I have two of my grandmother's cross-stich projects that she framed.

Question

On the back of them, she had written her name and the date. (1930). Her handwriting has faded to the point that it's difficult to read. In fact, if you didn't know it was there, it would be impossible. How can i preserve her handwriting on this treasure?

Comments

How great that you have those!

I just wanted to watch this thread to send any thoughts to my husband's cousin who has just completed 12 cross-stitch honoring female ancestors. I do need to remind her to include the WikiTree URLs.

Answer 1

What a wonderful treasure! Unfortunately, I dont know how to preserve a signature once it has degraded, but I wondered if you might be able to scan the signature and then enhance the image using an editor. If you can improve the image that way, perhaps you could then print it to a quilt/fabric label and include it with the heirloom in a display?

Comments

Hi Alie:
I was thinking along those lines, too. Unfortunately, I'm sad to say, it has degraded so much that if you don't know what you are looking for you might not see it.

I wonder if it would take away from its value if I were to go over it with my archival pen?

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That would be something that I'd be tempted to do, but my luck would intervene and create a splotched mess.  Do you have any old letters that might have your grandmother's signature?  Maybe you could transfer one of those to a label?