This is a very fine example of an early northern Dutch sampler called a letterndoek, or alphabet sampler. The illuminated letters are typical of northern Holland needleworks. Symbolic spot motifs include dogs, a stag, trees of life, and paired birds.
The Queen of the May is a tradition that celebrates beauty, renewal, and honour. Each year, we select a sampler that embodies these qualities - a design that rises above the rest, chosen not only for its visual appeal, but for its enduring presence.
The first book of its kind to be published, this collection of over one hundred charted reproductions of buildings from samplers and needlework of the seventeenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries fills a huge void in the body of sampler publications. It includes many photos of the finished... Read more about Architecture From Early Samplers - Cross Stitch Book
Collected from German, Italian, Scottish, Dutch, English, and American samplers, this book of alphabets takes off from where the previous edition, Alphabets from Early Samplers, ends. The alphabets have been fastidiously reproduced from samplers dating from 1530, to 1868. Over 80 alphabets are charted, as well as two complete alphabet samplers, one of them dating from 1725.
Characteristically ornate illuminated alphabets are featured on this classic Scottish sampler. Other stylistic elements indicating its origin include the peacock with seven tail feathers and three rows of initials of the maker's family. The illuminated alphabets on this particular sampler are... Read more about Margret Lawrance 1823 Scottish Sampler - Cross Stitch
Cross stitch pattern from The Sweetheart Tree featuring a lovely sampler with the alphabet and a wreath of vines and hearts!
Pattern is stitched on 28 ct White Chocolate or Platinum using DMC threads and Mill Hill Beads. Stitch count is 62 x 62. Finished size is 4.43" x 4.43".
Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh is one of my favorite books. In it, Mrs. Lindbergh used specific shells from the beach: Channelled Whelk, Moon Shell, Double-Sunrise, Oyster Bed and Argonauta, to illustrate beautiful pondering and insight on being a woman, a wife, a mother.
Cross stitch pattern from Kitty and Me featuring a bumblebee with the phrase "Cherish nature's nectar, add it to your tea. But it would be wise to head this advice and do not bother the bee"!
I am pleased to introduce a new pattern! A French redwork marking sampler stitched by Rosalie Amphoux Vauvert. I love it for its small size and simple alphabets and numbers, some worked rather plainly and others quite prettily.
Pattern was stitched on 36 Alabaster from Weeks Dye Works using The Gentle Arts floss. Stitch count is 127w x 130h. Finished size is 7"w x 7.25"h.