1.13.2013

Elizabeth Clark, 1822

My New Year's Day start,
meet
Elizabeth Clark, 1822.
 
This is an antique reproduction
 that is currently in my hoop,
and
 I'm having a hard time putting her down...
 
The original is from my personal collection
 and
 is heavily faded.
I love faded samplers.  
I'm always intrigued
 with how beautiful
 a faded sampler
 can still look...
 
 When Elizabeth Clark arrived,
she was glued to a piece of wood.
  Over time,
 the glue had hardened,
 and the sampler
 pulled away from the board
 with ease...shew!
  I turned it over,
 and to see the sampler
 in her un-faded state
 made me gasp...
she is beautiful!
 
Sharing snippets
 of some of my favorite motifs...
 
Look real hard,
and you'll find a sweet little man
in the corner.
 
 
a large grape vine
stitched in a somewhat quirky fashion...
&
a lovely brick house
{sigh}
 
X X X X X
 
And here's where
 I am,
stitching row upon row of
 tiny clay bricks...
 
 
 
The verse on the sampler reads,
"with humble heart and tongue
my god to thee I pray
o make me learn whilst I am young
how I may cleanse my way" 
 
The sampler originates from Everthorp, England
 and may have been
 Elizabeth's second piece she stitched. 
  From my readings,
 most girls often stitched two samplers. 
 The first being more simplistic,
with the alphabet and a few motifs.
  These samplers
often times
 did not get displayed in the homes. 
 
 Their second sampler
 was much more
 detailed and elaborate.
  It was this sampler that was often hung
 by the parents
 in the parlor to enjoy.
 This sampler
 was somewhat of  a status symbol...
  one must remember,
that this was the only formal education
 these young girls had,
 at about a cost of $2.00 a day.
 
 

14 comments:

llknbillburg said...

Fabulous! I have a thing for house samplers and this looks like it will be a lovely one! I will need something to work on once I finish Frances Pool. Looking forward to the new release! Laura

Suzanne said...

I LOVE the colors! Looking forward to seeing it!

Elizabeth said...

I just love samplers and this one is so gorgeous. The colours are superb, so tasteful. I can quite believe you when you say you are finding it hard to put it down

Natasha said...

Just beautiful, I think the fading makes it EVEN more wonderful. I can't wait to see your reproduction on this one, it's going to be great!

The Wooden Acorn said...

An absolute beautiful posting. I see why you so adore samplers. Thank you for sharing

Faye said...

Love the color palette.....

Starry-eyed stitcher said...

I really enjoyed this posting too. The sampler is so lovely with its faded colours. If only these young girls could know how much we appreciate their efforts. Irene xxx

grandma peden's porch said...

So Beautiful i think the fading is so pretty it's part of the story that it was cherished and loved and hung on a wall for many years. I could never let go of something like that that one of the women in my family stitched.

Jen Bailey said...

Oh what a pretty sampler! I can't wait to see more sneak perks and look forward to a release of this one! I live the faded samer and color palette you've chosen for the reproduction. I'm stitching Frances Pool now and previously finished JM Gardner and just love your taste in samplers to reproduce! Looking forward to stitching this one! Www.stampwithjen.com

Carolyn Boutilier said...

Love the soft colors and a sampler with a house and people. Fantastic. Look forward to seeing the finish sampler. Carolyn B

Sharon said...

This is going to be a beauty! Great colors!

Daniela said...

The colours are so pretty. This is going to be a very beautiful sampler.

Cathy said...

I'm going to have to stitch this sampler! My maiden name is Catherine Elizabeth Clark, so I must have this sampler, right?! Excited to see the pattern soon! Cathy

DonnaSews said...

I am going through a difficult time and this made me feel better. It is beautiful...