WIP: Martha Willkins (from The Scarlet Letter)

Another reproduction sampler is today's featured WIP.  The Scarlet Letter reproduced the 1699 sampler of Martha Willkins.  Actually, I should say that most of the original sampler was charted.  If you look at the original, you'll see that SL left off the cutwork portion.  Whatever.  I still think it's lovely.

Technique/Materials: 17th-century sampler stitches over 2 on a higher-count linen with silk threads, mostly Soie d'Alger from Au ver a Soie.  I think the fabric is 34ct Oaten Scone from Legacy Linen.

Background:  I'm not really sure when I started this.  I think it was around 4 or 5 years ago.  I recall that it was a toss-up between starting this piece and Margret Gatis, also from the Scarlet Letter.  I decided to start Martha mostly because the entire piece is charted over two threads of linen, whereas Margret has some areas of over-2 and other areas over-3.

Why it's not done: I'm sure it was just a matter that other things caught my eye.  I've picked this up a couple of times over the past two years, according to past blog posts, but I haven't really committed to it.

What's left to do:  Most of it. I'm a little less than 1/4 finished.

WIP: Hannah Thornbush (by The Essamplaire)

Today's featured WIP is the Hannah Thornbush sampler, reproduced by Margriet Hogue of The Essamplaire.

Technique/Materials: Various sampler stitches (double running, marking cross, satin stitch, detached buttonhole, and many more I haven't gotten to yet!) on 45ct linen (over 3) using Soie d'Alger and Soie d'Paris silks.

Background:  I started Hannah in June 2009 as part of an online class from The Essamplaire, after seeing a picture of the original sampler. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.

Why it's not done: I managed to stitch the first monthly lesson (the first two bands) in just over a month. After that, lack of sleep (from Erin's adjusting to the cast) proved to be non-conducive to concentrating on stitching over-3 on 45ct!

What's left to do:  Um... did you see the picture of the original?

Hannah Thornbush progress

Last week I mentioned that band 2 of Hannah Thornbush was complete.Both band 1 and band 2 had satin stitched areas. The instructions stated that the outlining around these areas should be completed before filling in the areas with satin stitching. This isn't the first repro or historic-style sampler I've seen with these instructions.

Is it just me? I find it incredibly difficult to get nice, even satin stitches if I outline first. I'm always fussing about how the satin stitching butts up to the outline. I don't want to cover or pierce the outline, but neither do I want to leave a gap between the satin stitches and the outline.

So I cheat, if you can call it that. I do the satin stitches first. Yes, you have to count very carefully to do this (especially if the design is over three threads like Hannah is), but it seems to make more sense to me. I can put my satin stitches right into the holes along the outline, without having to worry about piercing the outline threads.

Have any of you taken a really good, close-up look at old samplers? Can you tell how they were stitched? I'd be interested to learn about the order of the stitches. I expect the outlines were done first, simply to eliminate the detailed counting of the satin stitches.

Hannah Thornbush begins

Though the instructions for the first two bands for Hannah Thornbush were posted last Monday, I didn't actually put the first stitches in until Thursday.

Part of the delay was due to a dilemma about mounting this on my scroll rods. The rods don't have the old twill tape on them - just velcro, which means I needed to put the corresponding velcro hooks on my fabric. I'm going to need to cut off the first (and last) half-inch when I'm done to get rid of the adhesive from the velcro tape. I usually take this into account when I have my fabric cut, and allow for a 4" margin at top and bottom. This is one of the pitfalls of a kit. I can't predetermine the fabric margin.

Ok, so what do the instructions say? The first line says to start stitching 2-1/4" from the top of the fabric. If I used the velcro, I'd have less than a 2" margin at top and bottom!

I didn't like this scenario. So, I decided to make extensions on to my ground fabric. I found a piece of Aida cloth that I knew I wouldn't use for anything else. After tacking it to my linen with a line herringbone stitch in a sturdy linen thread, I had an extra 6" margin at the top and bottom. I put the velcro on the Aida, and when I'm done I'll just cut out the tacking stitches, so my linen will still have its full margin. This photo shows the join, as well as my start on band 1.

Some comments were posted to the class list about the difficulty of framing with such a small margin. The teacher/designer (Margriet Hogue of The Essamplaire) wrote back that she'll be providing instructions for hemstitching the border of the sampler. The hemstitched sampler can then be mounted for framing, and a large fabric border won't be needed. I'll decide when I get there if that's what I want to do.

Last week I promised a picture of the kit contents. The colors are lovely. The silks are all either loose Soie d'Alger or Soie de Paris spools. I've never used Soie de Paris before. It's a bit thinner and has much more shine than most other stranded silks. It almost feels like rayon, but it seems to handle a bit better.

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Erin update: Our 4-month pediatrics appointment was last week. She's up to 12.5 pounds, and 22.5" long. Relative to other (non-preemie) 4 month olds, she's in the 15th percentile for height, 30th for weight, and 50th (i.e. average) for head circumference. She's catching up! Just two months ago, she was at 5th, 10th, and 25th percentile for those same metrics.

Her hip procedure is scheduled for July 2, first thing in the morning. We're praying for a first-time fix!

Our most recent pictures are from her christening this past Sunday. You finally get to see what I look like!

More progress, and another HD

Isn't vacation great? I've been making a lot of progress on my UFOs.

First, I finished Mimi's Tape Measure from Olde Colonial Designs. Another one down!







A few days ago, I pulled out an old GCC. This is Plum Blossoms by Margaret Kinsey. It is in a Japanese technique called Rozashi, which is stitched on ro fabric, and all stitches are vertical. This ro is 40 holes to the inch horizontally, and about 10 holes/inch vertically. All I have left to finish is the background, but it looks like it's going to take a while!

I started a project for the Quaker Quarterly Exchange on the Legacy board. I can't share pics of this until after the recipient gets it, though. This has to be sent out by January 5th.

On several of the boards, folks are talking about what big projects they're starting over the holidays. I haven't started anything, of course, but I did resurrect Martha Wilkins from The Scarlet Letter. This one has a loooong way to go.

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WIP-loss challenge status: 7 down, 3 to go