Adapted from a mid eighteenth century English sampler.

The combination of several unusual stitch techniques with bold primary colours, makes this sampler outstandingly beautiful and a rewarding project to stitch.

While the majority is done in cross stitch, large sections of Queen, stem, satin, rice and Irish stitch provide a beautiful  counterpoint to the humble cross. The poignant verses are as follows:

Could we forbear disputes:
And practice Love; we
Should agree as Angels do
above. Weak tho we are, to
Love is no hard task: and Love
for Love is all that Heaven doth ask. I go to sleep before you but we shall wake together*
Remember this and bear in mind a constant friend is hard to find.
NO SPRING TILL WHEN**
Emily Lucille is my name and England is my
nation. Oxford is my dwelling place: a place of
habitation. When I am dead and laid in grave &
all my bones are rotten: when this you see:
Remember me tho I was quite forgotten.

(*This last line appears on the early 17th century tomb of a husband and wife [who predeceased him] in Burford Cathedral, Oxfordshire, England.)

(**A similar line of verse- "No Spring Till Now"- appears on the painting of Mary Throckmorton, Lady Scudamore, now hanging at Montacute House near Yeovil, in Somerset, England. It is part of the National Portrait Gallery collection. It was painted to commemorate the marriage of Lady Scudamore's son. This marriage symbolized hope and regeneration within the family. A wreath of flowers surrounds the date of the marriage. The version of that phrase used in this sampler implies an uncertainty of the future.)

Kit contains 35 count linen, silk or cotton thread, needle and instructions.

RATED: Intermediate to Advanced

FINISHED SIZE: 15-1/4"X20-1/2"

Scroll down to see close up pictures of sections of this sampler.