I like to hunt for treasures in person when I can but have developed a bit of an online crush on a site called The Linen Garden. I started by purchasing some small watercolours to add to the newly decorated bathroom and now thoroughly enjoy looking through owner Vicky’s beautifully presented finds. She refers to her shop as ‘a department store for creatives and gatherers’. In other words, heaven!
I found these exquisite cards and I could not resist. I intend to create charts inspired by each card so that we can enjoy cross stitch versions. Watch this space…
I am going to quote Vicky as she tells the story of the cards so well: “Their story actually began before the war had even started, they were used for sentimental meaning and were a popular gift in France as early as 1900. As the First World War began these postcards were adopted and sent to loved ones and families by soldiers from the Western Front. Local French and Belgian women would spend hours hand embroidering these silk panels at home to earn money. The silk panels would then be bought by publishing manufacturers and mounted into embossed cards and sold to the soldiers… As well as letters, these cards were the only way of communicating during the war, so fond embroidered titles and handwritten messages held so much meaning. These were favoured more than letters as they would travel through the postal system quickly, they were not as scrutinised as letters would have been…
“It is sad to know that a lot of the men who wrote these notes, never came home. Our appreciation will never fade.”
