Where Samplers Rule

Just 15 minutes from the Airport at the NE CORNER OF CENTER & MCKELLIPS 106 E. McKellips Rd, Suite 111 THE ATTIC Issue No. Twenty www.atticneedlework.com Mesa, AZ 85201 10 September 2010 TELEPHONE (480)898-1838

FACSIMILE September’s of the Month: (480)898-0332 “The Garden Glade”

This sampler design was obviously inspired by JANUARY 2011 Hannah Carter’s exquisite canvaswork piece, right, in the A PRIMITIVE collection of the American Folk Art Museum, New York. GATHERING For any of you in the area, Hannah’s piece is part of an SEE PAGE 4 exhibition, “Women Only: Folk Art by Female Hands,” now on view and extended through September 19, 2010 at the museum. Here’s what the museum says about this piece: “Hannah Carter's elegant lady in a pastoral setting belongs to pre-Revolutionary Boston's most famous group of needleworks known collectively as ‘fishing lady’ pictures. It features some of the classic motifs of seventeenth-century English , such as birds, insects, berries, oversize flowers, and verdant hillocks, combined with figures based on English and French prints of the period. It is one of a group of related pastoral worked by young girls from some of the wealthiest colonial families while attending Boston boarding schools. Today, 17 within a group of 58 related pieces actually depict the fishing lady, but only six makers have been identified, and the schools they attended have defied discovery. The patterns, based on English prototypes, may have been drawn and distributed by a Boston schoolmistress such as Mrs. Susanna Condy, who advertised her patterns as early as 1738. The canvasworks range in size from 10 x 12 inches to monumental chimney pieces 4 feet wide and are worked in crewels and silk threads on finely woven linen.”

Inspired by Hannah’s magnificent work and with Molly’s suggestion that it would be lovely on a blue-green linen, we’ve gotten in what I think is the perfect linen from Lakeside Linens and used a combination of five different silks in colors reflective of Hannah’s piece. It’s been a group effort for sure ~ and I am truly enjoying seeing the colors unfold on the linen.

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Left, a close-up of the leaves showing the “modification” using a lighter green on the outer edges, trying to capture the effect in Hannah’s leaves, shown on the right. I especially love all the animals frolicking on the grass, and I was hoping to have them more visible ~ changing the colors of the hills to the shades of blue- green as opposed to the brown-green, I think, accomplishes that. The thread legend for the “modification” includes details with each symbol and its color for the various design elements, i.e., the = symbol varies, depending on its position in the design. The thread legend defines all of those changes. I only wish I had more of it stitched to show you, but stay tuned. Save 15% during September when purchasing at least two parts: chart $14 ~ 40c linen w/2-inch margins $13~ NPI silks as charted $48 ~ Belle Soie silks $82.50 OR the silks combo pack $120. Your “kit” will include a full-sized color print of Hannah’s piece + the revised attribution that I am using at the bottom of my sampler: “Inspired by Hannah Carter’s work.”

PAULA’S BEAUTIFUL“GARDEN GLADE”

Paula is stitching her “Garden Glade” on 40c V. Sand Dune with Belle Soie. The petite Elizabeth I provide a size perspective for this very engaging design. Paula says, “Overall, I just love the vintage look this combination of linen and silk gives.” Paula has volunteered to provide weekly updates of her progress.

The Attic, Mesa, AZ Toll-Free: 1.888.94-ATTIC (1.888.942.8842) www.atticneedlework.com THE ATTIC! PAGE3 SALEM HOUSE FROM LIBERTY HILL

Just in the door from Liberty Hill, our order for this adorable 2010 limited edition “Salem House” needlework etui, a wooden house-shaped box hand-painted on every side with wonderful detail: windows with lighted candles, pumpkins and trees and gravestones ~ and a tombstone angel on the roof! Lift off the roof to discover the etui inside filled with stitching treats: Inside a fabric bag you will find a decorated box for your pins, a project ring with a charming hand-painted scene, and a tiny house-shaped scissors fob. Only a few remain from our shipment. $70 (ND) We also have a few remaining past treasures from Liberty Hill. Left, “First Colony Tombstone Cupboard” $65 (ND) with its thread board, scissors fob (scissors not included), gray threadwinder set, and “Black Cat” needle envelope ~ middle, “Winter Wishes” $39, paper-maiche box lined with hand-dyed wool, threadboard, and jingled star scissors fob ~ and, right, “Haunting Threads” $48, a set of very scary threadwinders with their own storage box.

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September at The Attic October (continued) If you are a member of our Attic Addicts club, you may save Saturday, October 16, Stitching on Silk Gauze, 2-4 PM Learn the special 15% on your purchase of the following during September: techniques for this very addictive needlework. $30 class fee includes a piece of mounted 40c silk gauze. Select your project from dozens of choices. • All Halloween Charts/Kits • All Overdyed Silk Threads Saturday, October 30, Hawk Run Hollow Stitch Group, 10:30 - 12:30 • In-stock Picture This Plus Linens - Custom Cuts Because of the September St. Charles Market, we will not meet in September. Saturday, September 11, Saturday Stitch-In & Potluck, 10:30 - ?? Join us See you in the Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow. $5/session. tomorrow for a fun Saturday: stitching with a great group of like-minded needlewomen (and men, if Gary comes!). And, if you wish, bring something to November at The Attic share at the lunch table. For planning purposes, please register. And Saturday, November 6, Beading a Miniature remember, if you want dessert (and a special gift) remember to wear red/ Book with Alice, 1-4 PM Your $35 class fee white&blue includes your imported kit + Alice’s expertise in Saturday, September 18, Time Well Spent Stitch Group, 10:30 - 12:30 creating this most charming diminutive book. Join us for this fun journey together through the various specialty stitches and bands that make up this exquisite sampler. Please note the time change. Friday through Sunday, November 12-14, Merry Cox Weekend. Sunday, September 19, Sampler Sunday, 1:00-4:00 It’s the third Details available on our Web site. A few places available in each workshop. Sunday of the month and time once again for this monthly gathering. Saturday, November 20, Our Annual Silent Auction for Breast Cancer We’ll share all that we know that’s new in our sampler world ~ and share Research, 6 - 8 PM, with all proceeds benefitting the Breast Cancer Research our samplers in progress as well! Please register. Fee $10 Foundation. October at 2011 The Attic January 14-16, 2011, (Martin Luther King weekend), A Primitive Saturday, October 2, Market Day! It’s the day that we take off the covers Gathering with Stacy Nash of Stacy Nash Primitives, Linda and show you the treasures this special time of year brings to our needlework Lautenschlager of Chessie & Me, Vickie Jennett of world. Doors open at 9 AM for Attic Addict members and at 10 AM to the NeedleWorkPress and more! Details to follow as they become general public. Be there or be square! available. This class with Linda Danielson of Samplers Remembered Reserve Your Copy(s) Today! is set for both Sunday, October 3 or October 10, 1 - 4 PM. The $35 Class/Teaching Fee includes a kit with everything you will need to learn this technique: 1 yard of trim, 115 antique buttons, 1 ball of ecru thread, a crochet hook, and miscellaneous thread and needles needed to sew the trim to your finished cushion. Your class fee is due on or before October 3. In other words, for logistical purposes, please pay before the day of your class. The supplies you should bring to class: scissors, pins, and the cushion that you have stitched, stuffed, and finished.

Saturday, October 9, Spooky Finishing Classes with Christy, both morning and afternoon. Your $25 fee includes Christy’s expert guidance as well as finishing materials (except your backing fabric choices). See details on our Web site.

Saturday, October 16, 10:30 - 12:30 Beginning Linen with Linda’s wonderful new Tulip needlebook design as the class Reserve your copy now of our “Recipes for a Cure” project. The $30 fee includes Linda’s Cookbook, available in November, with net proceeds being expert instruction as well as the chart + donated to our favorite charity, Breast Cancer Research materials for this most useful project. Foundation. $14.95 (or more, if you wish).

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SAMPLERS FROM THE PORCUPINE COLLECTION

These museum reproductions, charted in the 1980’s, have been out of print and unavailable for 20+ years, but they are now being reprinted so that this generation of samplermakers has access to these fabulous reproductions. Working with these photos was like a trip back in time for me. I collected these in the ‘80s when I first “found” samplers, and I even have one of them stitched! They had become very pricey in the after market, but now you can purchase them without having to bid! Top row from the left: “Hannah Lancaster” ~ “On Diligence” ~ “Jane Ballard” and, below left, “Mary Slatter” are all from the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester, MA and each is $30 (ND). Below, middle, “Betsey Fisk” (this is the one I stitched) and, below right, “Betsy Shed” each $15 (ND).

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MORE SAMPLERS FROM THE PORCUPINE COLLECTION

These samplers, and “Betsy Shed” on the previous page, are all reproductions from the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington, DC, and each chart is $15 (ND). They are, from the left above, “Sarah Ann Underhill” ~ “Amy Eliza Herbert” and, below her, “Sarah Rowand” ~ “Ann Cartwright” and, left, “Hester Vanderburg” We would be pleased to convert any of these to silks for you and to your favorite-count linen. So many wonderful choices are available to us samplermarkers today that we didn’t have in the 1980’s. COMING FROM WITNEY Witney Antiques is again treating our needlework world to another of their very collectible exhibition catalogues, this one on fine English domestic . In announcing the details about the exhibit for which this catalogue is being published, they say: “Elizabethan needlework in fine condition is extremely rare, and we will be exhibiting several superb examples, including an embroidered gentleman’s cap from Stanford Hall, the ancestral home of Sir Thomas Cave who helped defend the Manor House and Church against the Parliamentarians at the time of the Battle of Naseby, a rare bodice panel and, of particular interest, an exquisite folio cover embroidered in silk, metallic threads and spangles on an ivory silk ground with beautifully worked images of small animals, insects and flowers, typical of the Elizabethan period. “From the mid 17th century are silk and raised works of exceptional and vibrant colour. Exhibits from this highly collected period include a mirror decorated with Royal figures, Charles II wearing a cloak composed of hundreds of minute feathers., and the ‘Wilby House Casket’, one of the finest and most colourful to have come onto the market in recent years. And of exceptional rarity is a beadwork layette basket inscribed ‘Mary Baker Her Basket 1670’, the only known named and dated example. There will also be a group of attractive embroideries and rare band samplers. “The tradition of remarkable standards of needlework during the 16th and 17th centuries continued into the 18th century, and embroideries from this period were also worked with exceptional skill and the subsequent quality and attention to detail can be breathtaking. Exhibits from this time include fine silk work and decorative samplers. “The embroideries in this exhibition illustrate why British work, costly to produce a greatly valued, was so highly regarded in Europe and considered as amongst the very best.” We have no firm date as to when this catalogue will be available ~ the best information I have is mid to late September. $28 (ND)

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NEW IN THE SHOP

Clockwise from upper left, all new from Country Stitches, each $9: “Fraidy Felix” ~ “St. Noel” ~ “Oh Christmas Tree” ~ “Candy Corn” ~ “Fruit For a Long” ~ “Pumpkin Corn” and, lastly, “Broom Hilda,” pictured decorating a broom. I think she’d be quite charming (63 x 43) stitched over one on 30c Desert Dunes, an Attic exclusive hand-dyed linen, to fit perfectly in this tin frame from Twisted Threads ($24 each)

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MORE NEW IN THE SHOP

Clockwise from upper left: “Ghool School” (or “Ghoul” if you wish) $16 from Glendon Place ~ three from Heart in Hand Needleart: the first in a new series called It’s a Cinch, a series stitched on larger-count fabrics, “Harvest Jack” $17 w/linen + buttons, on 18c linen is a perfect travel project OR great for beginners! ~ “Leggy Pumpkinhead” $5.50 and “Pumpkin Solitude” $7 ~ “Halloween” $8 is from Elizabeth’s Needlework Designs ~ “Victorian Silhouettes” $6 is from Imaginating ~ and “The Needle Fairy” $13, #3 in her Stitching Fairy Series, is from Nora Corbett.

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Right, new from The Essamplaire, “Elisabeth Easdon 1827” $147/kit w/silks, and the description included with the cover photo: “A delightful Scottish sampler made by Elisabeth when she was probably twelve years old. The style of trees are typically found on Scottish samplers as are the peacocks with the seven tail feathers. The cat, bottom left is a nice addition. “Elisabeth was born March 27, 1815 in Glasgow, Lanark to George Easdon and Janet Leckie. “An unusual element to her sampler is the listing of a step-mother Agnes Young, as well as listing her birth mother in black (deceased). Her father's occupation is chronicled as Wright in the city of Glasgow. “Elizabeth married Matthew Gardner Gordon, a servant, 13 June 1839 in Barony. The 1841 Scottish census lists the family as Matthew (35, male servant), Elizabeth (25; she was actually 35), Margaret (14), Andrew (10), Janet (1). Elizabeth's death is recorded in 1884; her husband Matthew was present at the time of her death. “The nice thing about this sampler is that Elisabeth mentions her instructor, Janet Anderson. “Stitches used are cross, cross over one, satin, eyelet and four sided stitch.”

Left, the very beautiful “ S a r a h R o g e r s 1 8 0 2 Sampler” $24 from Arachne’s Silken Web, with linen and our conversion to a “quieter” color palette in Belle Soie. Right, Just CrossStitch 2010 Ornaments issue has arrived! $6.99 (ND)

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Just in from Leisure Needle of the UK

Clockwise from upper left: “Mary Busby Ackworth School 1804 Sampler” $31 ~ “Rhoda Morley 1875 Bristol Orphanage Sampler” $39 ~ “The Stewart Tartan Needle Case” $22 w/perforated paper ~ another Bristol Orphanage sampler, “Sophia Bailey” $39 ~ “Flower Spray” $41 kit for this design that uses a needlelace technique, includes ecru spun silk and platinum linen ~ and, lastly, an unusual Bristol Orphanage Sampler, “Alice Jones” $28, unusual because it is small and horizontal, ideal for anyone who would like to stitch an “orphanage” sampler but is daunted by their normal size.

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MARIANNE’S REMARKABLE NEEDLE’S PRAYSE SAMPLERS

These incredible pieces are all from Marianne’s needle, simply stunning work. And I know that you’re all grateful to her for sharing these inspirational finishes. Notice that two of them are dated 2010. I know it was a long winter in New Jersey, but this is simply remarkable. And she works full time, owns her own business, and does an immeasurable amount of volunteer work for her professional associations, both locally and nationally. And you should also know that these are all stitched on 40c linen with NPI silks. Darlene, I know you’re bursting with joy and pride to see your designs finished and framed so beautifully!

Left, “Celtic Sampler - Wallace” and “Robertson” each $37. Right, the 9-part “Berlin Wool Work Sampler” $83.50 for all 9 parts Below, a close-up of Marianne’s “signature” on her sampler.

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FROM OUR CUSTOMERS’ NEEDLES LAST NIGHT . . .

Clockwise from upper left, Sheri’s “Book of Spells” is nearing completion and almost ready for the Oct 9 finishing class~ Laurie’s “Halloweentown” ~ Betsy’s “Silent Night” from Milady’s Needle ~ and Apryl’s “Two Black Cats” $7 from Threads Through Time ~ Apryl now says she’s addicted to silk gauze. If you want to learn this technique, join us on October 18.

The Attic, Mesa, AZ Toll-Free: 1.888.94-ATTIC (1.888.942.8842) www.atticneedlework.com THE ATTIC! PAGE13 REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11 Counterclockwise from the left: Blackbird’s “Home of the Brave” that we modified a bit, replacing the alphabet with familiar words to all of us and including a tribute to 9/11. A few kits ($23) remain with 34c hand-dyed linen + 5 meters of NPI red ~ and three of our models all wonderfully framed in hand-painted/ grained Priscilla’s Pocket frames, another Blackbird design, “Grand Old Flag” $8 ~ Hands to Work’s “One Flag” $9 ~ “Liberty,” a complimentary design from Priscilla’s Pocket with the frame purchase, $63.

September 11, 2001, a date that will live in infamy for all Americans. This flag tribute was at a Tempe park in 2004. John and I were there close to sundown on September 10 that year. It was a very moving moment in time. There were flags for all who died on that fateful day and also yellow-ribboned flags for those in our military who had died since 2001 fighting the good fight for our freedom. In 2001 our country was bathed in flags that flew from cars, homes, businesses, everywhere. Red, white & blue pins, rings, other jewelry and clothing could be seen everywhere. Christmas trees were decorated that year with red, white & blue. Many Americans will never forget that day. Many other Americans, like our grandchildren, have to rely on history books to recount the horror. History should never be forgotten lest it be repeated.

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