PieceWork is for needleworkers wanting to explore a wide range of historical textiles and fine-thread handwork traditions. PieceWork honors the handwork of our heritage through well-researched and human stories accompanied by carefully selected hands-on projects covering needlework techniques.

May/June 2013 Issue
This issue offers fascinating facts on lace—knitted, needle, bobbin, tatted, crocheted, and machine-made. You’ll discover some people who have been captivated by lace and others who spent long, grueling hours producing this ethereal fabric.

• Margaret Stove explores the history behind a “Shetland Knitter in New Zealand” and provides the pattern for her stunning knitted Shetland Scarf.
• Delve into the life of the children who created bobbin lace in the 17th century, and the chants they recited as they worked in “Spinsters, Free Maids, Tells, and Shakespeare.”
• Make your own exquisite needle-lace insert, using the same traditional stitches that students and teachers used to create an altar cloth for the Sacred Heart Sanctuary in 1927.
• For tatters, there are instructions for making an edging and a medallion, along with the inspiring story of Lily Mae Burley Patrick, who continued to be a master tatter although she was blind.
• For many Russian women, receiving a gift of a traditional Orenburg warm shawl was a highlight. Galina Khmeleva shares her pattern for this lacy labor of love.