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.
Halloween Cauldron was one of the charts in the Sip and Stitch box offered by Primrose Cottage. I did not purchase the Sip and Stitch but bought the chart from a fellow stitcher.
I chose a piece of 16ct Storm from Fabrics by Stephanie and an assortment of floss, some the recommended colors and some my own choice. Floss is listed below.
DMC 310/Farmhouse Flossies Mistress
DMC 535/Farmhouse Flossies Slate Roof
DMC 731/DMC 732
DMC 783/Anchor 0363
DMC 920/DMC 921
DMC 921/DMC 922
DMC 3042/Anchor 0870
DMC 3740
While I love the design, all the confetti stitches were not much fun.
I decided to use a board finish with this one. I painted the board black, mounted the stitched piece to a round board, add some rickrack trim and mounted that to the board. I added a small bow to the board handle.
Summer Quaker is another in the Quaker series by Primrose Cottage. I LOVE this series and have already stitched many of them.
The recommended fabric is 28ct white lugana using Dinky Dyes Saffron silk floss. I chose to use a piece of 28ct white Jobelin I had in my stash. For floss, I am using Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Flame Azalea and Mountain Delphinium. While I love the design, I had a hard time with it. I do not like Jobelin as much as lugana because for some reason, I find the holes harder to see.
Summer Quaker joins some of the other Quakers in the tiered tray.
Spell of the Moon by Blackbird Designs was first released in 2014 as a Reward of Merit Pinkeep. It was reprinted in 2020 and included in the book, Winds of Autumn.
While I have had it in my collection for some time, I had never stitched it. After seeing a number of finished projects posted in various cross stitch Facebook groups, I decided to kit it up and add it to my already numerous WIP’s (Works in Progress). I chose a piece of mottled gray 16ct aida (Storm by Fabrics by Stephanie) I had in my stash and two shades of gray floss from Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe (Sleep Potion (dark) and Forever Bewitched (light) along with the called for Gentle Arts Harvest Moon. I did not like the Pelican Gray that was called for so changed it to Forever Bewitched.
And here is the finished stitched piece along with the finishing materials.
Now to fully finish it as a small pin pillow.
I decided to try a different method for sewing the pillow front and back together and leave the top opened so I could add poly pellets to give the pillow some weight. Filled the dang thing with pellets and then went to distribute them more evenly into the corners. A slight squeeze and those little buggers went flying everywhere. A few choice words as I gathered up the tiny little things then finished stuffing with polyfill. After sewing on the rick rack I can only say that it is a good things I don’t do this professionally. Now this one can join the others in one of the various dough bowls.
Sun, Moon And Stars by Little House Needleworks was originally released in 2014 as thread packs (three separate charts including floss), Over the Moon, Beneath the Stars, and Under the Sun. I purchased them in 2014 and they have been sitting and waiting to be stitched since then.
When I saw the new release, I decided to dig them out and kit them up. I decided I wanted to stitch them as one vertical to possibly finish as a bell pull. I selected a piece of 16ct Summer Storm aida by Seraphim that was a mottled blue fabric with all the called for floss.
Two down and one to go.
The first photo gives a better idea of the actual color of the fabric I stitched it on. Now to go in search of some bellpull hardware to finish it.
I’m not real happy with the hanging hardware but it was all I had on hand and not as many shops offer the nicer ones in the correct size. I’ll keep looking.
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.
Peace and Plenty is a Christmas Sampler included in the book Sisters by Blackbird Designs. It was published in 2013 and is now Out of Print. It could easily be added as the 5th sampler in the Christmas Sampler series.
I chose a piece of 16ct antique white aida I had in my stash and used some of the called for floss and subs for the ones I did not have.
Gentle Arts Antique Rose – I used DMC 223
Gentle Arts Brandy
Gentle Arts Endive – I used DMC 3011
Gentle Arts Heirloom Gold
Gentle Arts Linen – I used DMC 950
Gentle Arts Old Hickory – I used DMC 611
Gentle Arts Old Red Pain I used au a Ver Soie 109
Gentle Arts Piney Woods
Gentle Arts Tarnished Gold
Gentle Arts Toffee – I used DMC 167
Gentle Arts Woodrose – DMC 407
I made a mistake on the bottom border but decided to leave it. Now to decide on a frame and add it to my Christmas wall.
November 2024 – I decided to order a frame through Craig Frames. I had used their frames in the past by ordering custom frames through Amazon. This time I ordered directly through their website which seemed to offer a wider selection. They do not offer fractional sizes but that was OK for what I needed. The shipping was free and the frame came just as well packaged as those from pictureframes.com which has been my go to store for years.
Strawberry Quilt and Berry Basket were part of the Sip and Stitch Mystery Box offered by Primrose Cottage. I did not purchase the Mystery Box but a friend loaned me both of the charts. If they offer one for Christmas this year, I think I will try and purchase one.
The Strawberry Quilt design is 55 x 55 stitches and calls for 32ct Berry Smoothie evenweave. The fabric was also offered in aida and I purchased a piece of 16ct. The recommended floss is DMC 9471, 783,3712,3831, and B5200. I decided to use Anchor white in place of B5200. I used Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Hollyhock Leaves for the 471 and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Heirloom Red Cherry for 3831. I decided I wanted the finished piece to be a bit bigger so used a piece of 14ct pink I had in my stash. I finished this one as a small pin pillow with a ruched ribbon trim.
The Berry Basket has a stitch count of 99x 76 and calls for 28ct Light Ash Gray. Recommended floss is DMC 471, 645, 783, 3712, 3810, 3811, 3831, and B5200. I used the same two Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe floss colors on this one. I chose a piece of 16ct Picture This Plus Storm I had in my stash.
The small pillow is fairly heavy as I used poly pellets for the filling topped off with fiberfill. The gray wool flannel patch keeps everything inside the pillow. Rather than adding any kind of trim around the edges, I decided to add a hanging wax strawberry to the display of Berry Basket.
In October 2023, Hobby House Needleworks offered As the Crow Flies Pinkeep by Stacy Nash Designs as a kit. Since Fall is my favorite time of year and I love the Fall colors, I purchased it. The kit came with the chart, floss, fabric, and finishing trim. I chose the 16ct aida option.
The called for fabric is Cosmic Platinum fabric. I am not sure what the kit shipped with as I did not write it down but it is a mottled orange/tan fabric. It is a little darker than I normally stitch on so I am using the lighter side of the fabric.
I’m working on building the house now and planting grass in the front. I’m not sure if I will finish it as a pinkeep or not. I may mount it on a board OR frame it. We’ll see once I finish stitching it.
I decided that rather than framing this one, I would mount it on top of one of those boxes that look like a book. I would have preferred one a bit darker brown but I did not want to risk messing it up by painting it. The dimensions of this one is: 1.88” H x 10.31” W x 6.69” D
I mounted the stitched piece on a piece of matboard with a single layer of batting, then laced the stitched piece to the board using upholstery thread.
Right now, the stitched piece is just sitting on the book box. I will probably use acid free double sided stitchy tape to attach it to the box.
Thistle Manor is another of the free charts offered by Blackbird Designs. Copyright 2002. It’s not a big design with a stitch count of 92h x 75w and calls for only one color of floss. You could choose almost any fabric and floss to stitch it with.
I decided to use a piece of 18ct Platinum aida I had in my stash and Farmhouse Flossies Royalist Blue floss.
It turned out to be a fairly quick stitch and because I used 18ct, not very big. I will probably finish it as a small pin pillow.
While I prefer the look of the solid color backing fabric, I am not that great at doing the ladder stitch to close the opening. When using the method of cutting a hole in the backing fabric, I can easily (or not so easily) use poly pellets for a good portion of the filling material the fiberfill for the rest. The patch which is wool felt, covers up the hole and keeps everything inside the pillow.
