Old Embroideries

When a call of entry for old embroideries went out from Galleri Frøya earlier this year, the good ladies of Kalvåg and Bremanger went to their cupboards and chest of drawers and dug, – very deep, it seems.

The things they dug out, – some of them very old, were then carefully cleaned, if possible, – then starched and ironed before being hung or laid out in the gallery in the centre of Kalvåg.

The theme of the exhibition is: “Embroideries for everyday use”.

Judging from the items on display, – and also from experience, – the kitchen would be the room in the house that was used the most, – every day.

“Coffee is served”, it says on this tablecloth, which would typically be part of a set which would also have one or two pieces for the counter tops, and probably a so called decorative towel.

These embroidered “towels” were purely decorative and hung on the wall in the kitchen, – sometimes in front of the pegs where the “real” towels were, to keep them out of sight.

There was a broad selection of these decorative towels. They were also used in bedrooms, to cover the towels by the wash stand.

Many were in good shape, – but not accompanied by their counterpart tablecloths or runners, indicating that maybe the latter got more heavy use and were worn out long before these purely decorative items.

This flower embroidery brought back memories, – we had table cloths like this when I grew up, and they were my favourites.

Some of the pieces were very colourful,  and telling of everyday life.

Many had sayings or blessings embroidered on them.

The fringe on the one above is done in macrame, and was taught to the maker by an older lady who called it Lover’s knot.

Some of the motifs are known across the world. You have probably already recognized Little Red Riding Hood.

Another piece that brought on nostalgia. My mother had made a set that adorned our kitchen when we grew up, – it was done in this pattern, and in the exact same colours.

There were embroideries in many styles……

…. and not surprisingly, also in Hardanger.

Even the most beautifully worked pieces had some telltale signs of use and wear.

There were a few examples of these lovely, nostalgic country scenes.

Redwork and bluework seemed to be popular, and they often came with sayings or poems on them. The text here says: Kari makes sour cream porridge, we sweeten it with sugar. (It rhymes in Norwegian)

Usually these things would be made from ready bought or shared patterns. This one however, has been designed by the maker herself, and shows a fisherman returning home after a long trip at sea, – which happens all the time around here. The text says: Welcome home.

This one is a beauty, and has been well used. Note the mended tear…..

… and not least the impressive monogram.

I could go on and on, but then this post would be too heavy to download. I’ll give in to the temptation of throwing in some more whitework, though:

… and a blessing before you go:

The exhibition will hang till the end of this month, – March 2012.

Eldrid

A Different Kind of Craft

Here is what you need to be able to practice this traditional craft:

A suitable waterfall and some pipes to lead the water to the mill.

Lots of belts and wheels to transfer the power from the mill to the machinery.

The belts will have to crisscross the room from top to bottom, – and back again, – several times.

You need some pieces of wood, preferably not dry, some templates, and a saw.

Can you see what you are going to make?

If you have guessed wooden shoes, or clogs, you have guessed right. Above is a stack of them ready for the next step.

To save you from manually cutting out the shoe, there is this fine piece of machinery, – quite advanced for its age. Who knew they had sensor systems more than a hundred years ago?

The piece in the middle is the template, and there is a sensor which follows the form of the template so the two shoes to the right and left are cut exactly the same, – except that for one of them, the belts have been turned so there will be one left and one right shoe of the same size.

When the two wooden pieces have been fastened on either side, you can just start the machine, and it will finish the outline of the shoes while you go outside to smoke a cigarette or drink a cup of coffee, – not so very different from the advanced embroidery machines of today.

It does not take long to make a whole bunch, – but there also needs to be holes for the feet.

This machine starts the hole.

But you will also need room for the toes….

…. and this machine will help you do that.

Again, there is a template in the middle, with a sensor to help cut the other two the exact same form,  -  this time only for left or right shoes at a time.

You grab the handles and move the set of shoes up, – down, – left, – right, – to make a suitable hole for the toes. Not so very different from the way you steer a longarm quilting machine.

With some practice, you can make beautiful shoes.

Wooden shoes, or clogs, was the everyday shoewear for many people only a generation ago. The photos in this post were taken at the old mill Sellevåg Treskofabrikk close to Skjerjehamn in Gulen, north of Bergen.  The mill is in the process of being restored to become a museum.

The plan is to have all the beautiful old machinery in proper working order till next summer.

Then everyone may come and see how this was really done more than a hundred years ago.

Eldrid

There is a First Time for Everything…

. . . . even at tradition bound Christmas.

This year we went plastic for the first time, but probably not the last, – and also probably not forever.

Every second year my husband does not come home till the day before Christmas, or thereabout, -  so getting a decent, thawed, and/or dry, Christmas tree in time, may sometimes be a problem.

On one afternoon, about a week before Christmas, a farmer from further inland usually brings a truck load of Christmas trees for sale to our island, so that those of us who do not want to take an axe to a local tree ourselves, may still be able to bring one home.  So many a time I have picked up a tree in the parking lot by the local shop and wrestled it single handed into the car during drenching rain, sleet, or a howling gale, – but never ever accompanied by softly falling white snow.

So last year I thought ahead, and in order to forestall another dreadful Christmas tree expedition this year, I caved in and bought a plastic tree as a present for my husband. (Nothing wrong in giving presents that benefit more persons in the household than the recipient himself). So underneath our lovely, original, two-topped Christmas tree of last year, was a wrapped plastic tree, which graces our living room this year.

The little bit of irony is, that we have had lovely winter weather through almost all of December, so this year I really could have collected a live tree accompanied by softly falling Christmas card snow, – but that is a First that was not to happen this time around.

And I am happy with stressless plastic for now.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Eldrid

One or two?

From time to time spruce seedlings find their way into our garden. When we see them, they are uprooted and planted again in a spot where they can hopefully survive, and in time serve as Christmas trees. The survival rate of these uprooted seedlings is not impressive, – in fact, it is much better for the ones that have been left to grow where they first appeared. Two of the latter category have been growing in the middle of our hedge, which, incidentally, has a very low survival rate too, – only a few shrubs left by now. However, we do not want any large spruce trees there either, so last year one of them was elected “Christmas Tree of 2008″. We decided to save the other one for 2009.

We did not count on the number of centimetres the last one was to grow during that year, though.

One evening a few days before Christmas Asbjørn made his way through the snow and cut down the tree. The red spot is part of his jacket, – he is behind the tree, sawing and sawing.

At last he got it down.

Having dragged it onto the front steps, he was almost out of breath, and was having second thoughts. The tree was too tall, and too wide, to make it into the house. Hmmm, – what to do now?

First of all, a lot of centimetres was cut off from both the top and bottom, and the foot came on, – just.

Now, it was possible to press it through the front door, but is was so wide we could not get it any further. Only one thing to do, – find the garden shears and start cutting and pruning.

And no, – the photo is not a double exposure, – it really has two trunks and two tops.

It finally made it into the living room, – still a bit “fat”, but manageable. We had to buy an extra ornament for the extra top, which in the years to come will remind us of this particular tree, – or maybe we should say trees.  It, – they,  – are far from perfect, yet very memorable 

A very Happy Christmas to everyone!

Eldrid

Irons

Apropos ironing, – when staying at our daughter’s this weekend, we also visited a private museum nearby. The museum has a collection of old log cabins, – the sort of houses that people lived in around here for hundreds of years, – complete with furniture and everyday tools. The photos below were taken inside one of the old houses.

Imagine washing your clothes or quilt fabrics with one of these:

…. and then ironing with one of these:

The two irons above are for heating on the stove.  Below is the “deluxe” variant:

Here you can fill the iron with burning coals, there is an opening at the back to adjust the air intake, and thus also the temperature, -  and it also has a small chimney to let out the smoke.

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I am still very fond of my electric iron, – and my washing machine.

I could very well imagine owning a woven coverlet like this, though:

Eldrid

Midsummer’s Eve

Celebrated with bonfires, of course.  After days of cold wind and rain, the weather turned beautiful a few hours before the bonfires were lit.

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A large cruise ship passing on the horizon:

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Our neighbours are going about their own business, as usual:

There were three of them today:

Eldrid

(whose name day is on Midsummer’s Eve)

Sun Day on a Friday

One of my favourite days of the year: the day the sun will shine into our living room again after a long and dark winter.

Yesterday the sun was shining on the tree tops close to our house:

Photo taken out the window.

Today I was looking forward to having the sun shining in through that very window.  But some clouds came in the way and almost prevented any sun at all.  Finally, at almost the last minute, the cloudes cracked a bit:

At 16.20 the first and last rays of the day shone on our wall:

 

Definitely sunshine and shadows on the wall.

Later the clouds disappeared and we had a beautiful sunset. 

If the weather permits, we will have at least 20 minutes of sunshine tomorrow. 

My husband’s grandmother, who lived here all her life,  used to smear some butter on the outside wall of the house on the day the sun returned. I have not got an explanation as to why she did this, other than she said it was to keep the sun happy. 

Maybe some of you would know more about this kind of tradition?

Eldrid