Eleanor's Basket FULL of Goodies!

I was delighted to recently receive these photos from Eleanor L.  I first met Eleanor last year when I taught for her EGA group in Sarasota, Florida.

As you will see in the photos below, Eleanor is very talented....she not only stitched and finished Mrs. Waddelow's Needlework Basket, she also made her own basket.  Wow!!  That is so neat!

Eleanor wrote, At least a year ago, my daughter Debi in Connecticut asked me to make a Nantucket basket for "Mrs. Waddelow's Needlework Basket", so I made the base and lining so I could be sure I made the right size basket.  I was looking around the house for a basket in which mine would fit and came upon the basket I used.  I had made it the summer before, but did not have a specific use for it.  I liked the lining in it, so that's what I used.   I used 32-count linen and Weeks Dye Works Blue Heron thread.  Just stitched the accessories this summer, and assembled then in October.  Bought enough to stitch "Mrs. Waddelow's Huswif" also. 

I did finish "Fruit of the Vine", and made it  a housewife- no more wall space for hanging things.  At the time we took the class, we were working on the "Ackworth Friendship Book".  We all finished.  I did mine on 36- count linen  with Crescent Color's Milady’s Teal, but liked a lot of the different colors the others used.  It was fun to stitch with all the different colors.

Thank you very much, Eleanor, for the photos of both your needlework and your basket-making skills.  Both are wonderful, and I know others will enjoy seeing the photos as much as I did.

I hope you'll also send me photos of  your Mrs. Waddelow's Huswif when it is completed.  I would also love to see your Fruit of the Vine Sampler Huswif.  Please ask your guild members to send me photos of their Ackworth Friendship Books.  This is a fun group project, as you discovered.