When I left off, I was about to remove the piece from the frame it had been in for the last 42 years. First I got through the layer of paper, then removed the fifty or so sharp little diamond-shaped metal teeth holding the cardboard backing in place. My next discovery was that Granny had been so unhappy with the piece with she finished it, not only did she not press it, she didn’t even bother hemming it.



I also found the difference in color between parts of the fabric that had been covered by other fabric and parts that hadn’t:



Which probably means that part of the color change is irreversible.

Mom held it up so I could get a pic of the copyright info. I haven’t looked up anything about the company that produced the design or anything yet, but it’s interesting to know.



Again, you can see clearly here that the color change isn’t limited to the front. Hm. (You can also see the foam that was mounted between the cardboard and the piece itself, giving a pillowed effect.)



Once the piece was out of the frame, I got to work and embroidered over Granny’s signature and the date.



That done, I washed it, following more or less the same procedure I would for washing handknit wool (though not the same kind of soap, since I suspect the linen wouldn’t appreciate having lanolin added).



This is what the water looked like after washing. Euch. (The water ran clear after rinsing.)



And now it’s laid out to dry on the kitchen table.



The fabric that’s been visible all these years (and some of the fabric that hasn’t been) is still discolored (and if you think additional washing would take care of that, speak up quickly! At the moment I’m working on the theory that it’s linen and has discolored with age and exposure to air and light), but the threads are vivid. The lion looks particularly stunning.

Next up: pressing, then taking it for framing.