1832 Mary Whitlow Sampler Motif

I've been inspired to stitch a little motif from the Mary Whitlow sampler I saw earlier this year . . .

Recently we were fortunate to spend a day in Hobart and while we were there we toured the historic Narryna, a Georgian town house built between 1837 & 1840. Opened to the public in 1957, Narryna is a museum with a wonderful needlework collection including garments, patchworks - such as the little hexagons bed coverlet made in 1830, embroideries such as samplers, Georgian stump work, mid-Victorian Berlin wool work and high-Victorian bead work. 

Also housed at Narryna is the collection of baby's bonnets that inspired Christina Henri's Roses from the Heart project to commemorate the experience of convict women in Australia.

The walls of the Nursery were home to several early samplers, among them a sampler by Mary Whitlow, dated 1832.

 

 

I loved the uncluttered simplicity of this piece . . . the use of only one colour . . . and the (almost) symmetry of it.

It was also wonderful to see the other samplers at Narryna, including one dated 1779. Some of the samplers are in a very fragile state, but beautiful just the same. And you can just imagine the time when they were stitched by young girls learning the art of needlework to stand them in good stead for later in life.

While not wanting to replicate an entire sampler, I've chosen to render my interpretation of one of the motifs on Mary's sampler. Using my trusty 27 count linen, I've stitched one piece into a lavender sachet and the other into a pin cushion.

 

 

 

I enjoyed working on these little projects. Sometimes the inspiration from little things bring as much satisfaction as from the big things. What's inspired you lately?


Pattern: Mary Whitlow Sampler, 1832
Publication: http://www.narryna.com.au/
Fabric: 27 count linen
Threads: DMC 503, 504, (760, 761, 3779), (894, 961, 3832)

Hot. Cross. Stitching.

Inspired by all the Easter stitching goodies I've seen on Pinterest this week, I decided to put thread to needle and do some stitching of my own.

I like the "dusted" look of this little French Knot Bunny. I made a stencil of a rabbit and traced it on to the linen. A quick outline in back stitch and then it was on to the French Knots . . .

Originally I planned to make this in lovely soft pastels, but then I liked the simplicity of the white on natural so much that I just stuck with that.

This is an idea that could be used for all sorts of shapes, letters and words. And with threads or markers - see here for more ideas about that.

And then there's the Cross Stitch Bunny using the Spring Rabbit pattern from The Little Stitcher. This little guy went together pretty quickly. I like the simplicity of this design and was thinking of making it into a little lavender bag. But then I was inspired by Cindy's little fabric weights over at Fluffy Sheep Quilting . . . so it's now my latest pin cushion, filled with silica sand so it's nice and substantial to do double duty as a fabric weight!

I don't usually do much in the way of decorating for Easter . . . but the rabbit designs seem to have caught my imagination this year. What Easter crafting are you up to?



Pattern: Spring Rabbit
Designer: The Little Stitcher
Publication: http://thelittlestitcher.blogspot.it/
Fabric: 32 count linen
Thread: Cosmo 8040

OK - So Maybe I've Got a Pincushion Thing Going On

I guess it could be true.

I mean, I think I now have more pincushions than pins.

Is that bad? Maybe it needs to be stopped. Who knows?

I made this little biscornu from scraps from the Little Pretties Quilt. I'm not sure if the pinwheels quite show the quirky shape of the biscornu, but it is what it is!

And it has been added to this collection . . .

Maybe that is enough pincushions for one girl, but the thing I like about making them is that they are very achievable little projects in amongst the more long term quilt projects.

Will there be any more? What is it they say? Never say never . . .

Vintage 1986

I have a bit of a thing for Blackbird Designs patterns.

I love the vintage-ness.

I love the sentimentality.

When I saw this pattern, I knew right away that I wanted to do it.

But who would I choose to remember with it?

Well I chose us!

1986 is the year we were married. I modified the pattern to add our initials and a heart. I chose the colour to remember the apricot theme we wanted to have at our wedding (rather than the pink we ended up having, due to influences stronger than our own!).

This pincushion was lined with calico and filled with silica sand. Another sturdy pincushion and serious paperweight!


Pattern: Vintage Pincushion
Designer: Blackbird Designs
Publication: Joyeux Noel http://blackbird-designs.blogspot.com/
Fabric: 32 Count Belfast Linen, "Mushroom"
Thread: Simply Shaker Sampler Threads, "Fragrant Cloves" 7026
Size: 8" x 3 1/2"

Remember Me . . .

When this you see.

That's the verse on the top of this gorgeous little pincushion. It's a Leanne Beasley design from Issue 3 of her Vignette magazine. I love the design. And the story that Leanne shared of her father-in-law struck a chord with me too.

As I was stitching away on this project I found my mind wandering to thoughts of my "stitching" grandparents - 2 are gone now, but I'm still fortunate enough to get to make memories with one of my grandmothers.

One grandfather worked as a tailor's cutter. He actually bought a Singer treadle machine a few weeks after they were married and taught my grandmother to sew! Some years later they got a motor for the treadle and converted it. She went on to make her own clothes and even earn an income from doing alterations for a local fashion store.

My other grandmother had a treadle sewing machine which I never saw anyone use, but I certainly loved to "treadle" it when I was little. Apparently she did use it to make curtains and things for her home and later on got a "modern" electric machine. I didn't really know her as a sewer until she was well into her 60s and joined a local patchwork group. I think of her often now that I'm a "patchworker" myself and wish that I'd had more time to share a common interest with her.

So the back of this pincushion remembers 2 grandmothers and a grandfather with their initials and years of birth.

The stitching was done using a Japanese thread, Moco. I loved the variegated mauves and greens, so I thought I'd give it a try. A word of caution, though. This thread is 100% polyester and does NOT like a hot iron. I pressed the stitching the right way - from the back, using a towel . . . but I made the mistake of going back for just one more little press! Without the towel! Lucky it was on the back and there wasn't too much damage, but it did melt the thread a little. A trap for young players!

I filled the pincushion with silica sand, so even though its quite petite (about 4 1/2" across), it weighs 460 grams (about 1 lb). I really like the substance of a weighty pincushion - and it comes in pretty handy as a paperweight, too!


Pattern: Rosemary for Rememberance Pinchusion
Designer: Leanne Beasley
Publication: Vingnette Magazine, Issue 3 http://leanneshouse.typepad.com/leanneshouse/
Fabric: Hanky Linen
Thread: Moco, Colour 819 (100% Polyester)

Canvas Work Pin Cushion

What could be better than spending a day stitching with a group of like-minded ladies? That's exactly what I did at the Stitching On The Lake day, hosted once again by Sylvia and Fiona.

The day begins with a wonderful bag of goodies - kits for 6 lovely stitching projects.

Then the dilemma . . .  which one to do first!

I decided to do this canvas work pin cushion because I hadn't really done this sort of thing before and thought I'd give it a try.


For some reason it took me a while to get my head around it. I don't know why. I mean, I don't have any trouble with counted cross stitch, but getting started and counting correctly on this one took its toll. I unpicked the centre a couple of times due to mis-counting, but then, once I got going I was alright!


I chose colours that looked a bit Civil War era to me in the thread box, but the end result feels more Moroccan! I'm really pleased with the end result. The little band around the sides looks like a hat band. The 2 stitches are rice stitch and long legged cross stitch - I really like the braid effect with that one I must say. The whole thing is quite petite at just 2 1/2" square, which I think adds to the appeal.


I don't think this is the end of my canvas work adventure . . . more like just the beginning!


Pattern: Canvas work Pincushion
Designer: Peaceful Threads By Fiona
Publication: http://peacefulthreads.blogspot.com/

Old treasures re-discovered

While sorting through some stuff I came across some treasures I had forgotten about . . .



The little covered box is one that I made about 25 years ago . . . I think it was probably the first "grown up" class I went to. We stitched the little design for the top and then covered an empty spice container in fabric. The top of the box has little rust spots (I think) all over it. Not too sure what to do about that.



And inside are a couple of little porcelain thimbles - one that my son brought back from his trip to the UK about 5 years ago and one that he bought at Floriade about 10 years ago.



Then there's the little heart shaped box. It's a paper mache box, painted antique gold with a little french knot heart embroidered at the top. I like doing french knots - once I did a box for my sister-in-law and the top of it was a garden scene all done in them.



The last little treasure is a pin cushion made by my Nan. It's a cathedral window block, which I've never done myself, but would like to try one day. I'm not so sure about the lace around the edge, but it's all part of the package . . . (definitely from the fabric covered picture frame and tissue box cover era!)



It's a bit of thrill when you come across something you had forgotten you had tucked away.

What re-discovered treasures have you found in your world?