Introducing Miss Ann Grant

Here she is ... Ann Grant's lovely sampler from 1829. This sweet girl was just ten when she stitched this massive piece. It's about 21 inches by 22 inches and stitched in wools on a 28 count linen. You can click on the picture to see it a little larger. Here is what the verse says:

In the soft season of thy youth

In natures smiling bloom

Ere age arrive and trembling wait

Its summons to the tomb

Remember your creator God

For him your powers employ

Make him your fear your love your hope

Your confidence and joy

Ann Grant worked this sampler in the

10th year of her age 1829

It's always fun for me to reproduce a sampler on the computer, because I can really see the piece come to life. Areas that are faded suddenly stand out. Patches that are worn or missing show back up in the graph, and it's such a joy to see how the original looked when it was new.

I bought this sampler from madelena.com -- I've purchased a number of samplers from this United Kingdom supplier. I hadn't really been looking for a new/old sampler to buy, but found this sampler one morning on their site and immediately claimed it. There are a few things that drew me to this sampler.

First, the colors are lovely. Any time there is red in a sampler, I am immediately interested. There's something about the color red that just makes art look alive. And red when combined with pinks and putty-beiges just knocks me out.

The house is fabulous -- I love that it's 3-dimensional (you can see the front and the right side.) Four chimneys. A 3-dimensional lawn, too, which is slightly unusual (the fence wraps around the left, you see.) My husband said he really likes the tree, which is big and over-flowing with flowers, leaves and birds. There are butterflies, birds, a dog, a fancy peacock, a few moths, a parrot, a rabbit, and a TINY man to the left of the tree.

There's also something about those three dividing bands around the verse I really enjoy. It's unusual ... striped berries and some leafy stars. They'd make great designs for banding around a basket.

Since I have the border finished, I can also tell you that this piece was stitched on a slightly unevenweave fabric. The sampler is almost square, but the piece, when stitched on evenweave linen, will be taller and thinner than the original.

I wanted to share a picture, because I know you guys enjoy seeing what's next on the agenda. The plan is for this one to be released in time for Nashville Market in February. I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek!