Orleans Carpenters
Lyn from Canada was here last weekend embroidering on the jacket. She’s a veteran, she has worked on the jacket a couple of times before. On one of those trips last fall (before the snow set in) Lyn mentioned to Wendy that she’d be touring around Cape Cod for a few days before she headed back to Ontario. Wendy said, well, you have to stop in at Orleans Carpenters, Beth and Paul Dixon’s workshop on the Cape, where they make gorgeous Shaker boxes and some awesome needlework accessories. So Lyn did. And while there she told Beth all about the jacket project, and how she had come from Canada, and others from all parts of the US, and how fun and special it is.
Of course, I didn’t know about any of this. A couple of months later, I got a box with a lovely letter from Beth, and two of these:
I was overwhelmed. Beth, in her note, said that the jacket project sounded like a wonderful way to bring people together to serve a project that would add joy and beauty to the world and she wanted to support it somehow (I’m paraphrasing, because of course I’ve left the original at the office….). I was overwhelmed. The box, really a divided carrier, is just beautiful.
Beth and Paul’s original gift to the jacket has morphed into an even bigger gift to the jacket. The Dixons are selling these carriers for a limited time, and are donating $10 to the Textile Conservation Fund for each carrier sold. Go to their website, Orleans Carpenters, scroll down to the bottom of the left-hand list, and click on the Plimoth Plantation link. Even better, browse around for a while. They do beautiful work.
Thanks again, Beth and Paul, and thanks to Lyn for sharing our story, thanks to Wendy for helping Lyn and Beth meet, and thanks to you for supporting the Jacket!
Note to Susan, who in the comments asked if anyone was thinking about charting a reproduction of the EC sampler - YES! Elizabeth Creeden, noted expert in the field of historic needlework and popular teacher, is doing just that. I expect it won’t be ready for a bit, it’s a pretty big project, but you’ll see it here when it is. Thanks for asking!
Tags: beth dixon, Canada, Cape Cod, divided carrier, lyn, orleans carpenters, paul dixon, Wendy
April 18th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
I’m so glad to see these available after seeing the beatiful ones that were sent and getting a chance to meet the makers at one of the sessions earlier this year.
I’ve placed my order already!
April 20th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Orleans Carpenter’s work is good quality - they are sold at the Hancock Shaker Village gift shop (and probably others I don’t know about). It is very generous of them to donate to the project. To me it was a great irony to see the choice of carrier - I have been using a #7 cherry divided carrier I made a few years ago to hold my supplies while working on the lace and embroidery samplers - lace on one side, embroidery on the other!
Note of caution to lacemakers: Tricia warned me that contact of the metal threads for the lace (esp silver) with wood might hasten the rate of tarnishing, so keep the threads, wound bobbins, etc wrapped in acid-free tissue or other non-reactive material if you store them in a wooden box like the carrier.
April 22nd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Just wanted to mention that service is amazing! I ordered the box when I saw the post on the 18th (in the evening) and my box arrived priority mail for me today. Now I’m in the state so it only travelled for a day, but I sure didn’t expect it to be shipped out on Monday! It’s really lovely and now I can take it to upcoming stitching events (without my metallic threads inside
) and how it off to everyone.
Robbin
August 21st, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Wow, I would like to see how they bend the wood into the oval shape. Do they make jewelery boxes?