Wartime sampler : Keep your hearts proud...

A counted cross stitch sampler likely to date from World War II or soon after.  The quote is from an Empire Day speech by George VI, broadcast in May 1940.  In the speech he refers to "our fighting men and those who love them; mothers, wives and sweethearts at home".  It's interesting to see on this sampler that all the figures are women - caring for children, land girls, nurses, women in uniform - representing the many roles women played in wartime and for the war effort.

This is one of the few patriotic samplers to quote the monarch (use the tag quotes to find others I've done blog entries about). The quote says:

Keep you hearts proud
and your resolve unshaken,
and with God's helpWe shall not fail

I wonder if this was a published design, intended to raise morale, or the work of a single needlewoman?  Counted cross stitch is more unusual at this time than transfer designs, but with wartime shortages a printed chart in a magazine or newspaper would not require postage, transfers etc.

If you know any more about this design or its source, please do leave a comment.

George VI : coronation: sampler with roses, coat of arms & buildings

A delicately stitched embroidery/cross stitch celebrating the coronation of George VI. 

Unlike some of the 1937 samplers, where Edward became George, I've not seen any Edward examples of this one; perhaps it was designed after the abdication.  My guess would be that it was based on a transfer.  It's a delicate-looking design, in every example I've seen: mostly embroidery with a little cross-stitch (but it looks embroidered, not counted thread work - eg. the red crown in the coat of arms).  The framed size of this example is 13inches x 15.5inches: it sold for just over GBP42.

Design-wise, it has interesting connections to two other types of designs shown in other blog posts here.  The buildings are reminiscent of the impressionistic sketch buildings embroideries such as the Windsor Castle one in the previous blog (use the tag buildings to find more).  The lettering of the bordered inscription is like that used in the map samplers (such as the county map samplers) in other blog entries here (use the tag maps to find more).

If you know any more about this design, please do leave a comment.

Union Jack needlework kits

Several designers have jumped on the bandwagon of the Union Jack's popularity as a design icon and created kits for tapestry, needlepoint and cross-stitch.

 This tapestry / needlepoint design by Candace Bahouth for Ehrman is not in the current range (she was ahead of the trend) but turns up on eBay from time to time.  It's called Albion.  The pictures show the printed canvas and a completed cushion.  It has the subtle colour variation that makes Ehrman tapestries have a pleasing depth.

I wouldn't be surprised if it reappeared in their range.

Jacqui Pearce of Granny Knits has several Union Jack  (and other British-themed) designs using cross stitch and tapestry / needlepoint, such as those below.

A beginner's cross stitch kit (link)

This is a detailed kit, the filigree work is all tapestry stitching, red aqua and white.  Find it here.

Jan Constantine has used the Union Jack in a multitude of her designs - click here to see her British collection (made designs, not kits).  She also has some kits, including this one.

It is sold as a tapestry kit here, and also as a downloadable pdf.

There was also a Jan Constantine Union Jack cross stitch design in Cross Stitcher magazine, issue 226:

This issue turns up for sale on eBay from time to time.

This Anchor brand tapestry kit can be regularly found on eBay.  I don't like it as much, as it's hardly subtle: (it doesn't, to me, stand up against the designs I've shown you above.  But I'll include it here to record its existence).

I've also seen a number of patchwork quilt designs employing the distinctive geometry of the Union Jack in quite a variety of fabrics and colours.

The 2012 London Olympics will no doubt be inspiring more designers to create patriotic works.  If you know more links, please leave a comment with them - especially for kits/patterns, not finished works, as the focus of this blog is handwork done by individuals rather than mass-produced patriotic items.

Elizabeth II: coronation: swags and flags

I'm not sure if the embroiderer of this design kinda ran out of puff.  Plenty of work done on the details - see the extra two photos with horses and coaches.  But there's a fair bit of white space...

And here's a different example, with the white space filled with roses and wheat swags and so forth.

The design itself looks professional - it seems highly unlikely that two different embroiderers made the same design without it being commercially published in some way. 

I can't help wondering, though, if on the second example, the word CORONATION and the date, wonky as they are, were the embroiderer's own addition.  I like their wonky individuality.

If you know where this design was published, or any other information about it, do leave a comment.

Elizabeth II: coronation: from transfer to sampler

So imagine you have a book of transfer patterns like this:

and another one like this:

What could you do with it?

Perhaps this.

From a private collection.

It's perhaps a pillow sham sort of size.  Maybe a table centre?  Not big enough for a table cloth, but too big for a single table mat for dining (and such things are more likely to be decorative than useful).  It does seem more likely to have been displayed flat, rather than vertically.  The fringe is woollen, in patriotic red and blue.  Perhaps it was a child's work? - one motif at a time and the satisfaction of seeing each complete to spur you on.  Even though patterns/transfers are being used, the individuality of the maker comes through in the choice and placement of designs and the nature of the stitching itself (more room for variation in embroidery than the more charted confines of cross stitch or tapestry).

It was rather fun to put the two together and see the origin/source of the stitched designs.

The collector sourced this sampler from the US.  Perhaps a post-war British migrant, nostalgic for home?

Sadly, like most of these British patriotic samplers and embroideries, there is no stitcher's name or any other clue to their identity.

World War I commemorative stitched piece

This odd little cross-stitched piece was on eBay several times in 2011 with a starting price of 75GBP (not selling and thus being relisted - it's a high price, in my opinion) with the simple title of "Needle Work".  By the dates, a best guess would be it commemorates the end of World War I, although it's 1914 and 1919, not 1914 and 1918.  It's a curious mix of flags - if the one at top left in red/yellow/black is intended as the German flag, it's not just the flags of one side or the other, but both (Italy and Japan both joined the war on the side of Britain/France/Russia, unlike WW2). All of Ireland was still part of the UK then (partition came after the war).  The size (of counted cloth and space allocated to each flag) made the Union Jack a tad tricky to do.  More than one country with a flag there had a monarch, so it's not clear if the crown in the centre is a generic crown or meant for one country's monarch in particular (German Kaiser? English King?). 

My best guess is that it's an individual stitcher's piece rather than a pattern.  It's a very simple grid layout, and I find it difficult to imagine that a pattern including the German flag would have had wide appeal.  Peace samplers from the end of World War II that I've come across that are of British origin have focused entirely on the Allies, with no reference (beyond VE/VJ day dates) to the enemy side.  I have seen another piece worked on the same type of background, a squarish rectangle of fabric with  a ?handmade woollen fringe.  Possibly intended as a table centre?  or cushion cover?  The eBay listing gave no information beyond "Nice quality work".  It was located in the UK, but that's no guarantee that it was made there.

So, a curious piece, documented here.  If you know more, please do leave a comment.

Link to seller 229fraste.

Elizabeth II: Diamond Jubilee (IV) : Happy and Glorious Riverdrift House sampler

I rather like this Happy and Glorious sampler for the Queen's diamond jubilee (probably because it's the kind of one you can do in bits - a crown here, a word there, some bunting... reminds me a bit of antique spot samplers). 

It's from Riverdrift House in Suffolk, designed by Amanda Stevenson. It is described thus: "Best quality materials include white 14 count Zweigart Aida fabric, Anchor 6-stranded embroidery threads, clear chart, instructions and a gold-plated needle.Size of finished embroidery approx 25 cm / 10 inches square."

As yet I haven't seen a stitched example: this looks to be based on a computer-generated chart.

This one isn't on their website when I last checked [see update below] - it turned up on eBay.  Maybe they're testing the market?  It's very much 'in style' with their other samplers.  They have some rather nice souvenir ones for various British towns eg. Felixstowe, Cumbria, Aldeburgh, Cotswolds and (unsurprisingly) Suffolk.  They use nice colours - some muted, some brighter -  and attractive modern/vintage fonts.  Here is their eBay user page: http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/riverdrifthouse/ which will link you to their current sale items.  As of today they are offering it in both a bidding scenario and a buy-it-now scenario.  They do post outside the UK (you can also buy direct from their website).

On their new design page they indicate their plans for other jubilee samplers: "Next on the board are the new designs for the DIAMOND JUBILEE, still to be finalised - but you can expect a set of FOUR square, each featuring one of the Royal Residences, lots of crowns and corgis - on 14 count. Then we will put the four together to make a more substantial Sampler to stitch on 18 count, for a lovely piece of heirloom stitching... "

None of which sounds like this one, as I can't see a royal residence... still, I think this is my favourite so far of the commercial cross stitch sampler designs for the diamond jubilee.  Maybe the category killer?

It has a feel of Jacqui Pearce's very popular Will and Kate wedding sampler that was in Cross Stitcher magazine.  Nodding to vintage and traditions, while being unashamedly modern.

Read all about that design, with links as to where you can buy it in my blog entry about 2011 wedding samplers.  They seem to be out of kits now, but seem to still have the sampler pattern available for download.  The magazine, Cross Stitcher issue 238 Spring 2011, turns up from time to time on eBay; so does the pattern as pages taken from the magazine.  You can also buy the full issue on Zinio as a digital download full colour copy to read on your computer or tablet/iPad (Zinio has a website at zinio.com or you can download the app to your tablet/iPad and buy from within the app.  That single issue is $AU5.49 for the digital download as of December 2011).

I'm documenting diamond jubilee designs as I find them.  If you know of others, please do let me know by leaving a comment.  All these entries are tagged with jubilee so you can find them via the tags as well as the search button (top left of the screen).

If you're a shop or designer with a design I haven't documented here as yet, please do get in touch.  I'd like this to be as comprehensive a record as possible.

Happy New (Diamond Jubilee) Year!

Ruth

3 January 2012 UPDATE:
The Riverdrift design is now listed on their website:
Diamond Jubilee Square Sampler Kit
Counted Cross Stitch Square Sampler Kit

Price:

£12.95

Riverdrift House New Designs information:

http://www.riverdrifthouse.co.uk/ecom-catshow/new_designs.html

Riverdrift House News page:

http://www.riverdrifthouse.co.uk/ecom-catshow/news.html