Monday, December 14, 2009

Holiday Party and New Pattern!!!

BIG day - Saturday! Always In Stitches, my LNS, had a Holiday Party. The party included a sale on all sampler designs, and as a special treat, Carole, the shop owner, decided to display a few samplers from her collection - just the tip of the iceberg! I have seen almost all of the samplers individually that she hung, but it was a bit overwhelming and exciting to see them all together! Here's what customers were greeted by as they entered the shop.


Then a few more beauties - a Quaker from 1799, a small Shaker sampler, a large example from the Philadelphia area, and several Maryland samplers.

On the ever-welcoming table were Hannah Horsfall and Ann Kitching, both done at the Ackworth School in England, that I have reproduced. Along with the originals of HH and AK were Ann's stitched pieces of both! Very fun to see together and celebrate.

And last, but certainly not least, was a small sampler by Mary Bagley dated 1808. I loved the flowered urns, crowns, birds, and other motifs and was not alone in this. Carole has allowed me to reproduce it and my rendering is just below the original. I finished stitching it the night before (of course) and threw it in a frame that I "altered" so it could be at the shop for the party. It will be my new pattern and I expect to complete it for release in January - available at Always In Stitches (of course)!
Here's a close-up. It's stitched on 40 ct. Vintage Navy Bean by Lakeside Linens using DMC, but a conversion to NPI silks will be included in the pattern.

Okay, I better get to wrapping some Christmas presents and get stuff out in the mail. Last night I threw together my 11th block of the Block of the Month that I'm participating in. Only one more block to go! Yeah! But it's a doozey - 53 pieces in it - ugh! Do I HAVE to???

2 comments:

woolwoman said...

Karen - the highly anticipated report on sampler saturday was fabulous! It was so neat seeing the antique Hannah and Mary next to their contemporary counterparts. Wish I lived closer so I could have popped down for the event. Congrats on finishing Miss Bagley just in the nick of time - she is darling - another Spinning Monkey "must have" - Good luck with her in the new year! Mel

Jackie's Stitches said...

That is quite the collection! Congrats on the pattern!