I WAS BOWLED OVER

Hello, Primmies -
Well here I was just sitting around reading about samplers cuz I'm behind in doing a
follow up post and in walks Mr. Glen Oaks
with a little package for me. I wasn't
expecting anything so I couldn't figure out
what it was. TOTAL SURPRISE, it is from
Linda of Parker's Paradise. Do you remember her post from January 3rd when Linda 
shared her latest works, adorable hand- 
stitched pillows with the cute childlike writing and drawings. Linda backed them with mattress ticking fabric and some with red check fabric. WELL, THAT'S WHAT I
GOT, a stitched pillow from her. Mine has
the vine with little red berries stitched from
French knots and the alphabet in the middle, signed like a sampler by "Ann Z 1864".
How did she know one of my favorite times
in history is the Civil War period?? My pillow
is backed with a simple tiny pale blue and white striped fabric. I love it, Linda! 
This is a truly genuine act of kindness, thoughtfulness and love. 
You are amazing, Linda. I will always think of you when I look at my sweet pillow.
Hopefully gals, photos will follow. 
But I wanted to get this posted today . Go to
Linda's Jan.3rd post HERE to get an idea of
what my pillow looks like.
Back to my samplers, I'm still re-working the
wording and scanned photos.
Hugs,
Susan

OFF TO THE MARKET THIS MORNING?

Correction to book referenced below: it should

read a 19th century cookery book titled 

The Frugal Housewife by Susannah Carter

from the 1823 published edition. I apologize.

Good Morning, Primmies - 

For your A.M. enjoyment, here are some more snippets of a 19th century cookery book titled

Early American Cookery "The Good Housekeeper" by Sarah Josepha Hale. Note

the instructions she gives regarding how to

tell if meat is fresh when going to market. For

when we *sigh* and think we should have lived

in this quaint time compare this to going to

your local grocery store and picking up your

nicely chilled and shrink wrapped meat bundle:

Smell under the kidney, she was serious about that. Oh, my...

O.K., now for those of you who enjoy your glass of wine, beer or cocktail hang on to your prim drawers:

Isn't this a hoot? And I did the editing at 4:30

a.m. this morning, it was even funnier then.

I'm going to be doing some sampler research this morning and then we are off to the border of

MA and NY to bring Mr. Glen Oaks Jr., back

to his home. It's another 2 1/2 hours into upstate

NY for them to reach home from there. He's doing much better and has stopped coughing and isn't so very congested anymore. Papa Glen Oaks is also

on the mend and I so far have seemed to escape

with just the killer headache and some mild con-

gestion. I feel good today (knock on wood) and

need to make stops at the post office and the

vet before we take off. It's a nice ride when there isn't traffic and we meet at the outlets in Lee and

usually have a bite to eat together. Junior didn't want to go to bed last night and I'm sure it's because he knew it was his last night and he's going to miss being here. He's almost 14 so he can stay up kind of late on vacation. He transitions well when he has to get back to waking up early for school.

We had a really good visit with him and we'll miss him a lot.

I'll be back later tonight I think with that sampler

history and more of those priceless cookery snippets. 

Until later,

Susan

Inside The Clutter Of My Mind

(Long Post, girls - you might want to save me for last)


Hi, Prim Friends- 
I've been encouraged by the numerous posts from fellow bloggers about them taking time to think about and do the things that they love.
Do you ever see patterns, fabrics, books, etc., and
just have to have them? And then you don't know what to do first? Or worse, like me, forget that you
even have all of these things unstarted? Well, I've
realized that I could do this the rest of my life and
that's just silly. So I had to pick (and it was really
difficult) just two mediums to concentrate on and
to actually make something.  I don't know how it's going to play out with my physical disability but
I'm going for it!
I see from my 'stash' that my passion lies with all
things fabric, so I chose to begin with cross stitching a sampler, which I did a lot of years ago, and to do
something brand new and a real challenge, which is
trying to make my own version of an Izannah Walker inspired doll:

 a

The sampler I chose to start with is from an original
1732 miniature band sampler stitched by a woman
named Dorothy Allen, Ethan Allen's cousin. I live not far from the Vermont border and I love history
about the Revolutionary War, so I decided to start
with this sampler. Plus, it's the easiest one in the book! 
The reason they are called band samplers is due to the fact that 16th and 17th century looms did not weave fabric any wider than 9 inches in width. In the 18th century the looms could weave a wider piece of cloth.  But the earliest samplers , English as well, were stitched on narrow, long 'bands' of linen.
When finished, this sampler will be only 3 7/8 x
six and 1/2 inches. Dorothy also omitted the letters
U and J and spelled 'samplar' instead of sampler, all three being common for samplers stitched in this time.
Also, her numbers are not marked and stitched in straight lines, she used them in the date, her age and at the bottom with her 'pine trees'.
This book was a treasured gift from my sweet
Mr. Glen Oaks. I have wanted the book FOREVER and I can't believe I finally have it. Another thing that I had wanted to do but never had the money for was to take Dixie Redmond's Izannah Walker Work-
shop online class. Well, Mr. G.O.P. did it again, he
got me the next best thing, Dixie's eBook in PDF:

Unfortunately I can't show you anymore of the
Izannah book like I can of the samplers. This is
Dixie's own book and I don't have permission to
share online.  I also got some patterns for gifts by
another talented artist that I have wanted forever,
Gail Wilson, a published doll maker. She and Dixie
have both been in Early American Life's Directory of Artisans. Wow, these ladies are awesomely talented.
Here is Gail's pattern for an Izannah Girl and Boy doll pair:

Sorry, Mr. Glen Oaks Jr. scanned for me and it went the other way. I also have her pattern for the perfectly round head Columbian Style Doll:

There, that's the right way! Now, Dixie's workshop
takes you through the clay sculpted face and
shoulderplate over cloth doll method. I'm not sure I'm ready for that, so I'm going to start with the
Izannah Pattern above. I will make the girl first and
hopefully the boy will follow. I love to see dolls in pairs of boy and girl. They are usually one or the other sold singly. And to make sure that it's goof proof, Gail includes vellum transfers for the eyes and the curls in the hair that Izannah was known for. I also have the 'cheek pouncer' to make Gail's perfect feathered cheeks. And a set of her oil colors that she mixes for the flesh tone and the other features. And I've got her own blend of antiquing wax for the final step. I don't know, gals, can I do it?
I still have to learn the needle felting dog that Joyce and dear Prudence sent to me. See, I'm cluttered in the head again...
I'm planning on reading where I left off with Dixie's book, I always read through whatever I'm going to make before I start, just like a cooking recipe. The eBook is large so it's going to take a while. The boys are all sick here (cats included), the little guy brought the germs with him from his little sister back in New York. So it's slowly creeping through to the mister and I have a twinge of it. Mostly just a piercing headache over my left eye and temple. They are horribly congested in the chest and head. The coughing is bad, I am trying to avoid them as best I can since I was just sick for weeks. Ugghhh... kids are little germ vessels, poor things.  
I'm going to share some history on samplers with you and I didn't forget about the excerpts from my old cookery book. The boys went to the fish market for dinner items, I hope they have tilapia. This is day two of my weight loss healthy eating plan. It will be broiled fish with a dash of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of bread crumbs and capers, rice pilaf and a salad. This healthy eating ain't bad!
Later, primmies -
Susan

WHAT I'M DOING TONIGHT

Hi, Prim friends - I could look at 19th and 20th century needlework  books forever. I don't know what it is about

them, a simpler time? Attention to every detail in their

homes and wardrobe? The unhurried fashion that the

women seemed to go about in their world. But still they

managed to cook, clean, launder, be caregivers, then had

a quiet time at night to do their mending and marking of

linens, and some beautiful cross stitching or embroidery.

Needlework endures today, with our efforts to re-create

the work of so many girls and women that went before us.

I'm glad I'm a female!

Demonstrating the proper height and distance from table for needlework. The thread is drawn up as shown.

It's that attention to every detail again, these ladies certainly were efficient and organized.

Do a Google search on vintage needlework books and see

what you come up with. Demographics determine where the

search will go, I won't get the same results as you for example.  The books for American young ladies are really

fun, they include toys, games, rhymes and needlework and

sewing crafts. My favorite is the The American Girl's Book by Eliza Leslie. 

This book has some wonderful crafts projects for young

girls and they are wonderful early Colonial examples that

we can re-create. 

So I hope you enjoyed the glimpse into 19th century girls'

pastimes.

Good Nite Primmies,

Susan

                                      

A Source To Share With You

Hello, Primmies -
Is everyone relaxing today? We are. I've had time to really look through some favorite blogs and I found a nice source for linen fabric and flosses for cross stitching. The store is on eBay and it's link is Home Sweet Home Needle Crafts. Their ID is hshneedlecrafts.
If you are signed in to eBay you can click the
above link, otherwise put their ID in the search . They have fat eighths (13"x18")
pieces of linens, some already hand dyed by
Weeks Dye Works and others. The size works
for most projects, I have a book of historical
samplers and the fat eighth is usually enough for the projects. They will cut larger pieces if you need it. The prices are fair I think, they vary according to count and mfgr. but they are anywhere from $9.00 to
$11.00. 
I'm on the hunt today for places to buy 
sampler and cross stitch supplies so I might
be back with another store link.
Have a blessed day,
Susan