Ann How 1794

She hangs low on my wall,

right at eye level when I'm sitting in my favorite settee.

The settee in which I can be found sketching, stitching & creating in the quietness of the early morning hours.

I admire the work of Ann How's hands and use her for inspiration...

Ann How 1794 sampler is stitched on a finely woven tammy cloth (a rough-textured woollen cloth used for straining sauces, soups, etc). The piece is worked in cross, eyelet and petit point stitches.
A sweet flock of sheep fill one corner
&

two facing stags are the main focal point

of the sampler.

The frame is old and chippy, with a top coat of brownish black paint with hints of creamy ivory and red peeking through
here
&
there.
A wonderful patina,
just the kind I like...

A palish powder blue alphabet is stitched using the eyelet stitch...

A stitch that has always fascinated me,

although

a stitch in which I have yet try.

My eye is always drawn to these rows of letters ...so delicate.

A brick cottage fills the other bottom corner.

My idea of a dream home...

a cozy little retreat, nestled in the singing woods, where one's days are filled with stitching

from

sun up

to

sun down!

Flowers, plants, and fishes, beasts, birds, flies and bees,

hills, dales, plains, pastures, skies, seas, rivers, trees,

There's nothing near at hand or farthest sought

but with the needle my be shaped and wrought.

- John Taylor, 1634

With thy Needle & Thread,
Brenda