Special 2016

"S. T." had the choice between many woolen colours to stitch her sampler. She "played" with them, changing the colours in the alphabets in rhythm.

She elaborately created her borders and corner motifs. She put her initials into the flower wreath.

Presumably, the sampler is from the period around 1920, as it contains an alphabet in an old German handwriting.

"S. T. ca. 1920" belongs to the large collection of school samplers by Margit Guerrein, Berlin, Germany.

Crosses: 167 x 164
Size: 30,5 x 30 cm
Stitches: Cross stitch, running stitch

Elsa stitched her cute sledge ride sampler during the time of the First World War. Sparsely stitched are the initial rows - half cross stitches, simple borders, letters from simple alphabets, more elaborate in two colours the name and the year.

What an idyll: A larger boy on ice skates pulling a sledge with a smaller one. He warms his hands in a muff. A small dog with a collar follows them through the snow.

Crosses: 117 x 118
Size: 21 x 21,5 cm
Stitches: Cross stitch, half cross stitch, running stitch

Needlework samplers are always contemporary historical sources. "Pray and work (Bete und arbeite)" as well as "war years (Kriegsjahre)" apparently were important terms for Elsbeth. I immediately came across an attempt to explain: Pray, so that everything will be well again and work, so that it goes on in life and in the war year 1918. The end is approaching. The World War had cost immeasurable suffering and numerous victims.

Elsbeth started her sampler with simple needlework exercises. She divided the two alphabets with pretty little borders, where she practiced the constant colour change.

Crosses: 136 x 136
Size: 19,5 x 19,5 cm
Stitches: Cross stitch, double running stitch, back stitch, chain stitch

Most of the school samplers stitched in Germany were worked on a piece of rough fabric. Selvages helped the teacher with cutting. Red and blue yarns were available to the student.

Now, care, creativity in the selection of the alphabet and the borders, as well as diligence were required. At the end of the school year the work was marked.

Martha's sampler is part of the large collection of Margit Guerrein from Berlin.

Crosses: 149 x 146
Size: 27 x 26,5 cm
Stitches: Cross stitch, square stitch, running stitch