Pre-loved

I popped into the local charity shop at the weekend and came back with this embroidery. I have quite backlog of things that need framing and displaying and this doesn't really go with anything else we have, but I couldn't resist. 

It's a wool embroidery on some kind of canvas. Does this type of work have a name?

There was also a companion piece which I didn't like as much, but I hope someone does and gives it a good home.

I love the colours and the stitching - very long straight stitches. I've realised that, like many pictures that appeal to me, it is made of of several coloured bands - the grass, the water and the sky. The only part I don't like is the colour of the frame.

It's clear that someone put a lot of time and effort making this and I'd love to know it's history. Who made it, when and for whom? Is it from a pattern or did they design it themself? How did it end up at a charity shop? I have a feeling that the answer to that last question is going to be a sad story.

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Someone has been having a clearout as there were five books on embroidery for sale that I'd not seen there before. I bought three and am tempted to go back and buy the others.