Antique Samplers are cherished by private collectors and museums alike. I am taken with primitive samplers but this one is truly outstanding. Part of the permanent collection at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, it is an outstanding example of its type. At 12 years of age I was making some of my clothes, I was learning to crochet, but my embroidery skills were way beyond primitive. I was so impressed with this sampler, I just had to share.
This
is the skillful work of 12-year-old Lucy D. Stickney from
Massachusetts. She made it in 1830, no doubt as part of her education as
a young girl. This kind of sampler is known as an alphabet sampler, and
is typically the first sampler a young girl would make to practice her
embroidery skills. Lucy's is quite sophisticated (you go, Lucy!) as she
has included three alphabets, a border, a verse, an inscription, as well
as an idyllic scene of a stately house done in a combination of
embroidery and watercolor.
Want
to know more about Lucy? Daughter of William Stickney, a grocer from
Boston, Lucy was born in 1818. In 1833 she married Hervey Zury Kimball, a
leather dresser, when they were both 15 years old. They had fourteen
children, but sadly only five survived past the age of two. They
initially lived in Charlestown, MA, but lived in New York City for at
least one year in 1839. By 1860 they had moved to Malden, MA, where Lucy
was very active in Malden social and charitable organizations. She was
also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was one
of the original promoters and founders of the city’s Old People’s Home.
Lucy died in 1902 at the age of eighty-four. We feel special to have one
of her samplers. (https://www.cooperhewitt.org/)
- Lara from Sew Very Easy gives us a tour of her new studio, HERE. I am just going to say Wow. This tour is special for a couple reasons. After many different sewing spaces, everything from a closet to the current space, she shares some of lessons learned for creating a personalized and efficient space.
- Wall paint a shade of white. I have always wondered why some people paint their walls pink or chartreuse. I think those colors taint the colors of the fabrics. I have enough trouble with colors, I am a white all the way girl.
- Adapting the height of our surfaces from desk to cutting tables is so important to have an ergonomic set up. See how she uses empty thread spools to make that happen.
- Pressing surfaces for different type of projects are also important. See how she uses three different irons to achieve the results she wants.
- So much more!
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