Burano Lace

The lovely island of Burano

The highlight of my trip, as it relates to textiles, was the Island of Burano, in the Venetian Lagoon. Burano is renown for its lace and its colourful houses. It's a lovely island to visit, and small enough that you don't have to plan your trip.

Burano

I got to Burano on a vaporetto (water bus) from Venice. I thought of my dad all the way - he would have loved the boat trip! 😊

When I got to Burano, I walked around the island, visiting the more residential areas first. It really was wonderful.

Great door!

I made my way to the more commercial area of the island and visited a few lace shops. Many were having sales since they were getting ready to close for a couple of weeks and would reopen just before Christmas. It sounds like their flood season, the Acqua Alta (see Related links) is often around that time.

Commercial lace - perfect for art quilts 😊

I bought a few small pieces of lace to incorporate in art quilts. These are the more commercial pieces that are apparently still hand made but on commercial looms.

Lace Museum

The lace at the museum was really stunning. I must admit though that the more modern lace were my favourites.

Here are a few pieces that were done in the 19th and 20th century.

This is my favourite piece - so delicate and intricate.

Delicate lace made in Burano

Burano lace on a table runner

Lace doily

Lace with pattern

Burano lace - isn't it stunning?

I just love this painting by Venetian artist Antonio Rotta (1828-1903). Many of his painting are scenes of every-day life.

Antonio Rotta (1828-1903)
Portrait of Lacemaker at Lace Pillow

Lace-making demonstration

The lace I bought in Burano

After visiting the museum, I walked by a very high-end lace shop, Emilia Burano, that offered lace-making demonstrations. I couldn't resist.

The most exclusive lace made in Burano has 7 different stitches. To make the best lace possible, each lace-maker masters one stitch. Once the pattern is set up and ready, each lace-maker works on the piece doing her one stitch. It can take months to make a piece.

The Emilia Burano shop has been there for 4 generations of lace-makers. Upstairs they have an area of some of the lace that has been made in their family, including an amazing wedding dress.

If you want to learn more about lace-making in Burano, see the videos listed in the Related links section below.

What I learned

• Spending the day leisurely walking around Burano, talking with artists and having a great pasta lunch is my kind of travelling heaven!
• There are many kinds of lace-making. I really admire the work but will leave it to others to make.
• I have been wanting to make a whole-cloth quilt incorporating lace and handkerchiefs ever since I took one of my first Craftsy classes with Cindy Needham. Her work is stunning. See Related links for her courses on Craftsy and a great video on YouTube of her work in Houston

Walking along the canals of Burano

Related links

• Acqua Alta
• Lace Museum, Burano, Venice
• Antonio Rotta (1828-1903), Portrait of Lacemaker at Lace Pillow 
• Emilia Burano
• Burano Lace Making on YouTube
• Burano Lace Making - Merletti
• The Lace Makers of Burano (1935)
• Burano Island Hand Lace Making Venice (Rucno Pravljena Cipka) press conference
• Cindy Needham - on Craftsy
• Alex Talks to Cindy Needham "For the Love of Linens", in Houston.

Linking parties
I will be linking this post to many linky parties. Why not check them out? Slow Sunday Stitching, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, What I Made Monday, Moving it Forward, Silly Mama Quilts WIP, Midweek Makers, Let's Bee Social, Tuesday Colour Linky Party, Linky Tuesday,

I am linking this post up to Free Motion Maverick's 300th linking party! Thanks for taking part in the fun!