It Takes a Village

Please help me celebrate the completion of a needlework project I started 15 years ago! It didn’t actually take me that long to stitch this reproduction cross stitch sampler. But it did take years to bring it to fruition.



The sampler spent more time wadded up in a basket than it did in my hands. And when my hands could no longer manage the tiny stitches worked over a single linen thread, it sat untouched until I found friends who could finish it for me.

My cousin, Lynn, skillfully stitched the few remaining inches and returned the sampler to me last Christmas. Back to its basket it went, waiting to be laundered. Over the summer, my friend, Sheila, washed, blocked and pressed the piece; then took it to the framer. This fall, my dad picked it up from the framer and delivered it to me. It sat propped up against the wall for weeks until I called my neighbor, Barb, who hung the needlework while another friend, Linda, snapped photos for my blog.

You’ll think, upon reading this, that I can’t do anything for myself and you’ll be close to right. It “takes a village” to care for me and my needlework. I’m so grateful for dear friends who shared my enthusiasm for this piece and joy in finally getting it up on the wall.

The original sampler (shown here) was stitched in 1839 by Ann Rayner of West Yorkshire County, England. It was reproduced by Nancy Sturgeon, from Naperville, Illinois, who charted and kitted the sampler for her needlework business, Threads Through Time.