Wednesday, September 16, 2009

NEW--A Multiplication Table Examplar

I'd like to show you one of my new designs, A Multiplication Table Examplar. Hornbooks were an instructional tool used by children for several hundred years, so I thought a hornbook frame would be a wonderful complement to this sampler.

(Click on the photo for a larger view or go to my website.)

I wanted a frame that looks like metal strips are holding the lesson (in this case, the multiplication table) in place, reminiscent of the way metal strips sometimes held down the horn on the old hornbooks. I asked Janet and Joy of Valley House Primitives to make a new frame for this project. Didn't they do a wonderful job? They even put a hole in the handle so I could insert a cord. Hornbooks usually had a cord in the handle so that a child could attach it at his or her waist. I know several of you have already contacted your local needlework shop to order this wonderful frame.

I stitched the model over one linen thread. You can also stitch it over two linen threads or make it into a pillow. Here’s the model information:

Linen:
32-count Meadow Rue linen from Lakeside Linens and Designs, Inc.

Stitch count: 131 wide x 204 high.
Stitched area size when stitched over one linen thread on 32-count linen: 4-1/8 inches wide x 6-3/8 inches high.

Threads:
2, 5-yard skeins of Dungarees Sampler Thread from The Gentle Art.
1, 5-yard skein of Freedom Sampler Thread from The Gentle Art.
DMC color substitutions are listed on the chart. If you use linen with a different count or cross stitch the sampler over two linen threads instead of over one, make sure you buy enough thread from the same dyelot.

The charts for this product are already printed and packaged. I hope to ship them, and those for two other new products, to my automatic shops in about ten days. I'll soon be emailing the shops about these new designs and giving them supply lists.

I'll be posting photos of the other two designs in the next few days.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ellen, I've loved some of the multiplication tables, but I really like this on the hornbook. I'm going to have to have this for sure.
thanks for showing it off :)
babs in Alabama

Me said...

Ellen, you have me hooked on these now! Love the story and the attention to detail to create such a historically accurate and fun design! H is for Hornbook!

Anonymous said...

Ellen, you are so talented. I can hardly wait to order the Hornbook pattern. Who do we order the Hornbook from? JoAnn

Margaret said...

OMG!!! I love it! Argh! My LNS carries Valley House Primitives too so I bet I can order the frame from them. Oh Ellen, my budget is destroyed! lol!

Deb said...

Oh, I love multiplication tables and I love hornbooks! I especially love that frame! I know this is going to be something I have to have!!

Carol R said...

That's gorgeous Ellen!

Jennifer Ann Fox said...

Ellen, I love this new design.
Your work is so lovely!
Love to read your blog.

Jennifer
http://www.feathersinthenest.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see this one. I wish I was going to market!

Karoline said...

It's gorgeous Ellen, I love it

Siobhán said...

Aaaah! This might just make me suck up my dislike for over one so that I can stitch this beauty. I love it, love hornbooks, hate math but love the multiplication tables in samplers.... Great job, Ellen!