Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Piece of Work

Piecework Magazine has turned a corner, I think. I actually read all the articles and didn't think, "man, they need an editor."

This month, the pincushion contest winners are featured. I like the winner, a biscornu with French knot berries and beaded edging pictured on the cover. But I am not that impressed with the cross stitched entries. Either the stitching on the others was defective or the judges were high--or influenced by the tatted edge--but I'm not crazy about the cross-stitch piece that won. But how about that knitted pincushion purse that opens to display scissors! The "pincushion" featuring tatting or lacemaking is groovy. And I can't believe the stumpwork camel only got an honorable mention. I guess you'd have to see these in person. They're on display in Kentucky from 8/1-11/30.

I was especially impressed by the article about Dorothy Reade who championed the symbol chart in knitting. The article about lace-making in Poland knows what the story is (how lacemaking brought the area out of poverty). (Many times the articles in Piecework are listlike or boing lacking story or purpose.) An article tracing the history of a sampler maker succeeds in making me care and finds the girl's life story. Anyway, a page-turner that I can recommend.

1 comment:

Donna said...

I find Piecework to be uneven in quality and its ability to interest me. I did buy this issue. Mostly because I buy when they write about historic samplers. I found the Needlework in a Mining Town interesting. But wonder about that article about the flag.