Sampler September

Sampler September has resulted in quite a few sampler charts being pulled from the stash and a few charts ordered.

Several floss tubes that I watch have been sharing a “sampler parade” for Sampler September and that has made me want to get busy stitching more samplers. I would love to have every single one of these stitched by this time next year but I know I won’t.

Sarah Elizabeth Brooke 1842

Sarah Elizabeth Brooke 1842 is by The Scarlett House. The chart was released in 2011 and I’ve had this one in my cart a dozen times and didn’t order it but yesterday I did. The stitch count is 233 x 235. Stitched on 40 count, it will be 11-1/2″ x 11-3/4″.

“A mind independent and free” . . that’s the part that pulls at my heart. That’s so what we need in today’s world – a mind that is independent and free.

Jane Tindall 1864

I think it’s the cows that has always attracted me to Jane Tindall 1864 by Needlework Press. My grandparents always had cows and my favorite was Spot and she looked like the cows in the picture. The little dog kinda looks like Oscar. The stitch count is 299 x 290 and stitched on 40 count, it would be about 15″ x 14″-1/2″. Note: I do not have this chart yet and I’ve seen several different stitch counts and several different finished sizes so I have no idea which one is correct.

An interesting story about this one: Tanya from The Scarlett House did the model stitching and this project is the one that resulted in Tanya starting to design and reproduce samplers.

Rachel Howells 1856

The stitch count on Rachel Howells 1856 is 319 x 280, which means it would be 16″ x 14″ stitched on 40 count. This one is also by The Scarlett House. I love the birds on this one. I love all the red.

Prairie Life Sampler

Prairie Life Sampler is by Heartstring Samplery. The stitch count is 203 x 203 and would be about 10-1/8″ x 10-1/8″. I ordered this one in June, 2021 and it’s been one I keep going back to so I hope to get it stitched in the next year.

I love the verse on that one also. On the Heartstring Samplery, there’s a sweet little story about the designer’s daughter loving Little House on the Prairie and how she came to design this chart. This will probably be the first of the samplers that I stitch and I would love it if Addie wanted it.

The Red Deer Sampler 1861

The Red Deer Sampler by Gigi R is probably the chart that has been in and out of my cart more than any other chart. Every time I see this as a finished piece, and lots of stitchers have stitched this, I want it and I go find it and put it in my cart. The photo on the chart for sale is of the antique and it just doesn’t do justice, in my opinion, to how beautiful this finished piece is.

I see it on a flosstube, I put it in my cart. I go back later, look at this picture and decide I would never stitch it and remove it from the cart. Then I see it on flosstube again . . but last night I saw it on Saltbox Stitcher’s flosstube, put it in my cart and checked out.

The stitch count is 264 x 260 and on 40 count, it would be 15″ x 14-3/4″. There’s a lot of stitching on that one but I would love to have it on my wall.

Martha Pudsey 1835

This is another one that’s been in and out of my cart a few times. I love the border. That border always makes me smile. I love that the center of the top border is a “V” and that’s the only place there’s a “V”. I love that the top two corners are different than the bottom two corners. This little girl was 11 years old when she stitched this. Oh, how I would love to know their thoughts about designing and how they went about it. I can imagine that there were the perfectionist moms/grandmas who wanted everything to be symmetrical and match and there were other moms/grandmas who wanted to see the creativity develop and took more of a hands off approach. I wonder what floss/thread options they had. I suppose if the moms and grandmas were stitchers, some of the girls had access to beautiful floss/yarns but other girls . . not so much.

I can’t imagine sitting down with 10 or even 20 or 30 floss colors and designing a sampler. What if I needed a brighter red, or a more muted shade of purple or a grayer shade of brown? Things were so different back then.

Martha Pudsey 1835 is another Scarlett House chart. The stitch count is 294 x 288 so it should be 10-1/4″ x 14-3/8.

Adam & Eve Sampler

The Adam & Eve Sampler by The City Stitcher can be tricky to find. This Etsy shop has it but they’re taking a break right now.

There are so many Adam & Eve samplers. I wish I had the time (as in years left – not hours in my day) to stitch a whole wall of Adam & Eve samplers.

Of these seven charts, I had four and ordered three and all three were charts I’ve had in and out of my cart a dozen times.

Even though I’d love to get all seven of these finished by this time next year, I’ll consider it great if I get four of them done and I have no idea which order I’ll stitch them in, except that I do think I’ll do The Prairie Sampler first.

I’ve done better than I expected not buying charts, fabric and floss this year. I orders charts at the spring Expo and had planned to order charts at the fall Expo. There was so much Halloween stuff, I got kinda turned off. I know many people love Halloween . . I do not. I stitched the witches because that represented my friendship with Denise. Since I didn’t order anything from the fall Expo, I was feeling like I needed something new so the charts I bought yesterday made me happy.

Also, I really do think I’m becoming a monogamous stitcher and that’s so out of character for me . . not to be jumping from project to project . . that it feels weird but I can always get back to several things at once if I feel like that’s what I want to do.