Betty Ring books

On-line, Betty Rings Girlhood Embroidery books !! I don`t know how long they will be shared, but go to Needleprint for the links to vol 1 and vol 2. These books are oop and expensive, so grab your quick peek while you can!!

Well, it`s been awhile, hasn`t it?

I know I haven`t posted in ages. I have been in a stitching slump the last few months, but I think my stitchy mojo is slowly returning. I picked up Sarah Harris today and finished a motif, and am trying to finish my Judah Hayle re-creation sampler. I seem to have these slumps every once in awhile, usually when 'life' gets a little hairy and I get down in the dumps, which happens too often for my liking. I looked up my 'symptoms' on the net, and it seems I have PMDD, and have had it all my life. Not that hanging a label on it helps, except for the assurance that i`m not a total nutcase! (Just a partial nutcase, but anyone that knows me knows that!)

Anywho, as I really don`t like posting about personal stuff here and am trying to keep this all about stitching, that`s enough baring of the soul for now. I just thought a little explanation for my neglect of the blog and my stitching was in order. Expect some stitching posts soon, hopefully some interesting ones!

Keep stitching ladies!

Martha Edlin!!!!

Photo © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Martha Edlin sampler is now available as a kit from The Essamplaire. I adore this sampler. I have had it on my 'someday' list for ages! The price is a bit steep at $355.00-$368.00 (depending on the fabric count you choose) but this is a large very complex sampler, so the price is not outrageous. It is stitched with filament silk, which I have never used before, but i`m thinking that would be the least of the challenges with this sampler. It looks like a challenging stitch. For a better view, look on page 37 of Samplers From The Victoria And Albert Museum by Claire Brown and Jennifer Wearden, or here on the V&A website.

Keep stitching ladies!

I have been futzing...

I can`t seem to settle down to one project lately, so I keep switching betweem WIPs. This is a 'recreation' of a Judah Hayle sampler(click here for previous post on the subject), courtesy of Needleprint. The bands are taken from various Judah Hayle school samplers, and I chose the colours. I went with a more modern pallet, partly because I liked these colours, and partly because when I started it I was in Nova Scotia and most of my floss was in Colorado, so I went to Wallmart and scrounged what I could (mostly Anchor threads). It`s fun to just do cross-stitch for a change....I can watch DVDs at the same time!

According to The Loudon Sampler Guild, "The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded a $300,000 grant to develop an online digital repository and searchable database of images and descriptive information about American girlhood samplers and pictorial embroideries from the 17th through the 19th centuries." How wonderful!! Click here to read more.

Keep stitching ladies!

17th Century Style Band Sampler

No Loara update....I have been mulling some colour changes on her, so while I mull I am working on a few other WIPs.

I have been puttering away on this the last few days, so I thought I would post a couple of pics. They are not great pics....pretty craptastic actually. I don`t know if it`s me, or there is something wrong with my camera, but here they are anyway.



This is a row of zig-zag in faggot stitch The sampler so far. The entire bottom section is done in 'whitework' (ecru on mocha linen). I may do the alphabet at the bottom in colour though.

Keep stitching ladies!