Note from the designer - "This is a very graceful and finely stitched sampler, an unusual combination for the late date. Nine ethereal female figures, like penitents in an Edward Gorey cartoon, march solemnly about the sampler, paying homage to the house. The huge house appears to be welcoming... Read more
Note from the designer - "A classic Quaker sampler from the Delaware Valley, this sampler demonstrates the style and many of the motifs that make them so easy to identify. The inner oval vine-and-leaf cartouche surrounding the alphabets probably originated at the Westtown School in Chester... Read more
Note from the designer - "This very delicate Scottish sampler with its bold color scheme was designed with a four sided stylized honeysuckle border surrounding horizontal rows of illuminated alphabets and double running stitch motifs. The extensive use of double running stitch lends the sampler... Read more
Note from the designer - "This is a beautifully balanced, intensely stitched transitional sampler. Worked originally in brightly colored silk threads on a fine tammy (wool) ground, it features a repeating, four-sided carnation border, surrounding five horizontal bands interspersed by lines of... Read more
Note from the designer - "This Dover, Massachusetts, sampler features an unusual border surrounding alphabetical and numerical tests, and a four-line verse often found on early 19th century American samplers. The colors are remarkably well preserved. The maker, Ann Harding (who was actually... Read more
Note from the designer - "This Quaker sampler came from the vicinity of York, England, where a Quaker school existed at the same time as the more famous Ackworth School, not far from there. The Parnell name is still fairly common in the district, and the family was Quaker.
Linen count and finished size: 35-count 18-3/4" x 24"; or 40 count 16-1/2" x 21"
Note from the designer - "Several band samplers very similar to this one are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as well as in other important collections. This particular sampler came from the collection of The Scarlet Letter, and is now in a private collection. A... Read more
This is a pleasantly quirky, colorful sampler likely stitched in the north of England judging by some of the Scottish influences in the design. A four sided strawberry border surrounds an alphabet and a pious verse above a geometric pattern band. Below this is a scenic register with trees, birds,... Read more
This English sampler was made in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, featuring the Sheffield General Infirmary, a verse, a fashionably dressed man and woman, and a collection of animals in the lawn in front (sheep, fox, squirrels, rabbit, dog), all surrounded by a four sided berry border.
Note from the designer - "Elizabeth Mansfield finished her sampler in England on 13th June 1792, during the reign of King George III (1760-1820: note the cushioned crown in the upper third, marked on either side by the initials G R for George Rex). The original sampler was stitched on a very... Read more
Note from the designer: "A Pennsylvania German sampler that may not be, strictly speaking, a miniature, but is nonetheless small for its type. Typical Pennsylvania German folk culture motifs - birds, trees, hearts, flowers, crowns and stars - adorn it."
Band samplers of the 17th century exhibit the widest range of stitches and techniques. Counted thread stitches on linen were artfully combined with panels of floral, geometric, or figural cut and drawn work- a technique where the background threads of linen are carefully bound, then cut and pulled... Read more
This sweet little American sampler features two little houses above alphabets and a short verse:
Would you be wise
Each moment prize
It is surrounded on four sides by a double sided satin stitched sawtooth border. Stitches used include cross, outline, stem filling, counted... Read more
Fanny Hancock's father, Ebenezer Hancock, was cousin to the famous John Hancock. Born in 1785, Fanny sewed her sampler at age 11. She married Nathaniel Parker of Boston in 1803, and died in 1834. The colors on the back side of her sampler retained much of their original brilliance, and are... 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
What makes this early Victorian English sampler so intriguing are the wonderfully naive figures of Adam, Eve and St. Michael flanking the Tree of Life. St. Michael's sword is drawn to slay the serpent, but he hardly looks formidable with his large feet and doughy body. Playskool-like Adam and Eve... Read more
Note from the designer: "This sampler was probably made in Rhode Island, a poor sister, perhaps, to the magnificent creations coming out of the girls' schools in Newport, Providence and Bristol at this same period, but bearing some similar "signatures". The squat, long-tailed bird at the... Read more
This sampler features two uncommon verses taken from the book Sentences and Maxims Divine, Moral and Historical, in Prose and Instruction of Human Life: and Particularly for the Improvement of Youth in Good Sence and correct English by George Shelley, published in London in 1712.
"Jesus permit thy Gracious name to stand as the first effort of an infant hand. And while her fingers on the canvas move, engage her tender thoughts to seek thy love. With thy dear children, let her have a part and write thy name thyself upon her heart."
Note from the designer: "From Dover, Massachusetts, comes Harriot Boardman's sampler, originally worked on a distinctive green linsey-woolsey found only on some North Shore samplers. A three-sided sawtooth border surrounds alphabet and numeral tests with geometric cross bands, two deer with... Read more
Displaying the traditional color scheme of Scottish samplers, this beautiful and delicately stitched piece also employs a variety of interesting counted thread stitches including queen, doublerunning, four-sided, back, counted satin filling, cross, Algerian eyelet, and cross over one (petit... Read more
This sampler was made in Scotland and includes many of the traditional motifs associated with samplermaking in this region. Firstly, Janet has included many initials of family members. However the initials at the center- G R 3 -refer to the then-reigning monarch, King George III. The flowering... Read more
This is a very finely stitched classic Scottish sampler featuring three complete rows of beautifully illuminated letters, an arcaded floral band as well as other traditional motifs including peacocks, birds drinking at the fountain of life, feather trees and family initials. A four sided berry... Read more
Note from the designer: "This Scottish sampler is a riot of brilliant color and intricate motifs, from the Scotsman in his kilt playing a traditional dulcimer (which looks like a butter churn) in the upper left, to an elaborate mansion house fronted by a three dimensional turkeywork lawn in the... Read more
Note from the designer: "This small and brilliantly preserved band sampler demonstrates a wide variety of stitches found on many seventeenth century samplers. The beautifully shaded flower heads and leaves are filled in with connecting tiers of trellis stitch."
"She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleners." Model stitched on 30 count Cocoa Linen by Weeks Dye Works with Classic Colorworks Belle Soie. Stitch count: 132W x 144H.
The model was stitched over 2 threads on 35 Ct. Beige linen from Weeks Dye Works with Gentle Art Sampler threads. Stitch Count: 180x158. Finished size: 10"x9".
Model stitched on 32 Ct. Peep's Lost Sheep fabric from the Cauldron/Dames of the needle using Gentle Arts Sampler Threads and Weeks Dye Works. Stitch Count: 90x145. Design Size: 6" x 10" Or Stitch Count: 180x290. Design Size: 12" x 19"
"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave to her husband to eat also."
Model stitched on 40 Ct. Vintage Pecan Butter from Lakeside... Read more
Model stitched over two on 40 Ct. Beige by Weeks Dye Works using Kreinik Silk Mori (4073,4096, 4166e, 4204a, 4214, 7025 Needlepoint Inc. Classic Colorworks. Stitch Count: 186W x 424H. Finished size is approx 9.3 in wide X 21.2 in high.
Model stitched over 2 threads on 32 Ct. Vintage Examplar by Lakeside Linens with Gentle Art Sampler threads (or Gentle Arts Simply Wool). Stitch Count: 280x239. Design Size: 18" x 15"
Model stitched over two threads on 36 Ct. Vintage Meadow Rue by Lakeside Linens using Gentle Art Sampler Threads. Stitch Count: 133W x 133H. Design Size: 7" x 7".
Model stitched on 40 Ct. parchment linen using Gentle Art Sampler Threads. Stitch Count: 285W x 260H. Design Size: 14" x 13". Finishing instructions included.
Model stitched two over two on your choice of antique linen such as: Heartland from Picture This Plus, Vintage Pecan Butter or Buttercream from Lakeside Linens or Vintage Country Mocha using Classic Colorworks and Weeks Dye Works (or all DMC floss 632, 3013, 839, 3857, 355, 936, 3041, 612, 152,... Read more
Larger model stitched over two on 37 Ct. Corn Tassel Legacy from Access Commodities using Soie d'Alger. Stitch Count: 288W x 314H. Design Size: 16" x 17" Thread listed above us for the larger model.
Mini Sampler Adaption stitched on 36 Ct. Wren using Weeks Dye Works and DMC floss. Stitch Count: 149W x 105H. Design Size: 8" x 6"
Model stitched over two on 46 Ct. Parchment using Dinky Dyes Silk (or DMC floss 451, 3052, 407, 3861, 3053, 738, 3371, 3821, 746). Over dyed cotton equivalents also provided. Stitch Count: 224W x 234H. Finished Size: 9.75" x 10"
" The night forest wakes as the needles dance". Model stitched over two on 32 Ct. Linen using Classic Colorworks floss. Stitch Count: 97 x 133. Design Size: 6" x 8".
"I must hear the judge pronounce my fate and fix my everlasting state." Model stitched two over two on 40 Ct. Beige using Gentle Art Sampler Threads and Weeks Dye Works. Specialty Stitches Used: Over One and Algerian Eyelet. Stitch Count: 236W x 221H. Design Size: 11 1/2" x 12 1/4"
Model stitched one over two on 36 Ct. Vintage Light Examplar using Classic Colorworks and Weeks Dye Works. Specialty Stitches Used. Stitch Count: 206W x 205W. Design Size: 11.2" x 11.2"