Special 2014

On the finest linen, S. de Meulemeester handed in her annual work from needlework classes in 1895: She showed seams, stitched an alphabet in cross stitch, showed hollow seams and decorative stitches and added two bands of lace! She placed three individual pieces - a net-like work, a fine crocheting square and 20 weaving exercises in the central part of the bottom section. A nice little "Pronklap".

You can work a reproduction of this so-called "Doorstoplap" now. (Maybe completed by your name and year, similar to Nellie Gruitroy’s piece from Arnhem!?)

Everything a simple sampler "needs": ABCs, various kinds of embroidery, little borders, motifs and a signature!

FL has been working on coarse fabric with cotton and wool, framed with triple rows of running stitches and edged with red ribbon.

The sampler (inventory number 18B317) belongs to the large collection of the Museum of European Cultures, Berlin. A very similar school sampler from Baden-Baden, also stitched around 1880, illustrates the cover of the exhibition catalogue "Samplers from the Museum of German Folklore" of the year 1978.

Crosses: 123 x 131
Size: 17,5 x 18,5 cm
Stitches: Cross stitch, four-sided stitch, Algerian eyelet, Smyrna cross stitch, running stitch

"In memory of my school days" - Marie signed her pretty and perfectly executed school work in the needlework class. Marie's colour selection is unusual for school samplers of that time, particularly in the French alphabet, the corner motifs and the tendril. I thank my friend Margit Guerrein, who made the sampler available to me.

Crosses: 190 x 192
Size: 34,5 x 35 cm
Stitches: Cross stitch

Charming, these four alphabets, a series of numbers, two crowns and the year - everything surrounded by an unusual border.

"1887" is part of the beautiful school sampler collection of my friend M. Guerrein, Berlin.

Crosses: 177 x 207
Size: 25 x 29,5 cm
Stitches: Cross stitch