Introducing Rachel Mauger

A few years ago, I shared a not-so-great picture on this blog of an antique sampler I had acquired featuring a sitting stag.  I started charting and stitching on a reproduction not too long after that, but set it aside for other stitching interests (and because charting the deer was a daunting prospect).  Over the last few months, I have been able to devote some serious stitching and charting time to Rachel's sampler, and here she is:

The model is stitched on 40 count Cappuccino linen by Weeks Dye Works, using silks from NPI, Au ver a Soie, and Crescent Colours (now Classic Colorworks).  I was first attracted to this sampler by the deer, and by the extremely bright turquoise and pinks that Rachel chose for her border.  The colors are all very bright, but I think they work well together.  I hope a few of you will think so as well.

Rachel stitched her sampler using wool threads on a coarse 22-count canvas.  I chose to stitch my model on a much higher count linen simply because that is more to my personal tastes, but it could certainly be stitched on a fabric closer in size to the original thread count.  I considered stitching with wools, but I simply could not find that pink and turquoise in the materials available today.

I went online to do a little digging around and to see if I could get some idea of who Rachel might have been.  The sampler was purchased from a store in England and I discovered that there were several women named Rachel Mauger living on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel.  There are records of two young women who would have been of the appropriate age to have stitched this sampler.  So maybe Rachel came from Guernsey, but I don't suppose we will ever know for certain.

If you like this reproduction, and you would like to purchase a pattern, please let your LNS know about your interest.  And please, share your interest with the rest of your stitching friends too.   Shops can contact me regarding purchasing at robin@threadsofmemory.com.  Or, they can stop by the Cherished Stitches room at Nashville.  My mom will be carrying all of the patterns that I will be sharing here on my blog.

I am off to put a few more stitches in one of Mom's models.  Til next time, stay crafty my friends!

It's time for a giveaway!!!

Hello everyone!  As this post's title says, it is time for me to have a giveaway.  Everybody loves a chance to win free stuff, right?

The rules:
1-  You MUST be a follower of this blog.
2-  Leave a comment on this post, and you get one entry.
3-  Share about my giveaway on your own blog.  Then come back here and leave a comment on this post, telling me that you've shared, and you get a second entry.
4-  The contest will close at midnight on February 12th.  I will try to announce the winner as soon after that as possible, but I might not get the chance until after Market is over and I return home.

The Prize:
The winner will get their choice of two of my new patterns.  I will be sharing all six new releases over the next three weeks.

Well, that's it for this post.  Coming soon: photos of the Rachel Mauger Reproduction Sampler.

New Year's start and the first trip of the year

Wow!  Has it really been almost 3 weeks since I last posted?  Where does the time go!  I guess I will start by sharing some stitching progress.  Like many of my fellow stitchers, I like to start on a brand new project on January 1st, as a sort of New Year's celebration.  This year, I chose to work on "Heaven and Nature Sing" by With Thy Needle and Thread.  The following picture shows one day's worth of stitching, and only one day's worth of stitching, since I haven't had time to work on the piece since the 1st.  Not too bad for one day's work, I think:

Since the first, I've been devoting my stitching time to a model piece for Mom, which I can't share yet, of course.  There actually hasn't been all that much time for stitching though.  Among other things, Alton and I spent a week in California cleaning out his uncle's condo in order to make some progress on his estate (Alton is the executor).  It was hard work, and sad work too.  I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that it truly boggled my mind to see how many different documents used to be generated containing a person's social security number: bank statements, pay stubs, loan documents, etc, etc.  Shred, shred, shred.

While we were in California, we did take a few hours off to do a tiny bit of sight seeing.   Between Los Angeles and San Diego, there is a old Spanish Mission at the town of San Juan Capistrano.  The original church was destroyed by an earthquake in the 19th century, and the ruins of "The Great Stone Church" still stand on the site today:

The church is listed on the World Monuments Fund top 100 Most Endangered Sites because of its fragile state.  The whole mission was simply beautiful, and relaxing.

The mission is also famous for its annual "Return of the Swallows" which is celebrated every year on March 19.  Apparently, the birds return on almost the same day every year, and build their nests along the eaves of the mission's buildings.  Sadly, it was the wrong time of the year for us to see the swallows ourselves.

There were some beautiful cactus plantings around the mission.  I didn't take many photos of the gardens, so you'll just have to take my word that they were lovely.

 So that's most of what I've been up to this month.  I have two of my six patterns bagged up, and I'm working hard at getting all the others ready.  I can't believe it's less than a month til the Nashville show!

Tomorrow (assuming that we still have power), I will post a giveaway announcement, and I will start sharing photos of my designs.  I hope some of you will like them!  Til next time, stay warm, stay safe, and stay crafty!

Final Finish of 2013

This is it!  The year will be over in less than 24 hours, and I have one last finish to share with you.  The stitching on this pillow was done over a year ago, but I was kind of daunted by the idea of hand-sewing a real-sized pillow.  (I don't own a sewing machine, and frankly don't care for them.  I think my mother's warnings to me about not sticking my hands near her machine has translated into a lifetime dislike)  Anyway, I finally set to the task a few days ago.  It's a 14 inch square pillow:

And here's the fabric I chose for the back:

Please disregard any tails or paws in the corners of my photos.  They are always somewhere nearby.

I have finished all the stitching for my new designs, and have moved on to helping Mom with some of her model stitching.  There's still a lot for me to do in the next month and a half, including building a website, eek!  But the thing I'm most looking forward to (and most scared of), is sharing my work with you as we get closer to Nashville Market.  And of course, I couldn't do a launch without a giveaway.  So keep an eye out for that!

I hope all of you have a wonderful, safe New Year's celebration.  I'll be joining a friend or two to watch my college team play in a bowl game, then ringing the new year in with my darling husband.  Cheers!

Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone had a wonderful day yesterday, whether, like me, you were celebrating the birth of Jesus, or just enjoying a day off and maybe some time with your loved ones.  I have taken a break from model stitching this week to work on finishing some Christmas ornaments.  These poor items have been sitting around all year.  They were stitched, but never got any further than that.  I have finished two so far, and hope to have another 2 (okay, at least one) finished by the time Saturday rolls around.

Here's one designed by Homespun Elegance:

And the second one isn't actually an ornament.  Technically it's a pincushion, from a kit by Shepherd's Bush.  So it has no business sitting in the tree.  Not that that stopped me:

It's early.  The house is quiet.  I am about to head into the living room to enjoy some undisturbed stitching time.  Merry Christmas to me!  Til next time, stay safe, and stay crafty.

This one's for the birds

Hello all!  I'm diverging a bit from my normal subject matter to share some photos of all the different kinds of birds that have been visiting my little birdseed snowman these past few days.  He's kind of a hit.

The first birds to visit the feeder were titmice and carolina chickadees:

Isn't my little snowman cute?  Of course, two days later, he's not looking quite so shapely.  But the brown-headed nuthatches don't seem to mind:

Neither do the carolina wrens (I think I've id'ed this bird correctly.  Feel free to tell me if you know otherwise):

The northern mockingbirds have even shown up, and I rarely see them at the regular birdfeeder:

The wild canaries are back after a few months' vacation, but they have their own special feeder and could care less about the snowman.  This guy is barely yellow right now, but in the summer, they are a brilliant yellow, and a treat to watch:

I've seen plenty of cardinals around the yard, but right now they seem to be boycotting the snowman.  Regardless, the cats and I are enjoying the wildlife show that our little Frosty is bringing to the window!

Have a great weekend!

Pocahontas jacket and Ebay treasures

Hello strangers!  I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season.  I know my family certainly is.  There are parties and gatherings every time you turn around, it seems.  But I wanted to take a few minutes to share with you about an exciting new project going on at Jamestown Settlement next year.

About a week ago, a friend shared a link to a blog post about plans to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the wedding of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.  As part of the celebration, Preservation Virginia's Historic Jamestowne will create an embroidered waistcoat inspired by an article in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  The waistcoat will be worn as part of Pocahontas's wedding attire during the commemoration on April 5, 2014.

The project is reminiscent of the Plimoth Jacket project from a few years ago, only it is much closer to home (for me), so there's a much greater chance that I will be able to more actively participate.  Yippee!  In case anyone else reading this hasn't already heard about the project and is interested in participating, you shoul contact

Julie Zellers-Frederick
Volunteer Coordinator
julie@preservationvirginia.org
757-856-1259

She will send you a small sample to complete, demonstrating the stitch types present in the original garment.  All skill levels are welcome.  The project is done in collaboration with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and their Costume Design Center.

I received my package in the middle of last week and sat down with it yesterday morning. It didn't take more than a few hours to stitch, and here's what my sample looks like:

The stitches required, chain and seed, are not stitches that I use very often, but hopefully they will find my efforts acceptable and I will make my way to Williamsburg for some intensive stitching time early next year.  Even if I don't make, I'm excited about the very idea of this hand-embroidered jacket and I hope they are able to pull it off.

In other news, I somehow found myself browsing through the samplers offered up on ebay the other day.  One thing led to another, and two tattered little treasures have made their way home to me.  If all goes well with my design release in February, you will be seeing reproductions of these two before too long.  One of them is an Adam and Eve sampler with lots of crazy colors in it:

The second one is very faded, and I the picture I took of it is a fairly sorry one.  But I think this sampler is going to be gorgeous once it's restitched:

Finally, I leave you a taste of one of the two reproductions I'll be releasing in February.  As you can see, it's an Adam and Eve sampler, and I am in love with the big blue and gold flower you can see here:

Til next time, stay safe, stay warm, and stay crafty!