Phebe, Sally and Hannah

In April 1994, Country Home released a new magazine called Folk Crafts.  Being a sucker for magazines, I immediately purchased the magazine.  The premier issue was filled with wonderful goodness:  Bandboxes by Berta Montgomery, hand painted game boards by Mary Thompson, miniature quilts by Tina Gravatti and samplers by Marsha Van Valin aka The Scarlet Letter.  I couldn't drive home fast enough to start devouring that magazine.  Of course, Stitched in Time, the story of Marsha and The Scarlet Letter was my favorite article.  And . . . since the magazine was called Folk Crafts, each person featured in the magazine included directions for completing a project.  Marsha (The Scarlet Letter) included the chart for stitching the Phebe Smith Sampler. 

This is a photo of The Phebe Smith sampler from the magazine.  The sampler on the left is the reproduction and the sampler on the right is the original. 

This is my Scarlet Letter Phebe Smith sampler.  I think this was the first Scarlet Letter I stitched.  (Phebe is hanging in Sister C's room, behind the angels and angel tree.)

Included in the Folk Crafts magazine article was this beautiful photograph of more of The Scarlet Letter samplers.  The small sampler on the stand is Sally Morse and Hannah Breed is the larger sampler hanging on the wall.  I could not resist.

Here is my Sally Morse sampler.  Normally, Sally sits on top the dresser in Sister C's room.

And yes, I have joined Nicola in celebrating her Scarlet Letter year and it is time for me to get started on Hannah Breed and add her to the fold.  (Wish me luck on the queen stitches).

A very special thank you to my blogging-stitching  friends for helping me with my Christmas sampler dilemma.  WOW!  There are some amazing Christmas samplers.  Stacy Nash must have also heard my plea.  Have you seen her latest sampler design--Christmas at Hollyberry Farm?