The Immigrant Sampler by Lucy Lyons Willis
Copyright 2002 La Chatelaine Designs
By popular demand I am now offering this sampler instruction book for sale! It can be purchased either "book only" or book with linen". The sampler is stitched on 32ct Vintage Light Examplar Linen hand-dyed by Lakeside Linens. The threads used are Weeks Dye Works hand dyed threads and DMC Perle Cotton Thread in #8 and #12.
NEW! Vikki Clayton has converted these thread colors to her beautiful hand-dyed silk threads!
The entire silk kit which includes Ecru Silk Perle in sizes #8 and #12 is available through her website: www.hand-dyedfibers.com! The conversion is a perfect match, and her hand-dyed silks are a joy to stitch with!
The instruction book (3-ring binder) is clear and concise with easy-to-follow stitch diagrams and charts. Cover of book contains an 8" x 10" color photo of sampler. Color close-up photos of all borders are included in book. All charts and photos are contained within archival plastic sheets.
The finished sampler measures 9" x 26" when stitched on 32ct linen. The sampler is mounted on Vintage Tapestry Teal 32ct hand-dyed linen from Lakeside Linens.
Price of the Instruction Book Only ~ $50.00 (plus $4.00 shpg)
Price of the Instruction Book & 32ct Vintage Light Examplar Linen ~ $90.00 (plus $6.00 shpg)
Linen is 26" x 36" (a stitcher's fat half)
Price of the Instruction Book & both linen and mounting linen ~ $130.00 (plus $7.00 shpg)
Price of the Mounting Vintage Tapestry Teal Linen Only ~ $40.00
Linen is 26" x 36" (a stitcher's fat half)
Package is mailed USPS 2nd Day Priority Mail, insured & confirmation of delivery
Payment may be made by check (please make check payable to: Lucy Willis) and mailed to:
Lucy Willis
39 Fort Williams Parkway
Alexandria, Virginia 22304
or with credit or debit card through Paypal. Please send payment through Paypal to:
LLWLaChatelaine@aol.com
When paying through Paypal, please add $2.00 for service charge.
Be certain to specify that payment is for Immigrant Sampler when paying through Paypal.
Threads used in sampler:
Weeks Dye Works (6-stranded) hand-dyed floss with # of skeins needed for sampler
Romance (6 skeins)Bayberry (1 skein)
Angel Hair (4 skeins) Onyx (1 skein)
Curry (2 skeins) Cocoa (1 skein)
Sea Foam (2 skeins)Cadet (1 skein)
Putty (2 skeins) Oak (1 skein)
DMC Floss
DMC 731Olive Green (1 skein)
DMC 3773 Mortar Pink (2 skeins)
DMC 3722 Brick Red (3 skeins)
DMC Perle Cotton
DMC Ecru Perle Cotton #8 (1 ball)
DMC Ecru Perle Cotton #12 (1ball)
All threads are available through local needle work shops and numerous online needle work businesses. If unable to find locally, they may be purchased through these fine online needle work shops:
The Story behind the Immigrant Sampler:
The end of August 2001 I began designing a new sampler for an upcoming needlework seminar. I design by "stitching" first and had quite a bit done by the time I had to set it aside to do a lecture on Ruskin Lace for the Baltimore EGA on Monday, September 10th. It had been a delightful day! The drive home to Alexandria, Virginia took me along the Potomac River with its beautiful view of Washington, DC ~ and luckily, I beat the evening traffic!
The next morning I was jolted awake with the news of the attack in New York. Then as I was standing in the center of the bedroom I heard a distant rumble which got louder and louder until suddenly I was reaching for my bedpost to steady myself as the house literally began to shake ~ we live about four miles from the Pentagon. As my family and I huddled around the television watching with disbelief and fearful of the unknown an old hymn from my youth kept repeating itself in my mind. Maybe it was because so many times the phrase "O God" was repeated during those first moments and days, but the words by Isaac Watts kept coming to me ~ "O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come; Our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home."
Picking up my unfinished needle work that week in an effort to calm myself, I realized that I just couldn't complete the sampler which I had been working on at that time. I felt compelled to begin another ~ one that would develop from the image of the American flag.
I was born in Washington, DC and my parents and I moved to Alexandria, Virginia (across the Potomac River) when I was four years old. At that time The Institute of Heraldry, for which my father worked as an heraldic artist, moved from DC to an Army installation called Cameron Station in Alexandria. The Institute is the only organization within the US government devoted to the science and art of heraldry and other official symbolism. It's mission is to furnish heraldic services to the armed forces and other United States government organizations, including the Executive Office of the President. In 1959, President Eisenhower commissioned the Institute for a new 50-star flag ~ and my father, Irving Lyons, was the artist who designed the new flag. The Institute was under the strictest confidence as to not tell anyone what was being designed since the announcement of the new state addition had not been made public knowledge. My mother remembers fondly of the day she rode with my father into Washington, DC to deliver his original painting/design of the new flag which "covered the whole back seat of the car!"
This sampler evolved from a desire to celebrate the American flag along with the need to embrace our "patriotic soul" ~ remembering our beginnings and the strength that only our heritage can give us.
Shalom!
Lucy
