Why do we visit pieces and study them in person?  Especially nowadays, many collections are being photographed in high resolution and posted on websites.  Museums want to share their pieces with the world and many have a mission to encourage viewing their items.  But there have been many times when we have been in a museum study room viewing items and the curator has asked us, “Why do you want to see these?  We posted hi-res images online.”

These joyous spring flowers are a lovely inspiration for needlework.

In the early modern period, this little flower was known as a pansy, johnny jump up, three faces under a hood, a pink of my john, or my favorite: Tickle my Fancy.  But, most commonly and descriptively, it was called a “heart’s ease.”