Maltese lace mat
This mat is Maltese lace because it has the Maltese cross. It is made of cream silk, which is typical. It is made of two pieces stitched together, an outer piece with the diamonds, and a central piece with the Maltese cross. I suspect that the central part is, itself, made in two stages, staring with the Maltese cross and its surrounding flowers. Then the square of flowers was joined with a crochet hook.
The Maltese cross is in cloth stitch. Then there are flowers with petals made from tallies. Cloth stitch diamonds are surrounded withcloth stitch trails acting rather like gimps. There is Torchon ground. The headside has plaits.
This lace came from my grandmother, Violet Dibblee (nee Geddes) 1871-1961. She was in Malta from 1908 to 1911. This was one of a set of six mats, of two patterns. This is the other pattern.
