Needlework Collection

So, I can't stand it when I find discarded needlework at the thrift store.  It makes me sad somehow.  Probably because I know the hours that went into stitching the piece.  And, some of the pieces could have outlived the owner.  I found this piece, at the Goodwill Outlet, badly framed, with part of the border covered and the fabric nailed into the backing with tiny nails.  She was also filthy.  The Goodwill Outlet is just big bins of mostly junk that you can dig through.  It is the stuff that hasn't sold at the regular Goodwill and is now being offered by the pound.  I plucked this girl out of the mix and took her home.  I just couldn't resist the sweet little border of flowers and the colonial dress of the man and woman.  I think this was stitched over a transfer, but the fabric is a lovely linen and is very neatly hemmed.  Based on the colors and motif, I'm going to guess it was done in the 40s.  Once home, she got a bath and is awaiting a new mat to be cut, so I can frame her.  She was done with large stitches and looks like it was done by an inexperiences stitcher.  Maybe done by a new stitcher or a child.  I always wish I knew the history and how the piece ended up discarded.  

And I have picked up others.  This one is very neatly done on a tiny thread count.  The fabric may be silk.  It looks like it was probably done in the 50s or 60s and may have been a kit.  I couldn't resist the nursery rhyme and the cute design.  It probably went in a child's room.  It, too, was in a horrible frame and had water damage along the bottom.  After a bath and a new frame and mat, it now hangs in my half bath.  

The next two are very 90s country themed, but I loved the border, the teapot and the pansies in the first one, and the copper tea kettle and pie in the second one.  So those came home too.  They too were reframed.   So now I have a little collection of rescued needlework.  What do you collect?