The Birmingham Girls Sampler honors the four young girls who were killed in the 1963 16th Street church bombing in Birmingham AL. As stitchers we often revere samplers stitched by school aged girls.The victims of this hatred were in the age range of school girl sampler stitchers. I used many... Read more
This chart is an antique reproduction sampler, with options for the stitcher to customize. I have charted three options for the stitcher to choose from. The last line of this sampler is where the custom choices are. Three options include; the original antique version Prepare to meet thy God", a... Read more
Note from designer: Isabella Hunter was born February 16, 1875 in Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland. There was a paper originally attached to the back of the sampler with the written words "Isa(bella) & Ma". This suggests that maybe Isa and her mother worked on this sampler together.
Note from designer: George Wishart Creighton was born 22 June 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The words Native American (with emphasis on the capitalization of the N and A) on the sampler refer not to George's lineage but rather to a group of Protestants. We believe that the motif immediately to... Read more
Note from designer: The only part I left off of the reproduction is the section just below the alphabet. This sampler does have a lot of over 1 & eyelets.
Pattern is stitched on 36 ct Baked Clay from Fox and Rabbit using Classic Colorworks and DMC. Stitch Count 140 x 240. Finished size is 7.78 in wide X 13.33 in high.
Cross stitch pattern from Sambrie Stitches featuring a vintage sampler with the phrase "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He Maketh me lie down in green pastures he leadeth me besides the still waters. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Prepare... Read more
Note from the designer - "Adapted from an English sampler dated 1783. The original sampler from which this piece was adapted measures 15-1/2" x 12-1/2", and was stitched over one thread of linen on approximately 50-thread-count glazed linen. The house on the left alone, which measures 71... Read more
Note from the designer - "This little needlework was likely made as a panel of a "huswif"/aka a "housewife", which was an embroidered, double-sided vertical series of pockets made to hold needleworking supplies. It could be folded up or hung from a peg for swift access to the... Read more
This American sampler was stitched on a loosely woven homespun linen with vegetable-dyed silk threads. Despite its size and simplicity, the design is striking, delicate, and well-balanced. Eunice Morton was born in 1783 in Gorham County, Maine. Sometime in 1809-1810, she married Jesse Harding, and... Read more
A unique four-sided geometric border is the highlight of this American sampler, consisting of nine rows of letters and numerals surrounded by a counted satin stitch sawtooth inner border. The design looks like something that might have inspired the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. I have not been able... Read more
This is a beautiful sampler from Norwich (Norfolk, United Kingdom), possibly stitched at a school run by one Mrs. Wright or her descendent (hence the initials "MW" below Elizabeth's name in the attribution). A list of teachers in Norwich in 1783 includes Wright, Massey, and Cheetleburgh. The... Read more
Note from the designer - "Although there has not been the extensive research and study of English Quaker samplers as there has been of their American counterparts, we believe that this sampler was created under the tutelage of a Quaker sewing instructress in England. The fine bleached linen and... Read more
Note from the designer - "Samplers depicting children - particularly such large children - are uncommon. Not only the children make this an outstanding sampler, but also the multi-floral border, the charming verse, the scene at the top with its menagerie of creatures, and the beautiful... Read more
Note from the designer - "A sophisticated painterly use of perspective distinguishes this pictorial English sampler. An idealized rural scene with a thatched cottage nestled in a fertile valley, with white misted hills rising in the distance, also features a windmill, a flock of sheep,... Read more
Note from the designer - "So many unusual and enigmatic features were left by Ann Carbutt on her sampler, made when she was sixteen years old, very likely in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname "Carbutt" is first found in Cheshire after the... Read more
Note from the designer - "This wonderful English sampler has to be an original inspired composition by a very clever young girl with a singular artistic vision! Potbellied cherubs fly trumpeting alongside a doughy, asexual Adam and Eve, beneath whom perch an enormous plumed Bird of Paradise on a... Read more
Adapted from an English sampler dated 1783. The original sampler from which this piece was adapted measures 15 1/2" x 12 1/2", and was stitched over one thread of linen on approximately 50-thread-count glazed linen. The house on the left alone, which measures 71 by 62 squares on the graph,... Read more
This letterndoek (lettering) form of Dutch sampler appears from the late 17th through the early 19th century. It is easy to recognize by its horizontal shape, and beautifully illuminated lettering, interspersed with various symbolic shapes and Biblical motifs. The color scheme used on so many of... Read more
Note from the designer - "This beautiful. petite, energetic sampler expressed three fine verses and, at the end, one of the truest "signatures" I've ever read on a piece of needlework:
By this ingenous Maids
may see what by the
needl wrought
may be
According to a note attached to the back of the original sampler, it was probably made near Newtown, Pennsylvania. The attribution at the center is surrounded by a typical Quaker leafy cartouche with opposing flowers and facing birds above. Other characteristic Quaker motifs include eight point... Read more
This English sampler combines embroidered pictorial, alphabetic, and upholstery techniques, becoming in every sense a sampler of Ms. Topham's best work. Bargello work (also known as canvaswork, Irish stitch, flamestitch, or Florentine stitch) appeared on the earliest seventeenth century samplers,... Read more
Note from the designer: "This northern German sampler consists of random symbolic spot motifs, with a simple zigzag border. Religious symbols are commonly found on continental samplers. On this example, we find the wreath carried by angels (the wreath as a symbol for eternal life): the ship... Read more
Note from the designer: "This naive Adam and Eve sampler might have been made in Maryland around 1810. At first I believed that the sampler was either English or Irish, judging by the unusual surname, until, in my research, I came upon the gravestone of a Fanny H. Peachey, born 24 November 1799,... Read more
Note from the designer: "The characteristic that readily identifies the origin of this sampler is the distinctive vine and rose border, configured such that a leaf on one side and a rosebud stem on the other give the illusion of a double vine. It is almost always found executed in cross stitch... Read more
Note from the designer: "Who would love this world or prize whats in it
that gives and takes and chops and changes every minute.
This brilliant English traditional band sampler comes from the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum. Drawing on traditional sampler motifs of the 17th... Read more
The original sampler, made in England in 1848, was stitched with cross, counted satin, petit point, and eyelet stitches on an extremely fine glazed linen of approximately fifty threads per inch.
It is unusual to find such a meticulously and finely stitched sampler at this late date, when... Read more
This English sampler comes from the collection of the late Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Jarrett, who established Witney Antiques. It was featured in one of their exhibition catalogs in December 1996 titled "All Creatures Great and Small."
The work is extremely fine and accomplished,... Read more
The original sampler is a charmer, and can you believe Felicie was only 7? As always, my charts come with a little essay about the antique, and my thoughts about what make the sampler special, in this case, those beautiful, organic borders, the color palette, the airy space contained within, and the... Read more
Note from the designer: This primitive marking sampler just captured my heart. The colors, the tone on tone, the rich patina and the whimsicalness of it. How can a marking sampler be whimsical you ask? Well, just look at the script K, L & M. They seem to be kicking up their heels and skipping along.... Read more
This is a revised version of an old design (#113). The original 2015 design has been out of print and I decided to rework it. JABC buttons are included. A cardinal is perched atop a basket of winterberry leaves berries.
Pattern is stitched on Fog Cashel using DMC threads. Stitch count is 80 x 112.
Endeavour to Improve Keepsake Box is an original design by Lori Wilson of Thread Milk Design. It compliments the reproduction sampler "Catharine w 1820 - Endeavour to Improve" which is a phrase Catharine chose to include with her original sampler. Finishing instructions are included with... Read more
Elsie Glennie Watt is a reproduction of a colorful late 19th century genealogy sampler stitched on Zweigart 40 ct Mushroom/Light Mocha. I love the rainbow of colors that Elsie used in stitching her sampler that is perfect for a springtime stitch! And the border - whether roses or strawberries, what... Read more
"Happy would it be for me, if in the rising bloom of youth, I did devote my life to thee, O thou the God of love and truth."
Jane Freebairn is another colorful Scottish sampler from approximately the same time period. Neither of the girls dated their samplers, but we can tell from... Read more
Hannah Cummins stitched her sampler in Stockton, England in 1828 when she was 9 years old. A photo of the antique sampler is included in the package. "My thoughts before they are my own are to my God distinctly known. He knows the words I mean to speak ere from opning lips they break.
Ada Mary Hornsey of Wellingborough, England stitched her sampler at age 10. "My father, my mother I know I cannot your kindness repay, but I hope that, as older I grow, I shall learn your commands to obey."
The model was stitched over 2 threads on 40 Ct Light Sand linen with Needlepoint Inc Silks. Stitch Count: 184W x 238H. Finished Size: 9 1/8" x 12".
All that is known of the sampler are the stitcher's initial - ES. The sampler appears to be English and from around the mid 19th Century.
The model was stitched over 2 threads on 36 Ct. Light Sand linen with Needlepoint Inc Silks (DMC conversions are provided). Stitch Count: 114W x 164H. Finished Size: 5 5/8" x 8 1/8"
The model was stitched over 2 threads on 32 Ct. Summer Khaki linen with Soie d'Alger silks and silk chenille. Stitch Count: 204W x 278H. Finished size: 12 3/4" x 17 3/8" Stitches used: cross stitch, satin stitch, queen stitch, double running stitch, outline stitch, chain stitch, and stitching over one. Stitch diagrams are included.
This sampler is an accurate reproduction of an American Quaker sampler from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. A small image of the antique and a brief family genealogy are included in the package of this sweet sampler.
Model stitched on 36 ct. Straw by Weeks Dye Works using Needlepoint Inc. thread with DMC substitutions listed. Stitch count is 143 x 132.