new sampler pix

For some reason the pictures I posted aren't appearing correctly in the New Photos page, but they do appear correctly in my album 'Deb D'.

Deb :-)

Oh, VERY nice. I don't believe I've seen a round one before - I like it!!

here is the link for those who might need it.

Thanks! The round one was supposed to be a padded wreath. I had a round frame with a raised glass (flea market treasure) so I adapted the pattern to fit - almost. I used a fabric that is stiff so I could trim it to shape. I charted the Emily Dickinson verse in the middle and named it Keziah Mead cuz I liked the name. Don't ask me if that is the name of a park/meadow or the name of the woman in the sampler. I don't know! It is left up to the imagination. ;-)

There was a real Keziah Mead, see here, scroll down the left hand side a fair bit.

Your samplers are great and I love the innovative ways you frame them. As a matter of fact, I've stored your ideas in my brain and just might look out of the box for things to use as frames now.

Lucille

Thank you, Lucille. I think my favorite motto is "necessity is the mother of invention". When I first began stitching about 30 years ago, it was a hobby I could afford and loved. Framing was the costly part, so I would search for interesting old frames, serving trays - anything that would work within reason. Then I would go thru my sampler pattern collection looking for one that was a close fit, or, more often adapt a pattern I thought would go with the frame. Sometimes I would add a few lines of text, chart in a verse or banner of pattern or motifs just to make it fit. There were times, too, when I had my husband cut down a frame to make it fit - especially when I needed a really large square one like the Sarah Maddock and Plantation samplers I just put out on RCTNP.

The entire process, from finding old frames, to refinishing them, to scouting out samplers and stitching/modifying them to work in the frame has been a labor of love. My walls are covered in nearly every room and when friends come they sometimes seem to have more fun browsing the walls then visiting with the hostess!

Deb :-)

Hi Deb:

I have a question - why do you sign non-reproduction samplers with someone else's name/s and dates? I noticed that you had done that on the Mary Beale round sampler, the Darlene O'Steen one and the Quaker one you had adapted from your friend's work.

There are already problems with new reproduction samplers being passed off as antiques, and I would think you would want your work to be acknowledged - especially if the pieces survive for 150+ years.

You can have the look of an old sampler and still put the correct dates on it. I know, since I've also done the O'Steen sampler, and signed it with my name and date. In fact another sampler repro I did for a friend had all of her weaving friends sure she had found an antique until she had them read the stitched dedication, names and dates.

It's just something I find very curious.

MargW

All true. But, many people in doing reproduction samplers, stitch in the name of the original artist, but then sign it below with their own names, initial & date. I guess in my thinking it gives credit that way to the original stitcher/designer. But indeed could be confusing.

It is a curious conundrum.

ellice

As I said, even thought I don't do it, I can understand whiy people use the original names in a reproduction sampler, and (hopefully) sign it somewhere else with their own name and date. What really confuses me is doing a new sampler (even if the design is in an older style) and putting an old date and another person's name on it.

MargW

Hi Marge and Ellice and all interested readers, I do actually sign the pieces, just not in an obvious spot. My initials or even sometimes my first initial and last name - with year of completion are stitched into a lower corner, in a thread that is slightly contrasting to the fabric. That way, I do credit myself, but just not obviously.

On reproduction samplers, I use the name on the pattern, to do it justice. As I said above, I also add my name and date in an obscure corner. The Darlene O'Steene Pomegranate sampler and the circular sampler are not reproductions, which is why I listed the designer's name. Reproductions samplers in my album are credited with their source, which museum, etc.

Of course, I have many other samplers that are not reproductions which bear the surname I carried at the time. Sadly, some of my favorites, such as the navy and scarlet coverlet sampler carry the name I used when married to my ex-husband. Every time I look at it, I truly wish I had not signed it that way. Some pieces carry my maiden name. These hang in my home and I have no intention of passing them off as originals. They are framed such that in most cases, inspection like Ellice described (in one of the earlier conversations on copyrights) would surely reveal the truth.

I have made no attempt to create and "antique" other than staining the fabric and using old ratty frames that I have revived with a bit of stain and oil or color to. The Sarah Ann Underhill sampler is probably the closest to that and I am sure you can tell it is not truly an antique.

I believe part of the beauty of the old samplers or patterns, if you will, is in the quaint names. The motifs, the alphabets, the borders, those all that can be seen on many samplers of a given era. The names, are unique. At least, one hopes they are. Eliza Teakle (on the 1703 white-work sampler), Sarah Pingel (on the Pomegranate sampler), and even Keziah Mead (on the round sampler) who turned out to be a real person by sheer coincidence, are names of my own invention. I believe it is all art. And, since these are my mine, by virtue of buying the pattern and stitching the work or modifying and adding to it, and I am the artist. I would say I have artistic license. :-)

To each his own, I suppose. Anyway, that's my point of view. I love old fashioned names and quite have a list of them for future samplers, if I should live long enough to stitch all! I hope you enjoyed viewing them, anyway.

Deb :-)

Ah, I didn't understand. Interesting approach. I think most modern pieces, even in the older style, the designers expect you to put in a name of your choosing, or your own name - as in stitched by....

I can understand that bit of angst. But, well, it's how life goes.

Absolutely. It's a different approach.

Certainly did - lovely work. And a little different stitching chat! We all have some intriguing points of view.

Ellice

I agree about the points of view. Thank you, Ellice. I guess I was in the minority here on the subject of names, but hope I can continue to contribute my perspectives.

Ironically enough, after I made that post about my former surname, my X showed up on my door step after 11 years of silence following a bitter divorce. It was an interesting conversation with him and my current dear DH. That's the way life is. If you make a determined statement about something, you are sure to come up against it, with no warning, and then before you know it, you undergo a shift of perspective.

Deb :-)