Introducing Ada Mary Hornsey

In an earlier blog post, I showed you some snippets of the Ada Mary Hornsey sampler which I've reproduced. Here she is in her entirety. Isn't she delightful? This well balanced sampler is worked in such pretty colors and has a very interesting outer border worked in long straight stitches. I've never seen such a border. Have you?

I found the verse particularly interesting. Was Ada attempting to honor her parents or was she required to stitch the verse as punishment for some act of childish disobedience? Perhaps some of you remember school teachers who would make a disobedient student write something 100 times on paper or on the blackboard as a reminder not to break that rule again at school.

Ada's sampler was originally stitched on perforated paper with 24 holes per inch. I stitched my reproduction over two linen threads on 40-count light sand linen from Zweigart using 8 colors of Needlepoint Inc. silk thread. (On the chart, I've listed DMC color substitutions for anyone who doesn't want to use silk thread. Just keep in mind that the DMC thread colors listed are not exact matches for the silk colors.)

The stitch count for this sampler is 184 wide x 239 high. It is stitched completely in cross stitch except for the border which is in long straight stitches.

Instead of linen, you can also use 18-count Aida or 22-count Hardanger fabric. However, if you want your sampler to be the same size of Ada's original sampler, use 48-count linen instead of the 40-count I used on my model.

In addition to the main chart (which has been divided into 4 parts to make it easy on your eyes), the package includes a small color photo of Ada's orginal sampler and some genealogical information about her and her family who were from Wellingborough, England.

As is the case with many old samplers, there are irregularities in the design. This is particularly noticeable in the the two borders. To make your stitching more relaxed and enjoyable, we've pointed out these irregularities on the chart.

I hope you'll enjoy getting to know Ada and stitching her sampler. I know I did!

This sampler reproduction will be available at the Nashville Needlework Show next month.

Some sneak peaks

I thought you might like seeing some sneak previews of the Ada Mary Hornsey sampler, my newest reproduction sampler.

Ada was born in 1858 in Wellingborough, England which is near Cambridge. She stitched her sampler when she was 10 years old.

view of the lower left corner

center floral motif with birds

one of two similar vases of flowers

Ada's sampler measures 184 stitches wide x 239 high and is worked using only 8 thread colors. It is stitched using cross stitch except for the outer border which is worked in long stitches.

I hope these photos whet your appetite for what is to come. I'll show more photos once I get the sampler back from my framer.

The chart will be released at the Nashville needlework tradeshow in February.

Deborah, Ada, and Garrett!

You may remember that I stitched the Deborah Walker sampler as a stitch-along with my friend, Carol. In my June 10th blog post I showed a photo of our two samplers in progress. Carol had changed the linen, thread colors, and verses on her version. Our goal was to display our two samplers side by side at our guild (The Queen City Sampler Guild) Christmas party.

Recently someone wrote and asked if I had any photos of the samplers together. I had neglected to take my camera to the guild party so I asked Jana, another member, to please take some photos for me. Poor thing! The lighting in the room caused lots of problems as you can see by the white spots. Regardless, I think you can still see how the samplers look together. Mine is on the left and Carol's is on the right.

Below is a partial view of Carol's adaptation of the original sampler. I hope that you can readthe lovely Bible verses she used. Also note how she stitched that her sampler was inspired by Deborah Walker's sampler.

Next is my sampler. I had finished stitching it before my back problems started and had even taken it to Carol to be framed. She called me one day during the period where I was bedridden and said that she and her husband would like to bring it over in hopes of lifting my spirits. Wasn't that a sweet thing to do?

Just a reminder that the Deborah Walker sampler is out-of-print. (The last time I showed a photo of my version, shops and stitchers contacted me about getting the chart.) Margriet from The Essamplaire has reproduced Deborah's sister's sampler which is very similar to Deborah's. Both girls were from Chester County, Pennsylvania, and their samplers reflect their Quaker background.

Tomorrow afternoon I'm off to see Carol and take her my newest reproduction sampler, Ada Mary Hornsey. I have had lots of fun researching Ada who was from Wellingborough in the UK. The chart will be available at the Nashville tradeshow in mid-February and will include information about Ada and her family.

There wasn't much stitching going on at the Chester house last weekend. Look who came for his first visit. We can hardly wait for the next one!