Monday, August 1, 2011

Euphemia Myles Sampler

Fair warning, this post has quite a few photos in it. Even with today's "point and shoot" cameras I am a wretched photographer. Stitched on 30 ct this sampler is also larger than I'm used to stitching and photographing. It certainly wasn't easy to "stitch in hand" which is my preferred way to stitch. It's also very sunny today which surprisingly isn't the best condition for taking photos. Some colors in the sampler are also very light shades which blend into the linen.

This is basically my way of saying these photos aren't particularly good and trust me the sampler looks better in person. I've included a lot of photos in hopes that at least one ends up looking like the sampler I stitched.

The sampler isn't terribly large, only 160 stitches square, but I chose to stitch it on 30 ct so it's almost 12 inches square finished. The linen is R & R Reproductions French Vanilla, a beautiful color and perfectly aged as is. All of the threads are Gentle Arts and most of the colors are very subtle. The Gentle Arts Garden Gate stands out nicely. The Gentle Arts Roasted Marshmallow blends beautifully with the linen. It's hard to make out in the photos. I told you I was no good at taking pictures :)

I've always loved the aged look of antique samplers and part of that (I think) comes from the fading in the threads. I think over time the colors just all begin to blend into one another which is hard to replicate. I've been wanting to try for awhile and I'm happy with the results.






There are three alphabets, some numbers as well as a signature and date. The name is fictional. I've always felt a little odd just making up a name but on this sampler it felt right.



I had originally designed the sampler intending to leave an unstitched area at the bottom. I think leaving the sampler "incomplete" also lends to a more aged look. At the last minute (this morning) I decided to add some feather stitching. There wasn't a lot of planning with this sampler. It came together on its own. What was particularly fun was "choosing" where to use what colors. I knew the border would be black/grey and I knew I wanted most of the stitching to be blue. I used very little of the lighter shade of gold because it is very subtle. Other than that I just began stitching with one color and when I finished a letter and didn't have enough thread to finish the next I went onto another color.


It was a lot of fun to stitch. Very relaxing. But of course whenever I get close to finishing one design I begin putting together the next. I'm going to show a sneak peak of the colors for that one soon.


xoxo


Jennie Lynn

12 comments:

Jeanne said...

This is beautiful...will you make this available as a pattern. I love it, especially the colors you picked. ~Jeanne~

Susan At Glen Oaks Primitives said...

Jennie Lynn, this is just gorgeous. I did a "blog this" post on my blog and want everyone to see how lovely this is. I too hope you make this as a pattern for all of us.
Warm Regards,
Susan B., Western MA

Dora said...

This is a beautiful sampler with such soft, pretty colors! I love her name, too.

basketsnprims said...

gorgeous sampler & I too hope it finds it's way into a pattern.
lovely work.
pam

samplerlover said...

Oh this sampler is lovely. I also hope that you do a pattern for this one - Sandra

Catherine said...

Oh, I love this one!! The feather stitching at the bottom is perfect!

jennifer768 said...

Love this sampler! Hugs,Jen

mdgtjulie said...

I hope Mina doesn't smell up the house too bad. There's nothing like the smell of wet dog, lol. Hope she had fun too!! Grats on the finish of your sampler. It's nice to know how your design process works. Thanks for the peek into your brain!! Can't wait to see what you'll come up with next!

cucki said...

hello dear, i really love this sampler so much..
love and hugs
cucki xx

Lori from Notforgotten Farm said...

very, very pretty ~ love everything about it!

primitivebettys said...

So very lovely! :)

Angie Berry ~ Berry Homespun Primitives said...

It is beautiful Jennie! I love the aged look of antique samplers as well and I think you replicated it quite beautifully!