I guess my beautiful mother had other fish to fry, as we sadly lacked one of these to protect all those spare doyleys carefully stored in drawers, waiting for their moment in the sun.

Ah, simpler times.