Hannah Carter's Christmas Tree Sampler

When I found and purchased Hannah's sampler last year online, I felt really lucky.  It's always fun to add another sampler to the collection, but also, a Christmas tree on a sampler is extremely rare, especially in the 1830's.  Christmas trees were uncommon with simple folk in Britain until the 1840's -- and in fact, only royalty (and the rich) had such an extravagance.  As a teen, Queen Victoria had a Christmas tree in her room in the 1830's.

I also love that Hannah finished her sampler just a few short weeks before Christmas.  It makes me wonder if her family had a tree, or if she really just wished that they did.  Note the moth that is drawn to the tiny lights all over the tree.  How charming!

The sampler itself is fairly simple in its style -- a number of stark black alphabets against the linen ground.  The negative space around the letters and alphabets gives if kind of a Quaker feel (as do the particular alphabets chosen.)  It was typical of a Quaker sampler to be stitched in just a color, or a few, but I can't be absolutely certain that is what this is.

The linen she used is a 30-count, and it has aged nicely.  There is a little thread loss here-and-there, but overall, it's just in grand condition.  Hannah was a fairly good little stitcher -- there are some flubs here and there in the border and in the lettering (the verse is especially quirky, as a lot of the letters are different from word-to-word.)  The fibers are silks, and I am recommending Gloriana Florimell Antique Black and Needlepoint Silk 693.  Stitch count is 208 by 255.  The stitches used are cross stitch, cross over-one, Algerian eye, and four-sided stitch (MY FAVORITE!)

The verse is one found in a New England children's primer brought to America on the Mayflower by the Puritans.  The poem is called "Learn These Four Lines by Heart."  I found a charming snuff box online (from a previous auction) with this same little poem on it.  I love the idea of it -- a virtuous statement along with the purpose of the snuff box: "Please, please try to be a virtuous and Godly person...now here, stick this up your nose."  (The box is thought to be from the late 1700's to early 1800's.)

Hannah would no doubt be proud to know that so many of you are looking at her work today.  You can purchase the chart by going to my Etsy site Letters Great and Small.  Or you can have your favorite shop order the chart for you from Norden Crafts or Hoffman Distributing, who will have their copies in the next couple of days.

In personal news, I am nearing the end of my time as manager at the animal shelter -- the 21st is my last day.  I am anxious to get back home to my family, and feel almost like I have been away for six months.  I was able to bake an apple pie and make ham soup yesterday -- how wonderful.

I also have a number of foster kittens, including dear little "Shoe" (above) who came in to the shelter late on Saturday.  A local man went out to his mailbox that afternoon and heard squawking.  He looked around and found a shoebox in the road with the lid on.  When he opened it up, there was a little cold and hungry kitten inside.  She is a Siamese/tabby mix (pale creamy grey with faint striping.)  And she would not have made it the night without his help.  She's only 10 ounces and probably 2 1/2 weeks.  But boy, is she cute and spunky.  She uses the litter box like a champion, and has a hearty appetite, as you can see by the food all over her face this morning.

She'll be with us through the holidays, no doubt, and we're glad to be able to help her out.

Happy stitching -- I'm excited to be getting ready to come back to the world of needlework!

When I grow up

My major announcement this week is that I have resigned from my position as manager of the animal shelter.  After very long work weeks that put me home most nights between 7 and 8 (or later), nightmares, insomnia, and countless frozen pizzas I have realized that I cannot sacrifice myself or my  family for my job.  I'll be done around Thanksgiving and will continue to volunteer and help fight the good fight for an organization that has my heart.  I am very proud of my time served, and my hat is off to those who have committed their lives to this mentally, physically and emotionally very challenging work.

I have seen things and helped do things that most people will never see or do.  Every single day, I have consoled someone who was crying.  I have been yelled at, threatened, covered in vomit, urine and feces, I have tried to handle every situation with strength and grace, and when I was feeling really unsure about what was going to happen now, I would say out loud to myself: I am not afraid of anything.  Just under 3,000 cats and dogs have come into the shelter's care during my five months at the shelter, and my staff handled all of them professionally and with great heart; I am really proud of those men and women.

What this means to you is that I am going to go back to designing, but do it full-time from home.  After 17 years in the cross stitch industry, this last year had me feeling very burned out, because I had spread myself way too thin, and could no longer do a good job at most of it.  Trying to run a shop and a web site by myself, in addition to traveling to teach and attend shows, and designing under two different lines (Raise the Roof and Shakespeare's Peddler) had gotten to be too much for one person.

But I've missed it this past six months, and one of the reasons I left this newest job is that I had no time to stitch anymore, ever (I went probably four or five months without picking up one needle).  In the last few weeks, I've been picking it back up, and it makes me so happy.  I am not re-opening my online store, although I have a new Etsy site called "Letters Great and Small."  My son Harrison is going to be packing and shipping orders for me from there, at least for the time being while I get back to the business of the needle (Harrison attended a few trade shows with me in the last few years; he's 22 now and getting a degree in psychology to become a counselor.)

I thank you with your patience with me this past year -- I've been a bit of a flake, and this was probably some sort of mid-life crisis.  I am learning that a person cannot be all things to all people, and what I would like to do now is do three things: design needlework, help this area's animals as a volunteer, and most importantly, take care of my family.

I have a whole stack of old samplers that need reproducing, and a mind full of design ideas for original designs.  My needle is waiting.

(The picture at the top was taken about eight weeks ago.  A group of eight puppies was brought to the shelter one day; they had been saved when a woman bought them for $20 each on the side of a country road from a man who was just hoping to sell them to be bait for dogs that were being trained to fight and kill other dogs.  All eight of them found homes.)

Chart to Benefit Southern Pines Animal Shelter: St. Stephen's Day

St. Stephen's Day has been celebrated in Ireland for hundreds of years and is one of the country's nine official holidays.  To this day, on December 26, merrymakers dress in old clothes and straw hats and go door-to-door with fake wrens to dance and make music.  These revelers are sometimes called "Mummers," which is how I got the inspiration for Mary's last name.

There is a wonderful song to celebrate St. Stephen's Day, and you can see an older recording of it  by The Clancy Brothers here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX7icoFY0U0.

I am making this graph available to you and am asking you to make a donation of any size to Southern Pines Animal Shelter by using your Paypal account.  Go to Paypal and send your donation to vrachal@comcast.net (Valerie is our grant writer and fund raiser extraordinaire!)  If you do not have a Paypal account, you can send a donation check directly to the shelter at 1901 N. 31st. Ave., Hattiesburg, MS 39401 (as always, I don't recommend you send cash in the mail.)  I am not requiring any particular donation, but can tell you that just $10 will feed two animals for a month.  Five dollars will buy us ten (very needed) rolls of paper towels for keeping things clean. If you're feeling extra generous, $30 pays for neuter surgery for one male cat or kitten.  Even just $2 will help us protect an animal from rabies with a vaccination.

To access this graph, you can click on the graphic below (the chart), and drag and drop it on your desktop. Then you can print it out for use; I have saved it for you 600 DPI as a jpg file.  The quality of the copy you print will depend on the capability of your printer.  If you don't have much luck printing this off, try asking a friend with a different printer to print it for you.

If THAT doesn't work, you can send me a SASE to Theresa Venette, 10 Plainview Crossing, Hattiesburg, MS 39402.

For fabric, I would choose something hand-dyed and old-looking.  I might suggest Vintage Exemplar by Lakeside Linens or Espresso by R&R Reproductions.  The key appears below the graph.

Symbol/DMC floss (over-dyed alternatives)

■ 3371 (Sampler Threads Cherry Bark)

= 831 (Sampler Threads Endive)

X 829 (Sampler Threads Heirloom Gold)

. 613 (Weeks Dye Works Light Khaki)

3 3826 (Sampler Threads Gingersnap)

w 3859 (Sampler Threads Raspberry Frost)

+ 3857 (Weeks Dye Works Rust

↑ 3031 (Sampler Threads Pecan Pie)

/// 3781 (Sampler Threads Maple Syrup)

A little bit about what we do at the shelter: Southern Pines was established in 1952 and last year accepted 5,000 unwanted, neglected, abused and lost dogs and cats from a 15-county area.  We are a non-profit organization that strives to reunite lost pets with their owners, educates the public about the importance of responsible pet ownership, adopts out thousands of animals a year, sends other animals on transports and to breed-specific rescue groups, assists with hoarding, neglect and abuse cases, offers pet food to those in need, and much, much more.  We operate a low-cost spay and neuter clinic that has done over 20,000 surgeries in the 3 1/2 years it has been open.  We also have opened a Thrift Store and Adoption Center to assist us in our mission.

Thank you for your help.  I hope you enjoy this design!

I'm back!

Well, to be fair, I never left. In fact, in my neck of the woods, there's been a lot more of me everywhere.  I've been putting in very long, hard hours at the animal shelter I manage. I go to bed so very tired every night, that some mornings I wake up in the same position in which I went to sleep, sore on that side, and still aching from the previous day's work.

I've still been fostering kittens, and of course my days are filled with animals.  In the last ten weeks, our shelter has taken in around 1,700 animals.  I have hired staff (and let a few go), have handled multiple crises with as much grace as I could muster, have been on the news a number of times, and really, I've just been working my butt off.

And when I get home every night around 7...or 8... I think about cross stitch.  But I haven't had the strength to even pick up a needle.  I had to close down my shop in the last few weeks, too, so that means in addition to extremely long weeks at the shelter, I've been hauling boxes, tearing down displays, and moving things back home.  I'm setting up a home office; I found a desk and chair yesterday to order, so for today, I'm on the kitchen table, and we're just going to have to eat our dinner in our laps.  I have missed you guys!

Okay, so ...

I've got Mary Bate's reproduction ready to go.  Look for it on my eBay shop.  The chart price is $20.00.  The piece is 270 by 390 stitches and can be stitched in DMC floss or Needlepoint Silk/Gloriana/Silk N Colours.  Here is a supply list, if that helps:

Needlepoint Silk 763, 993 (3), 756, 203, 693, 957, 913 (2), 333
Gloriana Silk Old Gold (2)
Silk N Colours Rye Grass
Linen: 40 count Espresso by R&R Reproductions or 40 count Vintage Light Exemplar by Lakeside Linens

Yes, I've been fostering.  But I've got a roast in the oven, so I just want to share some pictures with you real quick, hopefully to tide you over until next time.  I have lost a few kittens, but have saved a bunch this year.  I am trying to limit myself to three at a time, but right now have five (several came back sick from the shelter.)

Bacchus.  

Currently here at the house -- absolutely one of the most affectionate kittens I've ever had.

A baby doll.

Stephen.

Adopted.

Super-funny and active.  And look at those amazing whiskers.

Bubbles.

Came in by herself, and was terrified at first.

Trying to get over a cold here at the house.

So nice.

Freddy Mercury.

Also came in by himself.

Adopted last weekend.

His new little boy has the same color hair he does!

Blossom.

At the house -- also with a cold.

VERY unusual coat of cocoa brown and cream.

Her eyes have become concerned-looking, but she hasn't a care in the world.

 Yeti.

Also at the house.

Slightly cross-eyed.

Handsome, nice, and very soft.

I hope life has been treating you well.  Life is treating me well, and I'm treating it well right back.

Be good!  Hope to talk to you again real soon.

Kerfluffle

This post is going to be somewhat vague (and a little weird), but I want to be up front with an issue that pops up from time to time in our industry from a business person's point of view.

I have used eBay as a way to clear excess inventory for over ten years now and have most recently started moving most of my operations (at full retail price) to eBay.  (You can find me at stores.ebay.com/Shakespeares-Peddler.)

Once in a while, I hear from a distributor or designer who is upset about the way I am selling her product (whether that be on my web site or elsewhere.)  It has come to my attention that some shops are complaining to at least one of my distributors about the fact I am using eBay to sell merchandise (most of this merchandise is at full retail price; certain older items, over-stocks, or otherwise less-desirable items I am offering in auctions.)

Now, one particular distributor has told me she can no longer sell to me, since I use eBay, as other shops have complained.  I still have a number of this distributor's products in stock, and am using eBay to sell them, much of it at full retail price.  Now, this distributor has told me I have to stop selling anything she wholesales on eBay, and she offered to purchase those items back at wholesale.  (Keep in mind, I paid shipping on those items for starters, and would have to pay return shipping, which would mean I would lose money taking this offer.)

This same distributor's products are sold every day at a discount on a number of other stitching web sites.  I have never personally agreed with the "everything on sale, every day" business model in our industry.  Our mark-up is low compared to other industries, but that decision is each business person's to make.  One of the beautiful things about being a small business owner is making your own decisions.

When I started my business 17 years ago, I faced numerous complaints from other shops (and distributors) who felt that online businesses were unfair and hurtful to the industry.  However, the shops who did not get on the Internet were the first ones to go out of business.  Times change, and so businesses must change, too.  Stubbornly hanging onto the past would mean our malls would be filled with buggy whip outlets and top hat stores.  (Well, and even then, how much longer will we have local malls?)  I have found on eBay that I can reach a much larger group of stitchers world-wide, and the format makes it easier for me to fill orders by taking out a lot of the steps.

No distributor (or designer, or manufacturer) has to agree to sell wholesale (or even retail) to anyone.  However, attempting to control the way a product is sold, adherence to terms of sale, limiting discounts, or agreeing to sell something at a common "retail" price is called price fixing and is punishable under the Sherman Antitrust Act, a federal offense.  Anyone who would bring such a case before a court and win can collect up to three times the damages sustained, plus full compensation of legal and prosecution fees.

I guess I just wanted to let y'all know that the kind of backstage bickering that goes on sometimes in our industry is not only meddling and counter-productive, it's also misguided, uninformed and potentially illegal.  Please know that I am not angry at anyone, nor do I wish anyone any harm.  There are so many great shop owners, customers, distributors, designers, and manufacturers out there!  And I love you guys!!!

Sarah Chapple 1831

Look at all of the great little plants tucked here and there on the lawn!

I'm not great at keeping secrets... but I kept this one for a couple of years.  I purchased the Sarah Chapple 1831sampler at auction online and paid a pretty penny for it (well, thousands of pretty pennies). But, oh, was it worth it!!!  Look at those cherry reds and olive greens.  They knock my socks off (first, though, they knock my shoes off...then my socks.)  I love anything with a house on it, a red house is even better.

Sarah's signature ... what a girl!

Two years ago, I taught about my sampler collecting at a Silver Needle retreat in Tulsa, and I did take this sampler there.  The gals at the retreat were pretty jazzed about getting their hands on a chart of this one, so I'm pleased the graphing is done.

Can you believe this wonderful girl was only 11 years old when she stitched this sampler?  There are over 42,000 stitches in this one.  Way to go, Sarah!  She was a diligent stitcher.  This one was tricky to graph, because there were sections of her stitching where a lot of the stitches were off by one thread this way and that way and the other way, so I was constantly having to make adjustments.  The back of the sampler is way neater than anything I ever stitch, and most of the verse is stitched over-one on FORTY-EIGHT COUNT LINEN.  I suspect she may have had super powers in order to see those tiny little stitches.

Sarah Chapple 1831

The sampler is in good shape -- very few areas of loss...not many holes.  The sampler at one point had been GLUED down to a board just along the edges, and there is some discoloration right through the center of the scene at the bottom (you can see it as a dark smudge that runs through the fanciful tree on the left of the house).  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the U-shaped border around the verse!  The urns on either side of the house (in the center) don't match, which I also LOVE!  The flowers in them are different, and I think those motifs would make great little fobs or pincushions.

Here is the verse:

                 On Isaiah c. 40th v. 8th 

And is it so that to life's journey's end
God still will prove my Father and my Friend,
To all my weakness still will bend his ear,
And my most feeble accents deign to hear?
Sweet truth _ the fading flower that blooms today,
May ere to_morrows dawn, have passed away.
The grass may wither, and the flower may fade.
Our brightest hope be wrapp'd in deepest shade,
"But God's own word for ever shall endure,"
It stands to all eternity secure!. 

                         Sarah Chapple
                             Her Work
                        Aged 11 Years
                                 1831

Matching the fabric was tricky. It's definitely a natural linen, 48 count, like I said, but it's got that 200-year-old grime thing going on.  It's not DIRTY, but it's not CLEAN, you know what I mean?  I actually have given stitchers a few options: 40 ct. 18th Century Rook by R&R Reproductions is my top pick, but you can also use 40 count Natural or 40 count Dirty linen by Zweigart.  Coffee-, tea-, or walnut-dyeing these fabrics before you stitch will give the fabric a more authentically grungy look.  The fabric has a definite greenish-cast to it.  The stitch count is 301 by 407.  Here are the FINISHED sizes, depending on the count of linen you're working on:

28 count: 21 1/2" by 29"
32 count: 18 3/4" by 25 1/2"
36 count: 16 3/4" by 22 1/2"
40 count: 15" by 20 1/4"

Here is the fiber list.  There are a number of colors of which you'll need multiple skeins, and that information is here as well.  All stitching is done with one strand, if you're working on 40 count.

Au ver a Soie: 2212, 3724, 3745 (2), 4525 (3)
Needlepoint Silk: 333, 336, 505 (3), 976
Gloriana: Elizabethan Green (2), Holly Berry, Spanish Moss (2), Vanilla
Silk N Colours (The Thread Gatherer): Linsey Woolsey (2)

The Sarah Chapple 1831 reproduction chart is $25.00.  There are a few ways you can get a hold of this graph.  The quickest/easiest way is through my Etsy store.  Click on this listing: https://www.etsy.com/listing/166183862/sarah-chapple-cross-stitch-sampler.  Or, have your local shop order it through Hoffman Distributing or Norden Crafts (both will have their copies in the next week).

You can also order the silks set ($113.00) or the fabric ($50.00 for a half yard of 40 count 18th Century Rook or $38.00 for a fat half of 40 count Natural or Dirty Newcastle linen).

Anyway, I hope you like Sarah's sampler.  I really do!  I purchased another new/old/antique one this week from eBay, and I think that's going to be a secret, too.  Secrets can be fun, I'm learning!

Cross Stitch Camp in Kansas

Last week, I was contacted by Heart's Desire and told that it was not going to work out to fly me in for camp later this month.  I didn't want y'all to think I backed out on you -- I was set to go.  Debbie did offer to buy the class kits to teach at the retreat, but that's not something I'm comfortable doing, and so I'll save the project for either another retreat or release the project as a chart pack/instructions sometime down the road.

To those of you who are going, I hope you have a great time, and I'll be thinking of you. :)