Goodies brought back from Greece

I love shopping in Greece - the shops are small, family run, crammed with goods to the ceiling and often out on to the street and the staff are so helpful and friendly. Many of these shops are specialists in one type of goods, herbs, ribbons, beads, boxes etc and this means you can find any type of these things in the shop. There are also dozens of markets and second hand shops crammed with the most unusual items.

A beautiful piece of antique stitching found in the Athens Centre Square junk shop. I fell in love with the curves and curls in the piece.

The frame is cracked and shows signs of age but it's so beautiful.

A close up of the stitch work, this is tambour work, a chain stitch embroidery worked on silk held tight in a hoop (the tambour) whilst you work on it. It was very popular in the Victorian era but not so popular these days.

And here it is looking totally gorgeous on my lounge wall, it really pops on the dark purple.

Three pieces, each a metre, of gingham fabric, I bought them to try some primitive embroidery on as well as cross stitch. I still haven't done this!

Some silk embroidery thread made by Tsiakiri from Soufli in the North of Greece. Soufli was on the silk road and has been the centre of the silk trade and manufacturing industry in Greece for centuries. I always try to find something made in the country I'm visiting to add to my stash.

Two pairs of antique embroidery scissors found in the Monastiraki District. 

Some of the crafty magazines I picked up:

"Doilies"

"Alexia"

"For Her"

"Needlework Embroidery"

1970s science fiction - Gor series by John Norman. A couple of these are first paperback editions. Next time I'm there I'm going to have to look and see if they have any more in the bookstore I went to. There were boxes and boxes of books but not so many English ones.

Gorgeous steam punk necklace bought in Thissio.

Two pairs of cufflinks.

Pickle forks. I don't eat pickles so don't know why we bought these but sure I'll find a use for them.

Pysanky eggs, and a tin to keep them in which looks like it might be 1950s or 1960s. The eggs are wooden and hand painted, each one different. I found these in several different shops.

Postcards & stamps from various second hand shops. The postcard for Lorain, Ohio is fabulous!

Two pendants, a seahorse and a celtic knot, two of my favourites.

Some tempera paints, they are pretty old and probably not usable but again I think from the 1950s or 1960s.

I also brought back some textiles to add to my collection.

Typical Greek designs on a tray cloth found in a junk shop.

The following pieces were bought at Kentimata Katerina (κεντήματα κατερίνα), a shop I found in Kato Patisia (κατo πατήσια), a district of Athens.

Blue centre piece for a table, modern but the colours and design are great.

And here it is on my kitchen table with some spring daffodils.

A pillow case or cushion cover, I use this one to brighten up the top of my filing cabinet!

This is an antique piece from Thraki (we know it as Thrace), it's the bottom of a woman's dress. I'm not sure what I will do with it or how old it is.

Another antique piece, a cushion cover that is mostly worked in a variation of buttonhole stitch. This piece has some major areas of damage to the fabric that I intend to repair using threads from the back of the cushion cover.

And last but not least the gorgeous gift from my friend Mairi.