Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois (c) Bill Oliver 08 February 2004 Vol 3 Issue: #06 ISBN: pending Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt, Hanging in my bedroom is a cross-stitch sampler done by my Grandmother Oliver about 1895 or so. If my memory holds, she said she was about 12 years old and that would make it 1897. It has a picture of a house and trees, and in large letters is stitched the words, "God Bless Our Home." Somewhere there is another sampler or hers displaying the more traditional alphabet and unicorns. I mention samplers because someone mentioned them and remarked that they are becoming more popular again. This used to be an activity taught to young girls for practical reasons, such as mending and making clothes and quilts, and such. The word Sampler comes from the Latin word exemplum, meaning an example; a pattern [to be followed]. Of course, a pattern is something to be followed, and samplers were the training ground for one of the life tasks for young ladies. But, that is not the way it always was. Sampler beginnings are lost in antiquity. They most likely existed long before the oldest one on record. There is one dated in 1598 made by one Jane Bastocke of England to celebrate the birth of a relative, which is thought to have possibly been a daughter or niece. This embroidery is housed in the Victoria and Albert museum located in South Kensington, London, England. It is a "sampling" of motifs using a variety of stitches. It includes metal threads, pearls and beads. As hinted above, early samplers were probably not sewn by young girls/ladies, but mainly by women. They were probably intended as examples, both of designs as well as different stitches. And, here I go out of my "depth" when I list such stitches as eyelet, Algenian eye, Holbein long armed cross, besides the "common" cross stitch that I am familiar with. These early examples were long strips or bands containing alphabets and designs. These long bands might have been elaborately stitched scrolled designs of various icons, symbols or pictures. Some motifs were done in silk, designed to be cut out and appliqued onto other cloths, such as bed hangings. During the seventeenth century, with printing available, printed pattern books became common. Samplers, as reference works, faded in existence. By mid-eighteenth century, especially in America, it became the practice for young girls to stitch samplers as "home schooling". Needlework was, after all, a major part of domestic duties. The samplers that we are probably most familiar with had decorative borders and motifs of alphabets, animals, flowers, houses and very often sayings. Such is the one hanging in my bedroom. The more affluent often used icons/motifs as marks of identification of the household linens. Pious verses and/or religious symbols were popular items. Some elaborate samplers had some educational value, such a maps and multiplication tables. Victorian samplers are more pictorial and they became artifacts to be hung on walls of homes. Many turn of the century [1900] walls had elaborate designs containing many different stitches. However, later samplers usually contained what we know today as the "cross stitch". I've seen Amish hex signs done in cross stitch. Today, I see craft makers and children stitching using plastic grid sheets. So, I guess the art hasn't disappeared for sure. e-la-di-e-das-di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) Wado, Bill -=- PostScript: Other sites worth visiting: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html