I bought my Catherine Archer sampler over 20 years ago and I still do not tire of looking at it. It was stitched by the young Catherine Archer in about 1865 and is one of many hundreds of so-called ‘Bristol’ or ‘Müller Samplers’ and is now very collectable. Catherine’s original sampler was worked on ecru non-evenweave linen in one strand of red thread. The design was worked over one thread of the fabric – equivalent to 45 stitches to the inch! This is even more amazing when you consider that Catherine had no electric light or magnifier to help her.
I had the idea to create a printed fabric version using screen printing but it was not wildly successful. Not one to let an idea drop, I discovered an English company who could reproduce Catherine’s sampler on lovely linen fabric. I was over the moon, and you will see various items now available using this lovely fabric: