Because you asked...

so here is a progress report on 

the Frances Pool 1832

reproduction...

This has been my "in between project"...

I pick it up and work on it

in between seasonal designs

that have critical deadlines.

This is what is so nice about a sampler...

it is non seasonal,

no deadlines,

no hurries,

just casual stitching...

 it is what I call an "everyday" piece,

one that can be kept out everyday of the year!

I have actually picked Frances Pool up again

and will put a few more stitches in it,

until I need to start the September Word Play,

the last in this monthly series.

Once the Word Play series is done 

I plan on finishing Frances

and hoping for August/September release

for this antique reproduction chart.

As you can see Frances came to me in pretty sad shape.

Dirty, stinky, holey, along with some stitch loss.

Like many antique samplers,

nails the size of Texas were used to secure it to a crude wooden frame.

The linen had darkened so badly

 that it some of the motifs on the antique

are hard to see.

  I knew that the linen as I see it,

 wasn't how it looked when it was stitched.

In looking closely at the edges of the sampler,

 my best guess was the linen

was closer in shade to the selvedge of the linen,

so this was my guide in matching up the linen.

The piece is being worked on 30 count Parchment linen

using Weeks & GAST flosses throughout.

With thy Needle & Thread,

Brenda