Sampled Lives: Exhibit at The Fitzwilliam Museum

Just one of many breathtaking samplers in the Sampled Lives Exhibit, found via a post by the RSN yesterday. I have always had a deep love and appreciation for samplers, cross-stitched or otherwise, just not necessarily the patience needed to complete one.

The online portion of the exhibition contains numerous beautiful photos of samplers and an extensive backhistory of the craft and its role in contemporary women's lives and educations, I highly recommend a visit - visit here.

This Church Times article on the exhibition is also very fascinating, as it draws in aspects of faith and stitching, something which means a lot to me personally, and which I've seen more and more of in the craft world lately:
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2017/6-october/features/features/sewing-stories-unpicking-the-faith-of-girls-past

This 1815 sampler is even more gorgeous and impressive when you have a look at the enviably neat backside:

Cross stitching 123 ABC

Olá! Since I was a child I remember to wonder why so many cross stitch patterns have letters and numbers... 

Recently I found the reason why this happens... Maybe you know it... Maybe not...

Many and many years (centuries) ago young girls learned needlework skills at the same time they learned basic literacy and numeracy. As so, cross stitching the alphabet and numbers helped them to practice both.

That's the reason why you'll find so many samplers with these elements... In Portugal we don't use the literal translation of  the word "sampler", instead we use mapa (map) or mostruário (showcase). And the use of "map" has also to do with the education of girls, once some of the samplers (maps) intended to teach geography, too...

One of these days I'll tell you about ancient Portuguese mapas...

But today I leave you with this pattern... Stitching it I felt I was back to school...

Patterns: Alison Glass - giveaway

How detailed and intricate are these patterns from Alison Glass? They're gorgeous aren't they! Alison has very kindly offered to giveaway a .pdf of one of her embroidery patterns to a Feeling Stitchy reader! You can check out the three pattern sets; Animals, Crafts and Flowers on her website. If you would like to win one of the .pdfs, please leave a comment below stating which pattern you would like! The giveaway will run until midnight on 11th September 2013 UK time and I will announce the winner the next day. Get picking!

Arrested Development sampler

stitched by Beadgirl

I, too chose to commemorate my watching of the 4th season of Arrested Development (all of it) with stitching - but this project by Beadgirl is so, so fabulous. I love that a lot of her favorite quotes are my favorite quotes. And that she included a banana.

Be sure to check out her post for more on her inspiration. Awesome work, Beadgirl!

Native American Inspiration

One month ago I visited a Navajo reservation to help my sister with a ladies craft class. Each year she returns to a small one-room church with a group that does a variety of service projects like painting, re-roofing, and re-tiling as well as organizing a Bible school and sports camp.

Before we left, I found myself suffering from jitters - I'm shy, and although I enjoy sharing my love of crafting, I had no idea what it would be like, and how I would cope without my morning coffee on schedule, limited access to plumbing, no bed, and no air conditioning in 100+ degree desert temperatures. Would I be crabby? (yes) Would I accidentally curse in front of the children? (no) Would I smell bad? (sometimes) Important considerations, all. ;)

To alleviate my jitters, I grabbed a handful of floss, and a wonderful alphabet from the 1973 Handbook of Lettering for Stitchers by Elsie Svennas, and began adapting an alphabet to take with me.

Download the alphabet

The original alphabet has oodles of lazy daisy stitches, but I thought they'd be intimidating for beginners, so I traced the letter shapes and added small feather-like hashes in contrasting colors. I call it a feather-stitch alphabet, but FYI, it's not a real feather-stitch. :)

I had no idea how relaxing it would be to stitch this simple alphabet! I chose 7 neutral, lovely colors that reminded me of the desert, and brought it with me as inspiration.

From left to right, in DMC: 946, 611, 954, 834, 3824, 832, and 3853.

Now, on to some photos from the ladies craft class... We met only for a short time each day, so I was only able to snap in-progress shots. They took their projects home to finish or would work on their favorites each day - I so wish I had finished pics to show you, but this gives you a taste of the stitching we did.

I had tons of gorgeous floss a wonderful person sent me years ago -after the class, we asked the ladies to take it home with them. I loved that I was able to pass on the generosity of one lovely person to these talented ladies.

For weeks, I'd sat in front of my television, cutting out felt flower shapes from 2 free Purl Bee templates, found here and here, to use in our crafts.

I loved how much fun everyone had incorporating these bright, colorful shapes in their projects:

I loved the creative way the ladies incorporated traditional Navajo designs in all of their projects, always making them their own. This woman is also a talented weaver, by the way:

I fell in love with this stitcher - each project we tried, she gave it her all and worked with patience, sweetness, and creativity:

More of her impossibly tiny stitches:

Every person I met was very gifted and creative, and would use projects as a springboard for incredibly detailed, beautiful work. I know I will carry the memory of their creativity and skill with me as an inspiration to make my work my own.


Lastly, how can I possibly summarize the beauty of the desert? I just can't. You have to see it. My pictures only sort of help. I warn you that you must see it yourself.

Hope you enjoyed a little bit of Native American inspiration!

Learning how to embroider...

Olá! In the past few weeks we've been traveling around Portugal following the inspirations and History of regional embroiderers... But this week and the next, I decided to take a small break! Yes, I'll be talking about embroiderers, too and these are very special to me...

Two years ago I created the project "agulha não pica". My intention was to make embroidery kits for kids and grown-up beginners. As I learned how to embroider by myself I wanted to promote that same idea... But as time went by, I received many requests to organize workshops. The idea of bringing together groups sharing the desire to learn how to embroider and to recreate the spirit that has been present in all embroidery History was a challenge. So I decided to launch the agulha não pica club and promote beginner (and other) workshops.

The patterns used during the workshops

Trying to remain faithful to my initial convictions, I decided that no one could belong to the club without making a piece of embroidery by herself... The participants work on a Portuguese traditional heart in the workshop, during 3 hours, learning five different basic stitches. They take home a sampler designed by me and they are asked to recall what they've learned and to embroider the sampler using those stitches. Only after the heart and the sampler are finished do they officially become members of the agulha não pica club!!

I'm happy with this workshop's "format". It proved to have good results!!

The homework for the new embroiderers - my design

It's so great to see all the hearts already embroidered and the samplers, and although they are working from the same patterns, they all seem so different from one another... Creativity has incredible results!

I leave you with some of the hearts and samplers that the new embroiderers have sent me...

Maria Joao

Andreia

Isabel

Cláudia

Margarida

Dora

Clara

Filomena

Clara

Luísa

I'm so grateful to all of them and to the others that don't have their works published too... Obrigada!!
Next week, I'll show you how they managed when they were on their own!! Believe me you'll like it!

Now... For our Portuguese lesson... I'm feeling so proud... I would have to say: "Sinto-me tão orgulhosa"!!

Patterns: Epic Alphabet Sampler

Stitched by handmade is heartmade

Samplers of all sizes and shapes are gorgeous but I particularly love this one as it's so modern. Stitched very ably by handmade is heartmade, from a pattern showcasing typefaces by House Industries over at Sublime Stitching.

Patterns: Abel the Stitch Explorer

Abel the Stitch Explorer (detail) by Follow the White Bunny

Nicole from Follow the White Bunny has just released the most adorable sampler pattern in the form of this cute, exploring mouse. The pattern includes lots of different stitches and colours and would make a great prompt to extend your stitching repertoire by trying out some new things and the finished result would look great in a child's bedroom. You can find the pattern here.

Blog Love: Interview with Alicia Paulson

Judging from the number of commenters we got on the Embroidery Companion book giveaway a few weeks ago - I have a feeling that a lot of you know and love Alicia Paulson. Her blog, Posie Gets Cozy, stands out in my mind as kind of the ultimate craft blog. Her photos are a gorgeous story in warmth and tone - her feeling for color is instinctive, and she knows how to share tantalizing details that make you feel at once at home and inspired. She pulls it all together with some really excellent writing - truly thoughtful and well-crafted. Just a few posts in and you can tell she really knows how to tell a good story. It's hard to put all of those elements together in a creative way, but Alicia has done it for years now, adding 2 published books and patterns to the list of handmade wares available in her shop.

I was beyond honored that she agreed to do an interview with us this month, and blown away by her thoughtful responses. Everyone, let's take a minute to meet Alicia:




Do you think you’ve changed as a blogger, writer, and artist since you started blogging? Has your view of the world shifted?

Yes and no. When I first started blogging in 2005, I was having a really hard time in my life -- nothing super major but just generally overworking (I owned a boutique at the time), feeling like my energy was completely scattered, feeling like I wasn't in control of my time anymore. And that feeling was sort of the opposite of what I had wanted to achieve with self-employment. I had been a writer all my life and had worked as a book editor -- but before I started blogging I hadn't written a word just for myself in over eight years. So blogging was, in a lot of ways, a return to a version of myself that I had lost along the way. In the moment, it was sort of a direct reaction to these feelings of barely controlled professional chaos I was experiencing: staying organized on the blog helped me re-organize my real life and work in real time, somehow. But in a much larger way it also allowed me to reconnect to an essential part of myself that I had kind of put behind me. I think my reasons for bloging are still exactly the same as they were in 2005. I'm still very selfish about it. I still maintain that it's just a place for me to do and say and show what I want. I still see it as a personal blog and a way of telling my own story to myself. But I do think that since I’ve started it I’ve gained confidence in myself in the larger world in general, and grown to appreciate people in a totally different way. Experiencing the kindness of strangers has changed my life in some ways. I’m very grateful for those lessons.




Our lives have become so inundated with the internet - how do you maintain a healthy balance of online vs. offline?

Hmmm. In all honesty, it’s not a hard balance for me to find. I don’t feel like I’m on my computer more than I need to be, and it’s off quite a bit. But then, I don’t do Facebook (I have an account but I never use it), don’t do Twitter, don’t get email on my cell phone. I’m turned off probably more than a lot of people I know. I am a horrendously lazy emailer, though. It’s the hardest thing for me. I have a very hard time answering emails and let them pile up to the point of shrieking. It’s awful.




There’s something so intimate and wonderful and, well, cozy about your blog. Where do you think this feeling comes from?

Originally I chose the name Posie Gets Cozy because the name of my business is Posie, and the blog seemed sort of like a place behind the scenes of my regular work, where I was sort of curling up under a blanket with hot chocolates and just talking to a friend about all manner of randomness, some serious, some silly. It’s kind of the only way I know how to do it. And we truly are comfort-mongers around her. I guess we take our cozy seriously at Paulson Place.




If you could tell the you of 5 years ago one thing, what would it be?

Ah, boy. I only wish I knew what to tell her. I honestly, honestly don’t know. I’d probably tell her to make some different decisions. I only wish I knew which ones I would have her change.

Can you please show us your favorite embroidery project?

My latest one is almost always my favorite. Right now that’s the Winterwoods ABCs cross-stitch sampler, which will be available as a kit really soon. I haven’t shown the finished, framed sampler yet, but here’s a sneak peek:



For my next project, I think I’m going to do something botanical, on a black background, or something very dark. Like spring popping out of the mud.

Name 1 person you would LOVE to meet: (past, present, real or fiction)

Joanna Newsom. She is so fearless and original and sincere and thoughtful and so incredibly talented musically, obviously, and so articulate. I listen to her music almost every day and when I see videos of her playing it I feel like her performance is as moving as the music itself. She’s so unique. I just adore her.

*****

Thank you, Alicia, for sharing your thoughts and a sneak peek with us! All the gorgeous images in this post come from Alicia's blog and site, and are used with her permission. I have to say that while putting these interview questions together, I was listening to a wonderful podcast interview Alicia did on Craftsanity in 2006, and I highly recommend a listen: http://craftsanity.com/podcast/files/pod17.html

By the way, if you fell in love with Alicia's cross-stitch sampler in progress (like I did), she's put together some gorgeous sampler kits, available now in her shop - for more details visit her blog post.



For more on Alicia, please visit:
Her web site: www.aliciapaulson.com
Her shop: www.rosylittlethings.com
Her blog: www.rosylittlethings.typepad.com

Fire place sampler

A Night In by Pin Pals

Now, this is my kind of cross stitch sampler! Love everything about it, the little scene, the colours.

And is it just me or is there something Matisse-esque to this?

Patterns: House Wren Studio

Bloom sampler by House Wren Studio

Charlotte Lyons from House Wren Studio does a lovely range of printed panels which you can stitch over to make pictures, cushion covers etc. I think there's lots of opportunity to practice different stitches with these designs!

L'enfer c'est les autres

Oh where to begin to describe how much I love this embroidery... I enjoy seeing photos of embroideries in progress and I have a soft spot for sampler pieces.  But the most awesome thing, I think, is the pretty embroidered lettering in combination with the bleak quote. This cross stitch sampler piece in it's first (fabulous!) stages is stitched by Robyn Enz. The famous quote is from a play by Sartre and usually translates as "Hell is other People". In later stages Robyn added wasps and pretty flowers to the borders. If you feel inspired to make your own sampler piece, Robyn has shared some of her resources with me. Find them here and here.

Patterns:Bigfoot

Bigfoot embroidery sampler stitched by Karina Ascencio

I have a real weakness for buying embroidery patterns but my hard drive is so full of them, ones that I don't even remotely yet have time to stitch, that I've had to control myself, so it is always a pleasure when I see someone else stitching up a pattern I've been eyeing up myself. I think of it as the embroidery equivalent of window shopping! So I was really pleased to see Badbird's Bigfoot embroidery sampler stitched up by Karina Ascencio recently, although it does make me even more tempted to buy this pattern now!

Beautiful Stitching

I am fascinated by bees. We would not have food without our bee friends. Another thing that I'm totally fascinated with are samplers. Maybe it's because I have no patience to do them or because they have a such a wonderful history. Whatever the reason, I adore this Bee sampler. My favorite part-the beekeeper.

 Insomerset rocks!

White Category Winner - Rainbow of Stitches Contest

Wow, who knew that judging the Rainbow of Stitches contest would be such hard work? There were so many amazing and highly deserving entries in the white category that it was hard to pick a winner, but big congrats to Caitlin (saltyoat) for her winning entry.

Want to get to know Caitlin a little bit better? Here's how she answered our winners' questionnaire ...

What inspired your entry?

I was actually really inspired by this piece. I love doily and lace patterns, and knew I wanted to create a piece that reflected that. I also liked the idea of using the work to experiment with stitches and create a sampler of sorts. I started stitching the piece in an embroidery class at the Stitch Lab here in Austin.

What is your favorite stitch?

French knot

Who or what inspires you to stitch?

I'm really inspired by vintage embroidery transfers and fabrics. I also get a lot of inspiration from the blogs I read, Flickr, and the thrift stores I frequent.

How long have you been stitching and how did you get started?

I started cross-stitching when I was a kid, using premade kits (horses and Christmas ornaments were a part of my repertoire). I started doing embroidery last fall, using Jenny Hart's Embroidered Effects as my textbook.

Are there any stitchers in the Feeling Stitchy Flickr pool you have noticed?

I really love the white stitching on paper that jessicakelly entered in the contest (editor's note: we love it too and this entry was a close second!), and I'm a big fan of the work of septemberhouse, doe-c-doe, and the Pin Pals.

--

Thanks, Caitlin ... and good luck going up against the colors!

For some more of the outstanding contest entries in the white category, check out the mosaic below or browse our gallery.