M. Quertier 1799 Quaker Sampler

M. Quertier 1799 Quaker Sampler

Scarlet Letter

Stash Fabric

Gloriana Silk-India Ink 

Emma Lerch decided after the border on her sampler met with no fudging, she needed a break and headed south to soak up some rays and have some fun in the sun (spring break).  M. Quertier 1799 has been in my stitch stash for a long time.  Every time I go looking for a new project there is M. Quertier staring at me and asking:  "when is it going to my turn and when are you going to stitch me?"  After seeing Carmen's beautifully stitched Ann Grimshaw and Faye's beautiful Sarah Comfort Quaker samplers, I decided it was M. Quertier's turn.

Truth be told, I started M. once before and soon realized she is a big girl and the piece of fabric, I had selected was not large enough and stopped stitching after this motif.  Hmm, maybe I will finish stitching this one motif and turn it into something fabulous.  

M. stitched her sampler in 1799 at the Ackworth School in Yorkshire, England.  The Ackworth School was unique because girls received nearly the same educational instruction as boys.  Marsha Parker of the Scarlet Letter writes:  Out of this school came a fascinating style of needlework, characterized by a distinct, clear, formal style of lettering, unique symmetrical whole and fractional medallions with geometric, floral and animal motifs, a vocabulary of short sentimental expressions and other readily identifiable spot motifs.

Schoolhouse Red is a beautiful Gloriana fiber, but M. and I decided to stitch her in black like the original.  It has been a long time since I stitched Quaker medallions and I had forgotten what a joy they are to stitch.  There are several sets of initials on M.'s sampler and I wish I knew more of her story/history.  Are the initials the initials of her friends, family, teachers or classmates?  She wanted everyone to know she stitched the sampler in the year 1799 because it is stitched on the sampler three times.

The Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler was originally available from Needleprint and has been out of print for several years.  Stitchybox Samplers has purchased the copyright and is re-releasing Beatrix.  From what I have read about this sampler, Beatrix Potter did not stitch the sampler, it was hanging in her home and because it was found hanging in her house, it was called the Beatrix Potter sampler.  Both the Beatrix Potter sampler and M. Quertier samplers contain similar motifs and I thought it would be fun to reunite these classmates.  (Oh the plans of mice and men, let's see how long it takes for the wheels to fall off the bus on this plan.)