To Market, To Market
Ready or not, the Nashville Market is almost here! We’re pushing through our final preparations as we work through all of the things we didn’t know that we didn’t know about launching our line. Some days feel like we’re bouncing between “wow this is stressful” and “wow this is fun” at a much too frequent rate, but it is wonderful watching everything come together.
We are pleased to announce our 2023 Market Releases. It has been so much fun selecting and reproducing these samplers and each one is special in its own way. I hope that you love them as much as we do.
One of my favorites is Sarah Ann Beecham’s sampler. Her color palette is so fun and I just love Sarah’s “wonky bird” as Beth and I like to call it. This design was part of the inspiration for our company’s name, as it is a sampler that I own but Beth charted the pattern and stitched the model. The end result on 40-count linen is so sweet!
Also not to be missed is our 2023 Nashville Market exclusive offering, Dorothy Leedes. Dorothy’s sampler is simple design stitched in a single color but the overall effect is quite special. In addition, Beth now works for Gloriana Threads and designed and dyed a completely new silk color for Gloriana that is featured in Dorothy Leedes named “Swamp Grass”. In addition to Dorothy’s sampler, Swamp Grass is perfect for stitching grass and other green spaces on your samplers. Anne from Gloriana will have the new color available as part of her Nashville offering so please make sure to ask about it at your local needlework store.
We have also included a red marking sampler, Mary Ann Hutchins, the original of which certainly meets the definition of “rescue”. (I will save that story for a future blog post.) Beth had the idea of also stitching Mary Ann’s sampler using the very fine Gloriana Tudor Thread 1 over 1 on 40-count linen. I hope you agree that “Big Red” and “Baby Blue” make a delightful pair, and well illustrate the variety that we can achieve with our stitching depending upon linen and thread choices.
Charlotte Webster is a more traditional motif sampler featuring a lovely border and sweet prayer. Charlotte opted to stitch the two primary motifs of her sampler 1 over 1, and we have included detailed versions of those charts as part of the pattern to hopefully make stitching those motifs easier. Stitching 1 over 1 on the higher thread counts can be a bit daunting, but the end result is worth it.
Ann Richardson’s sampler features a beautiful central floral motif and one of my favorite sampler features: making words or letters “fit” when there is no more space on the row. When her name turned out to need much more space than 9-year old Ann had planned for, she made it work with a charming end result. After almost 30 years in engineering, I can attest to the fact that even the best laid plans and calculations don’t always turn out the way that we want them to.
Finally, I can’t end without mentioning Elizabeth Newman’s band sampler. Although smaller than the original (Elizabeth stitched her sampler on a fabric akin to burlap) I tried to stay true to the vibrant color palette that Elizabeth chose. While some of the original colors have faded, many of them – including that beautiful fuchsia pink that Elizabeth chose for her name and a few other bands – remain true, almost 300 years since Elizabeth first pulled them out of her thread basket. I hope you enjoy the vibrant colors too.
So those are our 2023 Market offerings. I really hope that you enjoy them! Please be sure to let your local needlework store know which of our designs they should include in their Market order for you. And, lastly please don’t hesitate to reach out to us! Your feedback is always welcome via email at mysisterssamplers@outlook.com or on our Instagram page @mysisterssamplers.
Until later,
Rebecca