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.

Post-war sampler, 1947 : Freedom, Justice, Peace

An embroidered postwar patriotic sampler, dated 1947, with guardsmen and symbols of Britain including cottage, castle and church and the Union Jack, celebrating the victories of 1945 and the war's end.

The frame measures 10 1/2inches by 12 1/2inches, so this image gives you a sense of the design size.  I would guess this design to be based on a transfer.

If you know any more about this design, 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.

Elizabeth II : golden jubilee : Anchor flag kit

This kit turns up fairly regularly on eBay, and it's from a mainstream commercial kit company, so no doubt there were a lot of these about in 2002 for the golden jubilee.  It combines symbols of royalty with Buckingham Palace and a Union Jack.  In style, it has worked backgrounds as well as these symbols, with reasonably detailed shading; the font is a tad clunky for me.  Below is a worked example.

George VI : coronation : flags and shamrocks

A small sampler, a satin-stitch embroidered confection of Union Jacks and red, white and blue shamrocks, not all quite stitched so you can see it was a transfer.  I find these sorts of waving-in-the-wind crossed flags rather jolly.

As with all George VI coronation embroideries, the question arises of Edward VIII.  My best guess would be that this design postdates the abdication.  Some of the coronation designs lent themselves to an easy substitution of George for Edward, but others, like this, don't lend themselves so well.  Thus I think it was designed after the abdication, as the design fits the wording of the king and queen's names so precisely.

I know nothing more about this piece - source or designer or anything else, so if you do know more, please leave a comment and share your wisdom and/or links.

Elizabeth II : Diamond Jubilee (IX) : another roundup

Sandringham, another Diamond Jubilee sampler design from Riverdrift House.

Here's the website description:

Within a border of Norfolk lavender sits the Queen's country residence, Sandringham House, where the Royal family spend each Christmas. We have included Jubilee oak leaves and acorns and a newly planted sapling for the Jubilee Woods Project, apples and blackcurrants (grown on the Royal Fruit Farms for producing juice and cordial), Queen Alexandra's Summer House above the lake, Estate Christmas trees and a Norfolk Black turkey, tea and cake at The Stables Tea Room, pheasants, a Cromer crab, Union Jacks and some Royal pets!

Design uses 12 colours of Anchor 6-stranded embroidery thread on a white 14 count Aida fabric.

Pack includes a clear chart on an A3 sheet, instructions and a gold-plated needle.

The size of the finished needlework is approx 25 x 25cm/ 10 x 10 inches.

Price: £12.95

Find it here on the Riverdrift website, or on eBay.

This kit has been selling on eBay and is available as a kit or chart from seller wumplekin.  Description:

Kits contain needle, threads, 14 count aida, colour chart and instructions.

Size of the finished picture is 5" x 7" (70 x 98 stitches). Whole stitches only are used so these kits will suit all abilities from beginner to expert. The crown is stitched using Anchor Marlitt (to give it a shine) but enough ordinary thread will be in the kit for anyone not wanting to use this.

Price: £7.39

This one's from a magazine, but I haven't yet worked out which one.  Several eBay sellers are selling the magazine pages or colour copies of them.

eBay seller zara-karen-xstitching has kits for sale based on the Diamond Jubilee emblem.  There isn't a stitched example, only a copy of the emblem as above.

Description:

Diamond Jubilee emblem cross stitch kit.  My kits are all made up myself.  Kits contain Aida, 40 threads, needle and symbol easy to read instructions.  All kids come in clear resealable bags for storage.  My charts are from a disc downloaded onto quality paper.  Have authorisation to print.

Price: £16.99

Jubilee alphabet: another magazine pattern being sold on eBay.

Description:

Cross Stitch Chart - Diamond Jubilee Alphabet Chart
Full colour charts of the letters of the alphabet featuring 'Best of British' themes - the Union Jack, Big Ben, The Queen etc
Colour key for DMC, Anchor and Madeira threads
This item is 3 pages taken from a cross stitch magazine

A Diamond Jubilee cushion chart from Cross Stitch Collection magazine.  The finished size of the design is 10 3/4 x 12 1/4inches if worked on 14 Count Aida.

From Twilleys of Stamford. 

Description:

Each kit contains stranded cotton, aida fabric, needle, chart, alphabet and full instructions.

Brand: Twilleys of Stamford

Fabric Count: 14 Count Aida Fabric

Product Ref: T2890/0020

Size: 23 x 28 cm

Price: around £29.99

Another magazine pattern being sold as pages on eBay.  This design is about 6inches x 6inches.

A cheerful contribution from Bothy Threads.  Description:
Kit comes complete with 14ct Zweigart Aida fabric, pre-sorted thread, metallic gold beads, sequins, needle, pattern, full instructions and a colour picture to show the finished article.
This kit uses full and fractional cross stitches, back stitch and a few French knots
Finished size 32cm x 39cm
Price: around £21, available from various sellers including some on eBay such as acrosstownstitching .

As ever, if you know more about any of these designs, please leave a comment to add your knowledge.

 



Edward VIII : abdication sampler (II)

This is the second version I've seen of this particular sampler: I blogged about the first one here.  Or this may be the same sampler, reauctioned, as both have AMP 1936 on them, likely the initials of the maker.  Design area is 14inches x 18inches.

This one is very particularly about Edward and the abdication: it might seem almost disloyal to be celebrating the king who left the throne rather than focusing on the king who took on the job, but in the public view (with the press barons censoring/editing coverage of Edward VIII's wilder/less wise moments) he was an heroic figure, and his abdication a loss.

Sylvia over at Linens and Royals bought this one - read her blog entry here.  She says it's a Royal School of Needlework design, original price 7/6.

I still like the sense of the modern age in this sampler - industry, sport etc as well as traditional Union Jacks and guardsmen.  And the ?prescient inclusion of the three military figures representing army, navy and air force, with WW2 only two years in the future.

If you know any more about this design, please do leave a comment so it can be shared with others.

Elizabeth II : Diamond Jubilee (VIII) : Mollie Makes roundup

Mollie Makes magazine has this roundup of designs called the Best of Jubilee Stitching on their website.  Here's their information:

Anyway, here are our fave bits of British stitching inspiration. Long live the Queen and long live crafting!
1. We heart this cute and very British birdie! Designed by Catherine Young, and the embroidery pattern is available from Bumpkin on etsy.
2. It's not quite Buckingham Palace, but this felt jubilee mushroom is fit for a fairy queen. It's designed by Hippywitch, and it's the cutest!
3. What a lovely way to get a touch of the Cath Kidston look through your own fair hands. This set of London embroidery motifs, designed by Catherine Young, of Moda Fabrics fame, would be just right for the Jubilee weekend, and it's available as a pdf download from Comfort Stitching on etsy.

Lovely magazine, Mollie Makes, if you don't know it.  Definitely worth a look if you're even vaguely interested in crafting and making.

I particularly like the London embroidery motifs.  Embroidery, when so many jubilee designs are cross stitch.

All these blog posts documenting jubilee designs are tagged with 'jubilee', so you can use that to find the others if you'd like to see more.

Elizabeth II : golden jubilee : little crown samplers

This looks as though it might be from a magazine cover giveaway, a little souvenir, inexpensive to package and quick to stitch.  Alternatively, the stitcher might have abstracted the crown and initials from a larger sampler, and chosen to just stitch these.  If you know any more about this one, please leave a comment to contact me.

The example below was a magazine cover giveaway, from Cross Stitcher magazine sometime in the golden jubilee year of 2002.  It's not the same crown, so the one above isn't adapted from the one below.  It is, you will note, a "luxury" souvenir gift!

I'm sure there will be similar offerings from the cross stitch magazines in 2012.  Only you won't get them if you subscribe to the magazine digitally via Zinio!  The magazine does provide the chart and instructions inside the magazine, so even if you don't get the kit of aida, thread and needle (and frame, if that's part of the giveaway) you can still stitch the cover giveaway designs.

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.

Elizabeth II : diamond jubilee (VI) : more designs

With the year begun, more diamond jubilee designs for stitchers to make are emerging.

Riverdrift House has added Windsor Castle to its charming, bright range of jubilee samplers (Happy and Glorious and Buckingham Palace have featured in earlier entries on this blog.  Sandringham and Balmoral to come).

Description from the eBay.co.uk listing:

Brand new modern square sampler design for Windsor Castle, to celebrate our Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 by Riverdrift House.  Quick and fun to stitch, our design includes the castle flying the Royal Standard - with St George's Chapel, the Order of the Garter with motto 'Honi Soi Qui Mal Y Pense' and Garter Stars, a Royal gondola with the queen's swans upon the Thames, deer from the Great Park, arms of Eton College, a Union Jack, the Royal Standard, Castle Guards, crowns, 'all the Queen's horses' (Windsor Greys) ...and some Royal Corgis..

  Being sold as a brand new kit and shown in a border to give the look when framed as a picture (or made up into a cushion).  

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.

Free postage to UK addresses - kits are send in a board envelope by Royal Mail, First Class Large Letter post, either same or next day (following payment).  £3.00 to post via Air Mail abroad

Riverdrift House website is here, Riverdrift House on ebay.co.uk is here. 

British designer Emma Bridgewater whose designs have featured on crockery and textiles and Agas-with-dots has a design coming out in Cross Stitcher magazine.

It will be in issue no 250, due to be published in the UK on 22nd February 2012.  I rather like this one.  It feels vintage and fresh.  I read this magazine via Zinio as a digital magazine, so it will land on my device on that day in February.  You can buy single issues or subscriptions via Zinio; or if you're not in the UK, wait a couple of months till it lands in the newsagencies.

Tempest Tapestry, designs by Catherine Gedny, have a small and a large diamond jubilee tapestry cushion in their range.

Both are available as kits or charts: the tapestry is not printed with the design, so it's like counted cross stitch to do (ie you have to concentrate rather than relax and colour in as you can with printed tapestries/needlepoint!). It's an interesting use of the Union Jack, with subtle diamonds/stars on it.   I've seen that curlywurly font overused in school projects (it's a girls' fave) so I must say that for me, it's not one I especially like.  I think my taste in patriotic samplers leans a bit more towards the classic, at least in font styles.  But this may well hit the mark with younger stitchers.

Description of the smaller cushion:

JUBILEE 2012 Mini Cushion
* Finished size approx 7.00" x 7.00" (18 x 18cm)
* White Zweigart Canvas 12 hpi
* Anchor Tapisserie Wools (5 colours)
* Black and white symbol chart (canvas is not printed)
* Tapestry needle and full instructions
This project is a delightful way to celebrate Her Majesty's
Diamond Jubilee.  Wools include a shimmering silver yarn for working the highlights.
This pattern is worked in half-cross stitch.
KIT                                                                       CHART ONLY
£18.00  (+ p & p)                                                  £9.00

Description of the larger cushion:

JUBILEE 2012
* Finished size approx 14.1" x 10.8" (35.8 x 27.4cm)
* White Zweigart Canvas 10 hpi
* Anchor Tapisserie Wools (7 colours)
* Black and white symbol chart (canvas is not printed)
* Tapestry needle and full instructions
This project is a delightful way to celebrate Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee.  Wools include a shimmering silver yarn for working the highlights.
This pattern is worked in half-cross stitch.
KIT                                                                       CHART ONLY
£35.00  (+ p & p)                                                  £15.00

If you want something hand-embroidered without doing it yourself, in the British patriotic sphere, Jan Constantine will usually offer something.  She has a number of items for the Diamond Jubilee including cushions, lavender bags, a banner/bunting and tea/coffee cosies:

Find all Jan Constantine Diamond Jubilee items here.

Cushions, found here.  Prices range from  £66.50 up to £108.00 .

This is the next (and not the last, I suspect) of my blog entries about diamond jubilee designs.  You can use the jubilee tag below to find the other entries.

If you come across other diamond jubilee designs not yet blogged here, please let me know (eg. via the comments - just sign up to Blogger, it's free and I've had no  hassles, and then you can comment).