Yikes! It's triplets! Or maybe even quads!

Things are getting just a little spooky here in blogging cyberland.  A couple of days ago I sat down to productively waste some time catching up with my favorite blogs and there on the Needleprint blog was a devilishly enticing post about an upcoming auction of 17th century needlework. . . complete with links to the on-line catalogue.

Well, who could resist?  Certainly not me.  So a-clicking I did go. . . and I'll be darned, look what I found!  It's yet a THIRD Jane Turner sampler. . . this one fully embellished like Jane's with virtually IDENTICAL stitches and colors.  Here's that link:

Here's the same embellished band I focused on in my last post:

And here are the lady and the trees band and close ups of the lady herself:

Now, don't get me wrong.  Although I am thoroughly enjoying stitching on Jane's sampler, it isn't my VERY VERY VERY FAVORITE piece of all times.  But the coincidences are really striking aren't they?  And I have learned a little more from each piece.  With triplet number three, I was able to get a much better image of how the original dress was actually done -- the only photo I have of Jane's original sampler is a very small one in a catalogue from the Burrell Collection.

Interestingly, the little blurb in the Burrell catalogue says "the design is similar to another sampler made by Mary Lawley, dated 1668, now in a private collection".  Is this Mary's sampler?  There are no dates, names, or initials on the sampler itself. . . and the auction description says nothing about Mary. . . so I'm thinking probably not.  The "outline" sampler with the same pattern has the initials M.C.. . .which would argue that it isn't Mary's sampler either.  So maybe there are actually FOUR extant copies of this sampler design.  Fascinating.

Now where were we....

When last I blogged about the jacket tour, we intrepid travelers were motoring about the English countryside in search of ever more lovely antique embroideries. One highlight was our stop at Whitney Antiques for a private viewing of Wrought with the Needle, an exhibit of absolutely stunning 17th century embroidery.   You can get a little taste of the treats we enjoyed from the cover of the exhibition catalogue (well worth buying!) and a promotional piece. 

And you can find excellent accounts of the exhibition by fellow jacket tour traveler Viking Sparrow here, and Beth Lea provides an excellent account of her visit to the exhibition here.  Both are so good that I'm not going to try to match them.  Needless to say, if I had had an extra $50,000 to $100,000 of mad money tucked in my back pocket, I would have left with some major purchases!

But I did come away with a very special experience. . . . when I saw this sampler right there on the wall in front of me.  Look familiar?  (Sorry about the photo quality. . . no photos of the exhibit were allowed, so this is a picture of the photo in the catalogue.)



It's a fraternal twin to the Jane Turner sampler!  Down through the wide band with the lady flanked by trees, the two samplers are virtually identical EXCEPT this sampler has only the double-running shapes, while Jane has added a lot of decorative surface embroidery to hers.  The stitcher of this sampler did not provide her name or a date. . .which means, I presume, that there's no way to learn how this sampler might be related to Jane's.  (What a shame!)

But I did find it absolutely fascinating to compare the two.  Here's the wide double-running shapes band from the Whitney sampler. . . and the same band from my restitching of Jane's sampler...first with the underlying double-running. . .then embellished with surface stitches.

This was really exciting for me because I had been wondering about how Jane's sampler came to have a lot of rather elaborate surface embellishment.  Seeing the Whitney sampler clearly shows how these samplers were indeed taught to multiple young stitchers. . . but comparing the two doesn't satisfy my curiosity.  Why did Jane add more stitching while her fellow stitcher didn't?  Was Jane a more accomplished stitcher?  Or is her sampler "finished," while the other is really a UFO?  Or did Jane's daddy just spring for extra silks and extra lessons beyond the basic sampler?  Darn it!  I sure would like to know who the two girls were. . .whether they knew each other. . . are these samplers a 17th version of a stitch along. . . were they at school together. . . and if so where. . . or were they sisters, or cousins, or close friends "sharing" a governess or stitching teacher. .. and so on. . .and on....

Well. . . we'll certainly never know.  But the Whitney sampler is proving to be a great help in formulating my plans for what will be the last band on my Jane Turner sampler. . . the "lady and trees" band.  I never was really crazy about some aspects of Jane's band (shown here in photo of the reproduction from The Essamplaire):

And the Whitney sampler's corresponding band provides what I think is a nicer outline for the lady:

So. . . my great plan for completing MY Jane Turner sampler is as follows.  I will try to sketch out an outline for my lady based on the Whitney sampler. . .  I want to use this band as practice for several techniques I need to master to complete some other pieces.. . .   Soooooo.... I am going to try to stitch either fully detached or semi-detached clothing pieces using detached button hole stitch.  And for the face, I am going to experiment with the padding technique Tricia recommends for the mermaid face (see earlier posts), and use altar linen for the top layer.  All this will give me the option of tearing out multiple tries if needed. . .before taking the big plunge on my mermaid (for whom I have VERY limited amounts of satin fabric for her face and torso).

Great plan!  Wish me luck.  Wish me time to stitch!  I will need both!

Winter Time and the Living Is Easy

It's about to snow again. . . . a real picture of a gloomy mid-West winter day. . .and BOY is it hard to get anything organized or properly finished.  So no, I have no interesting stitching to show you. . . although I assure you, I have EXCELLENT intentions.

Others in the household have excellent intentions too. . .focused on much more easily attainable goals:  RELAXATION!

Consider my two beautiful Siamese, Oscar and Fiona.  Here they are on their favorite radiator in the bedroom.  Not only do they lounge on radiators through the deep winter months, they seek to maximize the experience by letting as much of their bodies as possible hang over the edge, where it's even warmer.

Meanwhile, in the study, here's the baby of the group, Glinda, sacked out on her radiator.  No worries here.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the house (nope, no photo here), I am struggling to get together my stitching for the coming months.  Recently Spinster Stitcher (who despite her protestations seems to be really organized, and seems to have almost FINISHED a lovely stitched piece this January), posted about how she chose a selection of projects and grouped them together for easy access.  My plan is to do the same. . . soon. . . very soon.  In the meantime, perhaps there's some extra room on the radiator.

TA DA!!

At long last my holiday stitching is complete and in the hands of the intended recipients! 
After working the lacis ornaments, I decided to experiment a little more with the technique, and decided to try making sachet bags with initials decorating them.

I finished a set of two for my new voice teacher before Christmas.

The remainder were stitched mostly over the holidays and finished and ready to go just in time for my belated holiday lunch with the ladies I work with.  Hope they like them!

Happy New Year!

It's almost time to exit the whirlwind holiday season and get back to real life.  I'm trying to decide whether to even try to make any stitching-related resolutions.  Past attempts have failed spectacularly.

But before worrying about all that, I'm enjoying the afterglow of the Christmas holiday.  As our gift to each other, my DH and I spent two days in Colonial Williamsburg after Christmas.  This is one of my favorite places to visit, and we both remembered a Christmas-time trip years and years ago. 

While we were at my Mom's outside Washington, DC the BIG post-Christmas snow storm hit the east coast.  While the Washington area got almost no snow, Williamsburg was hit pretty hard, so we were able to enjoy a very Christmasy looking. . . if icy couple of days.

Since we've been to Williamsburg many times, we mostly indulged in special holiday programs and tours, including a VERY cold ghost tour, a fancy dinner in one of the colonial inns, and a candle-lit concert at the Governor's Palace. 

I have no photos of those, but do have some from our tour of the Christmas decorations.  Each year Williamsburg holds a decorating contest, with the requirement that all decorations be made with materials that existed in the 18th century.  Here's a typical example followed by the wreath outside the milliner's shop, which includes a lot of fruit shapes created out of fabric!  All great fun!

So as the new year settles in, I wish you all a happy and productive year!

I Have Completion Issues - Holiday Edition

May I introduce for your consideration a condition afflicting some stitchers:  Completion Issues Syndrome or CIS.  This serious ailment was identified several years ago by my husband, who turned to me and commented, "you have serious completion issues."  And alas, it is true.  I only plead the addiction card. . .I am NOT in control of my inability to complete things expeditiously.

Consider the following projects that I found when yet again reorganizing my stash of WIPs and UFOs.  For all of these, the lack of completion is very easy to explain.  I love stitching, but hate finishing.  The sad thing is, it wouldn't take THAT long to get these wrapped up. . . .but. . . .well, fellow CIS sufferers will understand.

First on the walk of shame - this really fun Genny Morrow tree, finished as a large stand up to go with my collection of needle pointed Santas (that are currently scattered about the house).

Yup. . .that is a year 2000 you see stitched in the lower corner, and worse still, look how little still has to be done (below).  I am at a loss as to why this one isn't done. . . issues with stuffing perhaps.  This one goes into the "dog gone it do it now" pile.

Next up, this fabulous Joan Thomasson Santa.  I cleverly did NOT stitch a date on him, but can confess he's been waiting a while.  I do know the issues here - I always have problems with stuffing these stand ups (it's harder than it looks to get a nice firm shape with fairly smooth exterior lines), plus on this one I still need to measure, cut, and cover the base piece. . . which is also tricky.  Will Santa get done this year?  Probably not before Christmas, but he goes on my New Year's resolutions for sure.  I REALLY REALLY love the design and want him out and enjoying the season next year.

I also found this little Pam Pabst Christmas angel.  I think her issue concerns what cording to use.  I think perhaps that cording made from white perle cotton might work best here, so if I can get help from my hubby in making cording, maybe I can finish her off this year.

Finally, I found these 3 Santa ornaments.  I did these years ago for an ANG (American Needlepoint Guild) program on making beards.  They are really fun, and I love how they turned out. . .and as you can see I have about half the finishing done.  Issues here. . . deciding on (making?) the right cording, trimming the backings to fit (HATE doing that), and assembling the whole things.  I make no promises on these.

We Interrupt this Trip Report. . .

For a wave of holiday PANIC!

Just about the time I would have been worrying about Thanksgiving dinner. . . had I been cooking. . . another alarming deadline popped into view.  ....less than THREE weeks until Sampler Guild Christmas party. . . meaning less than three weeks to get ornaments done for the ornament exchange (which is optional) and for my secret stitcher (required).

So over the Thanksgiving holiday, I've been stitching up some little lacis whitework ornaments.  As of today -- see pictures below -- I have the embroidery completed and the finishing done on two of the four ornaments. . . with only the twisted cord to make and attach to complete the other two. . . so I'm almost ready to proceed to the next item on the holiday panic list.