Lia's visit

Lia Baumeister knows more about lace then anybody else I know. She not only can identify lace from all over the world made in the different centuries but also works the traditional patterns, re-creates lost patterns for old laces and designs new laces. She is an author of several books and one of the best lace teachers there is. Lia lives in Amsterdam, Holland.

Lia comes every year to the IOLI (International Old Lacers Inc) convention which is held at the end of July or beginning of August and came twice to Paducah, KY, to teach a workshop for the HLG (Heartland Lace Guild). She arrived in Virginia Wednesday from Amsterdam for a Thursday, Friday, Saturday workshop here in CrossRidge in Glen Allen. We had a great time. Here Lia talks to the 6 Schneeberger students while Mary is listening in.

Thanks, Lia, for teaching us so patiently !!!

 Some of the lace she laid out daily for us to look at.

Eye candy!

Chantilly/Blonde students Mary and Carolyn.

 Gitte also learning Chantilly.

Janet learning Schneeberger.

Margaret also working on Schneeberger.

Gretchen.

Gail.

 Alice.

Kelli is also working Schneeberger and having a talk with teacher Lia.

I did not know Kelli before she signed up for this workshop but it was very interesting to get to know her better. She told us about her Mulberry tree and the silk worms she is raising.

She shared these three photos with me. Here is a cocoon with a moth which had just hatched.

Here one of the baby worms on the tip of a toothpick. Tiny!

But they grow fast. Here an older worm with the same size toothpick.So interesting.

Janet thought I should have my photo taken too. I am working on Chantilly.

Sitting close to the window a little jealous of the people in the pool (which for a while included James and Sarah).

Pattern # 1 done.
Pattern # 2 under the pins.

Saturday lunch at our house.

I tried a new chicken salad recipe ... and it is a keeper! Find the 'Holiday Chicken Salad' here. I highly recommend it. Let me know what you think about it.

Lunch in combination with a PowerPoint presentation by Lia about paintings of lacemakers. Very interesting and fun.










18 hours of learning went really fast. I think everybody really liked it.

Then Lia could relax a little. She is a very good sport and Saturday evening she even went with us to our church's fish fry event.

But Monday evening Lia was laying some of her beautiful laces out again. We had agreed to a lecture about lace for everybody in CrossRidge in exchange for the free use of the room for the workshop, which had been so perfect.

What eye candy! I could have taken a "few more" photos but well ...

At the end of the lecture this fellow CrossRidger showed us the lace she had made 45 years ago.

It's a mantilla in the technique of darned net.

She has two daughters so now she is working on a second one just like the first. Very interesting.











And this concluded the 'working' part of Lia's visit. We talked a lot about lace and everything else. I got some 'private' lesson just because she likes doing it. And we got a surprise in the mail off to her husband Guus. Tomorrow after lunch she will get on her way to California to teach somebody else. What a wonderful talent and so generous with it. Thank you, Lia!