Found On The Blocking Board
I fished out the blocking board in order to start preparing to block the canvaswork “Constable” when it’s finished, only to meet a roadblock – the blocking board was already occupied!
Now, I recall – vaguely – finding this around the Diamond Jubilee, and thinking that Grandmama might have stitched it, either around the Coronation or around the Silver Jubilee, but then, now I’ve looked at the back, I can’t imagine that Grandmama would have been stitching as messily as this in 1952, given the quality of her stitching during the War, and given that I was very much alive and paying attention during the Silver Jubilee, I’m pretty sure I would have remembered her stitching it then.
And I don’t.
At the same I can I assure you it is too well stitched to have been stitched by me at the time, and besides that, I can assure you that I would absolutely remember attempting to stitch it!
I’ve decided that I am going to try to finish it this year. I’ve no idea who started it, but something begun Who-Knows-When by Who-Knows-Who is going to be finished this year by me.
How intriguing! A mystery indeed.
Hmmm… It looks like it might have been a send-for design from a woman’s magazine or a newspaper. And I would think coronation rather than jubilee. Is the thread wool?
Maybe it was something found, or given to your mother or grandmother to ‘finish off’ by someone else. Is it a printed design or a transferred one? The style is right for the fifties or earlier. I hope you find out more. I am not sure that it is worth time and effort. The buttonhole edge is terrible.
I wonder if trying to work it what the standard banner stands for would give any clues. It is a bit primitive. 🤔
It has a charming naive look about it. Whoever started it will be pleased to know that you will finish it.
An interesting mystery – those soldiers are standing beautifully to attention. xx
I’m wondering if this is a joint project to keep the children occupied. The border looks to be by differing hands and the criss crossing on the back is a very childlike way of “getting there”.
Who every started it you will finish it. Maybe the person who started it will remember it when you finish it?
A bit of research on the banner shows it is the Royal Coat of Arms adopted by Queen Elizabeth the Second and not in use before her ascension. So it is almost certainly from a Coronation souvenir kit or transfer. (It doesn’t look likely to be more recent by the style of design.)
I love this, both the story and the piece of work itself… so charming.