Look what i just finished!

As promised, here is my completed Mary Wigham.

(Click on the photo for a better view. )

You can't see it in the photos, but at the very bottom I backstitched "Stitched by Ellen Chester in the year 2009--Cincinnati, Ohio". This information will not show when the sampler is framed. I strongly believe that my name and the date should be somewhere on a reproduction sampler.

Several people have asked about my linen and thread choices. I used 36-count Maritime White linen from Lakeside Linens. For the threads, I first pulled the ones listed on the chart. I then traded out most of those threads for overdyed cotton threads that were close to the chart colors. (This was the first time I had ever used overdyed threads on a reproduction sampler.) I love reproduction samplers, and I believe in stitching them as close to possible to the antiques. This is why I didn't make any dramatic thread color changes.

I'll have a plastic pocket put on the back of the frame for the chart, information about Mary, and perhaps some information about me. Sometimes I include an envelop with a little piece of the linen and some of the threads. If the threads are in an envelop and are unexposed to light, years from now one can see if the threads on the sampler have changed with exposure to light.

I"ve done quite a bit of "recreational" stitching this year, so over the next few weeks, I'm going to have to immerse myself in model stitching. I hope you'll like the new projects.