An antique reproduction – special Etsy exclusive
Working with antique samplers is such a privilege. While my collection mostly consists of the damaged, neglected and in need of saving, I have found a particular love of French samplers. Typically very floral, there’s a lightness and delicacy about them that keeps me intrigued.
This sampler came to me from rural France, and I was immediately in love with the simple colour palette and beautiful shape. Long and tall, this beautiful piece contains a range of floral motifs, the odd bird and some truly beautiful berries. It also contains and fleur-de-lys (cementing it as French) and a monstrance (a starburst-shaped Catholic sacred vessel). From this, we can surmise that the stitcher was a French Catholic in the 19th-century, with a love of green and pink. Based on her initials, I suspect that her name may have been Marie or Maria, and in honour of her initials, I’ve named it “Marvellous Blooms”.
I’ve made a tradition of the past couple of years to release a special sampler as an Etsy shop exclusive as my birthday gift to you. This is a little late, but I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.
I’ve stitched it beautiful Cascade House Embroidery Silks, which highlight the brightness and vividness of the colour palette. Threadpacks are available in my Etsy store, and the pattern contains a full DMC conversion (also on the bright side) and an overdye conversion (which takes a softer, more antique-looking interpretation). Additionally, the reduced colour palette of the pattern (only 9 colours) means that it would be very easy to adapt to your favourites.
The pattern and silk threadpacks are available exclusively from my Etsy store now. Forgive me, but I’m not well enough to film a video to show you more of the antique original at the moment, but I will do so as soon as I can.
I hope you find the moments of calm and joy that I did in stitching this special piece.
Mojo Stitches 