Acquisitions

It’s been a long time since I last posted. I really haven’t had much to post about! Sometimes life (and work) gets so busy that I don’t have any energy left to stitch at the end of the day. I anticipate that this trend will continue through the end of the year. There are always so many end of year deadlines for work, and there are also so many expectations tied to the holidays. I always look forward to the New Year and a fresh start!

I have stitched some though and will be able to rustle up an update for you, but today’s post is going to be dedicated to two antique samplers I acquired this summer. I happened upon them at a thrift sale that I went to in August. Both are beautiful and in excellent condition. I don’t know much about the history of either of them, but perhaps someday I will have time to research. They are currently in the frames I acquired them in. I’d like to have them reframed to ensure they are well preserved for many years to come.

Here is the first one (and my most favorite). Please note, I could not photograph them straight on; did the best I could to eliminate as much glare as possible.

The name on the sampler is “Eliza Guy” and it was stitched (finished?) in August 1845 when she was 10 years old. The verse reads:

Tis Religion that can give Sweetest Pleasures

While we live tis Religion must Supply Solid

Comfort when we Die After Death it’s Joys

Will be Lasting as Eternity be the Living God

My Friend then my Bless shall never End.

The second one is very pretty too. It has some small holes in it, but the stitching is all intact. This sampler was stitched by Mary Ann Simmons. She finished the sampler on March 14, 1848.

The verse reads:

Loose me the Mighty Angel Cried

Why didst thou grasp Me so

Until thou bless me he replies

I will not let the go…

We just gave our walls a fresh coat of paint and I decided to hang these in a place where I can see them from my stitching chair. As I stitch, I will think about the young girls that stitched these samplers.

Here’s a Lizzie photo for you; she brings so much joy to our lives!