A Schoolgirl’s Work: Samplers from the Spencer Museum of Art by Blackbird Designs is a beautiful 100+ page book published in 2011 by Kansas City Star Books. It is long Out of Print.

Barb Adams and Alma Allen of Blackbird Designs have joined with the Spencer Museum of Art to share historical schoolgirl samplers with the cross stitchers of today. You will find examples of samplers spanning the years of 1710 1841. Nine projects to stitch based on these wonderful works of art that were crafted by children so long ago.

I was lucky enough to find a fellow stitcher who sold me the book for the regular retail price which was $28.00. Current listings on various sites are asking $300 for the book. I plan on stitching all of the projects in the book.

So Fade My Hours Needlebook

For this one, I selected a piece of 16ct Moonstone from Fiber on a Whim with most of the recommended colors.

• CC Country Lane (DMC 3064)
• CC Dublin Bay (DMC 926)
• CC Jakey Brown
• CC Nutmeggie (DMC 3772)
• CC Pea Pod
• GA Aged Pewter
• GA Dried Thyme
• GA Endive
• GA Heirloom Gold

I am going to mount it on a box rather than finish it as a needlebook. I bought an unfinished wood box from Temu and painted it Winter Blue. Stitching is mounted on the top.

I lined the top and bottom of the inside with some fabric also by Blackbird Designs from their Blueberry Crumb line.

Hannah’s Small Basket

Hannah’s Small Basket is stitched on a piece of 25ct antique white Lugana with the recommended floss. I did use a couple of DMC colors since I did not have the recommended floss. I used 3 strands of floss over 2 threads.

• CC La Tierra (DMC 38600
• CC Muddy Puddle
• CC Stepping Stones (DMC 642)
• CC Weeping Willow (DMC 3012)
• GA Mustard Seed (DMC 832)
• GA Tin Bucket

I decided to mount the stitched piece on top of a wooden cigar box.

I lined the inside of the box with some fabric by Blackbird Designs from their Rhubarb and Ginger line.

Recently, my little brother gave me three cigar boxes. I wanted them to mount stitched pieces on. Each box top measures 10″x 5 1/2″. The boxes were nicely made and had NO smell to them. They did have quite a bit of inscribed writing on the top, sides, and bottom of the box as well as the inside. The stitched piece would cover the top of the box where the most writing was and the other parts just added “character” to the box.

I went through some of my blackbird design books to see what might work. Nebraska Prairie  from Winds of Autumn has a stitch count of 108w x 47h. If I stitched it on 25ct  the stitched piece would measure 8 5/8 x 3 3/4.

Nebraska Prairie Drum Pinkeep by Blackbird Designs is one of the designs included in the book, Winds of Autumn. Rather than finishing it as a drum, I intended to mount it on top of one of the cigar boxes.

I chose a piece of 25ct Potato Lugana I had in my stash. The floss colors used were Weeks Dye Works – Blue Jeans, Charcoal, Hazelnut, Pecan, and Chickpea. Lovely Fall colors.

I laced the stitched piece on a piece of matboard which allows it to be thinner than if I used foam core. I then selected a piece of Blackbird Designs fabric to use to line the top and bottom inside of the box.

I recently saw a post on Instagram that used the top portion of the Mighty Acorn Sampler from the book Winds of Autumn on a box. The stitcher had stitched it over one on 28 or 32ct which I knew would be impossible for me. I had recently stitched another piece to fit on the top of one of the wooden jewelry boxes I had purchased several years ago from Hobby Lobby and decided this piece would work perfectly for it. I chose a piece of 25ct Natural Lugana and the called for colors. Once I finished stitching the piece, I laced it onto a piece of matboard with a layer of batting.

I chose to use Folk Art Burnt Sienna to paint the box.

Every Bloom is Charmed by Blackbird Designs was released at the Country Sampler Retreat 2023. It was given to me as a gift. It was designed to be mounted on top of a dark brown rectangular basket (SKU 171389-L) from Hobby Lobby. The recommended fabric was 36ct Heartland by Picture This Plus.

A number of years ago, I had purchased two of the wooden jewelry boxes (SKU: 648196) from Hobby Lobby to use in other projects. I decided this would be a perfect project to stitch this one for and mount on the top.

I chose a piece of 28ct white Monaco I had in my stash to stitch this one one so it would be the perfect size. I am using the floss that came with the kit although stitching with two strands rather than one so I will need to add more floss. I also plan on using something to antique the fabric after I finish stitching.

Started Stitching:
Finished Stitching:

Once I finished stitching the pieces, I decided to leave the fabric as is rather than antiquing it. I stretched and laced it on top of a piece of matboard with one layer of batting. Monaco is a rather stiff fabric, so the corners are more rounded than sharp points, but I am happy with how it turned out. I am really pleased with the basket itself.

Next up is painting the box. I plan on using a blue or gold acrylic paint.

I decided on Colonial Blue because none of the shades of gold was what I was looking for.

I can see I need to do some touchup work on the inside paint. I used a pale, pale blue cardstock cut to size on the bottom of each of the sections. I may either remove it or change it out to a different color in the future, but it will do for now. The fabric backing for the top of the inside is my choice from the three pieces I had that matched the paint color.

Sewing Bird & Company by Sandra Sullivan of Homespun Elegance is a small simple design that I saw posted in a Facebook group. I bought it from one of the stash selling groups.

I am hoping it would fit onto the top of a box I had purchased earlier.

Dimensions: 

• Length: 4 1/2″ 
• Width: 5 13/16″ 
• Height: 1 1/8″

I selected a piece of 25ct white Lugana and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss Log Cabin and Hot Chili Peppers. The stitched piece would be 4 3/4″ x 2″. Once I finished stitching the piece, I mounted it on top of the playing card box that I had painted with Folk Art acrylic paint Expresso.

On the inside I used some batik fabric for two of the openings. One has a button I got in a finishing kit and the other has some Sew Pretty pins (Autumn Splendor) and a scissor charm. The mini sampler is from Casting a Spell and the other stitched piece is a freebie Quaker Flower from The Sisterhood. I may add some trim to the top but enough for now.

The Long and Winding Road by Blackbird Designs is #6 in the Magical Mystery Tour series. The copyright date is 2014.

My plan is to mount this on top of a 6″ recessed lid LeHay Shaker box that I have in my stash. I selected a piece of 18ct Parchment aida with the called for floss. While 18ct is much harder to stitch on, I needed to use that count so the stitched piece would fit.

This one was not an easy stitch for me. And the lazy daisy stitches are ones I usually avoid like the plague.

And here it is fully finished with some pompom trim added.

Ode to the Ort Basket by With Thy Needle and Thread was a kit offered at the Nashville Needlework Market. I’m not sure if the chart is still available or not.

I stitched the piece using a piece of 32ct evenweave I had in my stash and floss I had in my stash:

• GA Mountain Mist (Bird’s WIngs)
• CC Ye Old Gold (Eyelet Stitches)
• Red Pear
• Red Currant

Several years ago, I had purchased a couple of the Wood Playing Card Boxes from Hobby Lobby and it turned out this was the perfect size to use on finishing this project. The original idea came from Debra Burger with her Sewing Box finishes. I painted the box with Folk Art Uniform Blue inside and out.

I laced the stitched piece of a piece of matboard with matting and mounted it to the top of the box.

The inside of the box has four sections, so I cut four pieces of matboard and added a layer of batting, then covered two of them with a contrasting fabric. To one, I added a ribbon and some pretty pins. To another I added a wooden strawberry heart that I had in my stash. No idea where it came from.

I selected two of the small designs from the book Casting a Spell by Blackbird Designs and stitched them on 18ct aida with Mo’s Murky Blue silk floss. Lacing them onto the piece of matboard was very fiddly. I am happy with how the entire project turned out. I have two more of the boxes so will have to find some more designs to use on the top and inside.

I bought the booklet, A Study in Blue by Sue Hillis once it was released to the general public. It had first been offered as part of a class taught by Sue. The booklet includes the charts for all of the projects pictured and detailed instructions for finishing.

While Sue used a paper mache box for her project, I thought about using one of the LeHay Shaker boxes in blue. Later someone in one of the groups posted a box she had gotten from Ikea and I decided to order that and use it for mounting this project.

The Mallgroda Box with lid has an ash veneer and measures 9 ¾x4 inches. The cost is $19.99. It may or may not be available for shipping in your area.

I decided to stitch the project on 28ct Monaco with Gentle Arts Black Raspberry Jam floss.

I have not yet decided whether I am going to stitch the side band for the box or not. If I do, it will be necessary to make some adjustments as the box I am using is bigger than what the project is designed for.

Sue Hillis graciously gave us the following information for making adjustments.

Here’s the math when using the charts in my Study in Blue book. The designs were originally charted for the 7.25 paper mache round box. The chart for the box top is 109 stitches x 110 stitches. For the Ikea wood box, it makes the most sense to stitch it on 14/28 count so it fits better on the larger IKEA box.

14 /28 count—7.86”
16 /32 count—6.87”
18/36 count—6.11”

The strip that goes around the side of the box will need to have additional motifs added to the length to fit the IKEA box. The strip in the leaflet is 367 stitches long x 36 stitches high. The extra height required could easily be attained by adding a border above and/or below the alphabet to achieve the correct height.

14/28 count: 2.57”
16/32 count: 2.25”
18/36: 2”

It’s now July 2021 and I finally got around to adding the top stitched piece to the box. Trying to cut the matboard into a circle that would site in the top was a challenge. Not perfect but I am happy with the end result. If I can manage to cut a smaller circle to fit the inside of the box, I will line it. I also like the natural color of the box so am going to leave it.

Autumn Song was published in 2007 and is now Out of Print. I have had it in my stash for some time now and decided it was finally time to stitch this piece to place on the top of one of LeHay’s 8″ recessed lid Needlework boxes. I had ordered two of them in black.

I chose a piece of 16ct Carmel Macchiato from Fabrics by Stephanie and switched out a couple of the threads for Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe threads.

Design Size: Wreath is 114W X 107H

Recommended Floss: Weeks Dye Works

• Cognac 10 yards (DMC #3826)/VMSS Roasted Spice
• Terra Cotta (DMC #921, #920)/VMSS Heirloom Pumpkin
• Havana (DMC #610)
• Swamp Water 10 yards (DMC #844)
• Bright Leaf 10 yards (DMC #977, #976)

And here is the finished piece mounted on the box.