December patterns and some news. . . . . . .

The end of the year comes with a bit of sadness as the ornament series comes to a close.  However I have to say, that what is coming in 2013 is more exciting for me than ornaments.  Tomorrow we will give you a small peek at what is coming in January.  All I'll say today is that it is a series of twelve designs . . . . stitch one or stitch them all.  It will be your choice just like the ornaments.  The photo of the first design will go up right after the new year instead of mid-month like we usually do.

Saltbox Village

I saved the Saltbox Village ornament for last. . . . . . I love the red bow Vonna put on top for finishing.  Thank you all for stitching and falling in loving the ornament series.  Perhaps we'll do it again some day but I'm taking a break from them for now to design some other fun stitching projects.  :)

And the very last design this year is the reproduction by Mary Ann Myers dated 1827.  The birds!  Do you see all six of them???  I fell in love instantly when I saw this sampler.  So you may be asking why I chose gingham for a reproduction.  When I began to think about how I wished to present this design as a chart, I wanted to mimic the playfulness at the bottom of the design and add more interest to the lettering.  Marking samplers are awesome, but don't you think the gingham just sets the design off?  I'd like to think Mary Ann would approve.

In the pattern itself I discuss the Quaker leanings of this design.  It is American, from Pennsylvania but is not proven to be a Quaker.  I have identified the young girl through genealogy research which is included in the chart.  I'd love to hear opinions if you have any expertise in this area of identification.

The chart has a bit of over-one stitching.  If you are an aida stitcher this design would not be for you.

And a note of a more personal nature to share with you. . . . . . my step-father passed away on October 25th.  Many of you have come to know my mom over the years and know how she has helped to play a vital role in the business.  She has put stitching on hold for now but hopefully can get back to it some day down the road.  She has stitched some of my favorite designs like Thirteen Colonies and Elizabeth Hancock just to name a few.  I'm afraid her eyes are just not cooperating were her any more to do such fine work as the eye problems she is experiencing are very troublesome.  It makes those models she has stitched even more precious to me.

The year 2013 will be very special for us!  We will be celebrating ten years in self-publishing in September.  We plan on celebrating that marker with some fun give-aways throughout the year.  

Tune in tomorrow when we announce the first of two new series!  Did I say two?  Oops!  Another secret just slipped out of the bag!  

Diane

Adam and Eve

I know there are a lot of Adam and Eve lovers who can't seem to get enough of this cute little couple.  Adam looks a tiny bit like a girl.  We can't ask Elizabeth what she was thinking when she stitched him.  This chart is a repro/adaptation taken from the original Elizabeth Hancock sampler that came out in 2011.  You may remember that I didn't reproduce the entire piece.  This adorable section was located at the bottom/middle in her finished work.

What you need to know about this design is that the words "Adam" and "Eve" were not on the sampler.  I added them myself.   The flowers were moved from another area, the birds were in the vicinity of the tree but not exactly where I put them, and I charted it for hand dyed cotton and not silk.  Stitch-for-stitch the tree, people and design elements are the way Elizabeth stitched them herself.

The frame is from Valley House Primitives and makes it look like an old sampler, don't you think???

I hope to get to the web site and update the supply lists for all three charts either tomorrow or Saturday.  Lots going on here so all I can say is I'll try!  We ship to our distributors tomorrow.

Happy Stitching,
Diane

Louisa's Roses

Louisa had an eye for roses.  As I am charting them I see she took a lot of care to provide shading to the petals with just three shades of the coral/pink silk.  Some of the roses appear  to be forming buds, others full buds and then of course the open rose.  The sampler was handed down through the family and was kept in a drawer which accounts for the condition it is in.

The fabric I am choosing is Vintage Buttercream from Lakeside Linens.  It is a perfect match to the sampler as I view it today.  If you are brave enough you might want to use a commercial product for adding instant age like "Distress It".  I like tea bags that are dampened and then "pounced" onto the fabric and thread.  There may be acids in one or both products which simply means it will break down thread and fabric over the next 100 years or so.

The sampler was probably made before 1850.  It is undated but I have Louisa's birth date and genealogy.  Here it is for those of you who are curious:

Louisa B. Snow, born 9 Aug 1841, Massachusetts
daughter of Elisha Snow (b. 1810) and Didama Kelley
granddaughter of Elisha Snow (b. 1776/78)
g-gd of Elisha Snow (b. 1745)
gg-gd of Elisha Snow (b. 1716)
ggg-gd of Ebenezer Snow (b. 1676)
gggg-gd of Stephen Snow
ggggg-gd of Nicholas Snow and Constance Hopkins (Mayflower passenger)

I'll post more genealogy information down the road a bit.

Thank you for the blog posts and emails.  It helped me to make up my mind to reproduce it as you see it and provide a darker alternative to those who wish to stitch it differently.  I have a goal to get it out this fall or winter instead of waiting until 2012.  Let's hope!

Happy Stitching,

Diane

SNOW Sampler

I'll bet you thought (or wished) I was talking about snow flakes!  It's so hot and humid this summer, I know.  But the SNOW I was referring to was the sampler by a young girl named Louisa B. Snow, a direct descendant of Nicholas Snow and Constance Hopkins.  Everything about the sampler is a bit unusual.  To start with it wasn't stitched on the customary American linen we are used to seeing.  It was stitched on a fabric called Penelope linen that was first made in Germany and then here in the states.

The next striking element of the design are these large and simply gorgeous cabbage styled roses.  I looked through all of my books on antique samplers and didn't find anything like this.  They run in a trail across the bottom of the sampler.

Another aspect of the sampler that I fell in love with is all of the stitched virtues that Louisa included. . . . Friendship, Hope, Charity, Love and Cherish Truth.  The verse itself reads: 

Count that day lost whose low descending sun,

Derives from my hand no worthy action done.

After hinting that I had a Mayflower descendant sampler a while back I received quite a few emails.  It took me a while to figure out the genealogy but with some help from the family who sold it to me I was able to connect the dots.  Louisa was also a descendant of William Brewster.  Another sweet bonus.  I would like to hear from you here on this blog or in personal emails regarding the idea of stitching such an unusual sampler.  It will be no easy task to chart the roses but I'm excited to do it.  I will chart it for 28 count linen (exactly like Louisa's) but how do you feel about the pink roses?  Keep them or go for a more antique look?  Darker??  Help me decide!  I will faithfully reproduce the stitches in the design but the color is up in the air.  I could always stitch it in deeper colors but also provide the original colors for those wishing to stitch it exactly as Louisa did.  Let me hear your thoughts on the sampler, colors, or your Mayflower connection!

Happy Stitching,

Diane

The Melicent Turner Sampler - 1808

I am so excited to finally reveal my first reproduction sampler.  Not only was it the first I ever charted, but it was the first I had ever stitched.  The stitching experience was wonderful but the charting was not so easy!  I quickly learned that young children in this time period do not remove their mistakes and begin again, nor do they count their threads very carefully.  I encountered one and sometimes three linen threads between stitches which created all types of charting difficulties.  In the end it turned out just great and I am really happy with the results.

Supply details will be available on our web site before we ship to our distributors which is in the middle of the month.  

Keep an eye on my web site today under the heading "Newsletters" as I will be posting our first one later in the day.

Happy Stitching,
Diane

Melicent Turner Sampler

Melicent Turner is the first reproduction from Little House.  While it is a reproduction of the original design (which includes ALL of Melicent's mistakes), I did change the colors.  The original was very faded and used even fewer colors than I did so I spiced it up a bit.  The full sized photo is coming soon.

The pattern is finished, framed, packaged and ready to ship mid-June!

I am NOT going to quit designing but I have to admit that stitching this sampler was a LOT of fun!!

Diane