The Little Book of English Samplers

I have always loved designing little linen books and have created several of them for The Cross Stitch Guild. This one is rather different as it has ideas above its station and attempts to present a taste of all the most popular sampler styles within its covers! (I will reveal how it all came about below…)

The result is a collection of charts featuring the red motifs of Bristol samplers, blackwork, darning, spot motif and map samplers. Ackworth motifs and marking alphabets have crept in too. These are presented in a large-format chart book together with advice on selecting the kind of fabric you would like to work on. I make thread suggestions for both stranded cottons and Au Ver A Soie silks for you to choose for yourself. (The only thread supplied is the glorious hand-painted silk intended for the pattern darning page, plus some lengths of gold metallic to decorate your blackwork.)

Inside the luxury presentation box, you will find a large-format chart book, stitching guide, hand-painted silk thread, metallic thread, gold-plated needles, Goya shell buttons and an exclusive faux ivory thread sorter created especially for this project.

Earlier this year, I was invited to give a talk at a brand-new event – The Great British Sampler Weekend. Something like this is always more entertaining if you have a few samples to hand around and before I knew it, my brain had gone a step further and decided to create something that my audience could take away and try for themselves. And so, The Little Book of English Samplers was born.

As the event was dedicated to samplers, the theme was easy. However, it was far more difficult to narrow down the type of samplers to share. I knew that my audience would include a number of stitchers travelling all the way from the US, so decided to make it all about English sampler styles.

I soon had 12 charts to include and had my esteemed editor compile them into a special book for us. Many stitchers that enjoy recreating old samplers, like to work on very fine fabrics indeed. So, I decided to create a guide to choosing fabrics and leave the choice to the individual. I made thread suggestions too but couldn’t resist adding a hand-painted silk and a special gold metallic thread. I couldn’t stop myself and soon came up with an exclusive thread sorter too…

I am happy to report that my talk went well and am thrilled to think of my Little English Sampler Book being stitched at home and abroad. I hope you enjoy it too.