Thursday, April 8, 2010

What I've been doing recently....

I started stitching Amy Eliza Herbert, a reproduction sampler from The Porcupine Collection, years ago before I ever thought about designing. Heaven knows why I put her aside. A few months ago, I decided to finish Amy, and I just got her back from my framer, Carol.


I hung Amy in our family room as you can see in the photo below. This is just one of the sampler walls in the room--I think there are around 20 other samplers in there.
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The samplers (going from left to right) are the Red Flower sampler (although mine is blue instead) by The Sampler House, Ann Pennsylvania Peacock (with quite a few changes) from Little by Little, Amy Eliza Herbert, Mary Victor from The Examplarery, the Three Things sampler from Moira Blackburn, Rachel Allen from The Scarlet Letter, the Newburyport Sampler from Samplar Workes, the American Sampler from Treasures Magazine, Margaret Gibson from The Scarlet Letter, and The Embroideress from The Examplarery. You may have also noticed my needlework casket on the sewing table on the left side of the sofa.

I "live" with all my With My Needle models. Over the past year or so, I've been moving them upstairs into my office. We painted the walls a lovely golden color which really shows off the framed pieces beautifully. You may remember seeing some of them on the walls in a blog post last month.

For quite some time, I've been looking for a glass-front case for the three-dimensional pieces. I was delighted to find this wonderful barrister bookcase over the weekend.
 
I still need to work some on arranging the pieces. I think some more lucite stands will help. I think I'll also move my Petit Sampling Etui from our family room to the top of the bookcase.

I'm delighted to now have all but one of my models in my office. The only one missing is the framed model of A Needleworker's Sampler Huswif (a teaching project) which is in our kitchen. It looks so wonderful there against the deep blue walls!

20 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the finished sampler, abosolutely gorgeous!

And your sampler wall and bookcase of models is to die for...so inspirational too! Maybe one day, I'll have a wall and cabinet full like that! LOL!

HAPPY STITCHIN'
Terri

Anonymous said...

Awesome!

Siobhán said...

Absolutely beautiful, Ellen! I loved seeing your sampler wall and the barrister's case filled with stitchy goodies. Fabulous--all of it!

Faye said...

I am awestruck!~ What a beautiful wall of samplers and the cabinet is perfect~ You are very inspiring to all of us sampler lovers. Thanks~ Faye

Jules said...

Your bookcase is beautiful! I really enjoy seeing your finished pieces. Thanks for sharing!

Valerie said...

Absolutely beautiful! The wall of samplers is breathtaking and your cabinent is perfect! The sampler wall is a great way to get me back over to my stitching basket! I am on my way now because I want a sampler wall too!!! Thanks so much for sharing!

Jean said...

Beautiful Ellen

Roberta said...

Love the Barrister Bookcase Ellen, it is perfect for showing the 'smalls'

Nancy said...

Your sampler is gorgeous Ellen! I love your sampler wall. I bet it's amazing to see in person. The bookcase filled with smalls is beautiful!

Margaret said...

Amy Eliza Herbert is gorgeous! And your sampler wall! There are so many samplers you've stitched that I want to stitch someday! Oh, I wish I had the amount of wall space you do! lol! I love that barrister bookcase too -- your smalls look fantastic in it! Your house must be a wonderful sight to see.

Jacqueline Korteland Boller said...

How beautiful the samplers and the display case are!!! You're giving me ideas!!!

Laurie in Iowa said...

Your sampler wall is fabulous! Thanks for letting us know the names and designers of all the samplers.
The barrister bookcase is just perfect for showcasing your needlework smalls.

jean said...

Ooooh how I could covet that barrister case with the goodies inside as well.
Thanks for sharing a little snippet of your home.The samplers are wonderful.

Paula C. said...

What a beautiful display of fine needlework =)

Sandra said...

Maybe you should start doing organised tours Ellen, I would be the first in the queue to see your wonderful home. I love the bookcase and it's really good to get your smalls together and behind glass. Love your sampler wall too, now why don't mine look as good as that?

Deb said...

I just love all of your samplers!!! I'm glad that you listed the names of them. And your case of stitched goodies is wonderful as well!

OldRound said...

Love seeing your sampler wall, especially (excited!) because one is much like a sampler by my mother that I wonder about. The Newburypost is similar to it, yet different. Newburypost is from 1995 (says the internet) yet my mom's was stitched in 1973, so the search continues but now I have a direction to look! Hey, I just found it. It's called the Chase Sampler. Thank you so much for taking the time to post the names of all your samplers. I love seeing them and it was serendipitous!

Karoline said...

Amy is gorgeous, congratulations.

Thanks for sharing your sampler wall and cabinet, they are both stunning.

Vaida said...

Mmmm, love your sampler wall! And all your house in general, it's so cosy - thanks for sharing such nice pictures with us!

Françoise said...

Extraordinary!!!
Hugs
Françoise