Eleanor Parr Sampler - My Next Project

I decided that it was time for a change in pace. It has been a while since I have stitched a historical sampler, and I thought Eleanor Parr would be an interesting one.

Here's a closer look:

Normally, I would not make any changes to a historical sampler. This is not a typical schoolgirl sampler, however, for many reasons, so I do not feel so bad about changing the verse. When I was reading up on the sampler, I came upon this story about Barbara Thomas in Inspirations magazine. She substituted the poem by Alice Cary. I think it was brilliant! I was initially attracted to this sampler because of the birds. I am a bird lover from way back, and this verse fits perfectly! You can read about Barbara's work here.

This is a photo of Barbara's work:

I'm sure it will be a bit tricky to fit the new verse in there, but I think it will be worth the trouble.

I spent the last two evenings working on this, and this is what I have so far:

I am stitching it on 36 ct lambswool linen, using DMC threads. Originally I planned to use Au ver a soie, and took a day to sort through my threads. I realized that I was missing quite a few colors, and it would be quite pricey to buy them, so I decided to use DMC.

The original samplers typically used silk, wool, or linen. In many cases, cotton was not available. Today however, the cotton threads rival the colors of silk, so again, I do not feel so bad in making another change.

This sampler is HUGE! I had forgotten how cumbersome it can be to work. It will take some maneuvering of the linen to make it manageable.

I will be back when I have some more progress.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!