You Found Me - And The Missing York Quaker of 1800!

Well, goodness me, what fun we had with the treasure hunt! Congratulations to all who found me, again there were many correct entries. And to make up for the single winners so far, I decided we should have not one winner, but five. And not only did you find me, you discovered a sampler missing from the shop - the very charming York Quaker of 1800. Click here to see more. So, without further ado, I am delighted to announce that the five lucky winners tonight are: Jill, Tedra, Ruth, Lyn and Ine.

And the Winner of Amy Mitten's An Autopsy of the Montenegrin Stitch is...

There was huge interest in this draw with a bumper number of entrants. I hope that Guilds will take up the challenge of teaching Montenegrin Stitch - there is so much interest and once learnt the stitch is an absolute joy to work and the finish looks wonderful.

We are planning a new hedge for the house and at the weekend went to visit our local woodsman and his wife. Business takes it time here and is conducted over large pots of coffee or tea. During this drinks' break the woodsman's wife, having found out what we do, took me over to the house to show me her needlework and patchwork. She has also been collecting for some time small embroidered items that have caught her eye. And, in amongst her collection was a delightful piece of Montenegrin stitching. We talked about it and now she wants to find a class!

I know many of you will be sad that your name wasn't picked - but you can buy a copy from Amy and I believe the book will be available in the UK through The Sampler Guild. Just click here to visit Amy's website. And here to visit The Sampler Guild's website.

So, it gives me great pleasure to announce that the extraordinarily lucky person who was first out of the draw is Nancy from Ontario, Canada.

Campsea Ashe School

It is frequently the case that the less attractive samplers receive less attention than they should. Cases in point are the somewhat plain samplers stitched by literary giants, Jane Austen and the Bronte Sisters (and you will be able to see close up the Jane Austen sampler in Volume 2 of the Micheal and Elizabeth Feller Needlework Collection.) The sampler pictured above may not be the prettiest I have seen, but it has unlocked a fascinating world for me. First I should say that the sampler is for sale on 20 July. It is lot 353 in a sale at Abbotts Auctions with an estimate of £80-£120. Click here for more details. You might just be able to see that it was stitched by Sarah Ann Ling of Campsea Ashe school when she was 14 years old and is dated July 12th 1850.

Campsea Ashe is a small place in Suffolk - not really near anywhere and I just wanted to see if the school was still in existence. Well - the bad news is that it was closed in the 1970s - the terrific news is that we can read the school records almost in their entirety. School log books going back to 1860 are available to download on-line and it makes fascinating history.

And thinking back to my school days and inspections, to read the changing emphasis on exactly what is recorded in the books and see the end of year report on the teacher is quite an insight. Poor teacher - could have done better! The files are quite large to download - but are just wonderful. Here you can see the opening pages where it is recorded that the school has been reopened after being closed for some time and so the children are very backward.Click here for the links.

We have long 6 week summer holidays in the UK which originally accommodated the need for children to be on the land to help with the harvesting. Here the school closes for the Harvest Holidays - and when it reopens, children are still not in school since they are gleaning in the mornings.

The Winner of the Fabulous Rimal Publication - Palestinian Embroidery Motifs 1850-1950

The splendid thing about having a week of draws is having a week of winners! Thank you to everyone who took part for being such good sports - I know you all would have dearly loved to win - but better luck next time, I'm sure. Special thanks also to Rimal Publications for gifting a prize for the winner and for bringing to our attention the two wonderfully inspiring books about Palestinian Embroidery and Embroiderers.

The winner of the book Palestinian Embroidery Motifs - a Treasury of Stitches 1850-1950 is Vera from Pennsylvania - many congratulations!

Threads of Identity is the other major book by Rimal Publications and is best described is a classic work of needlework history and narrative - an absolute must for any needlework lover's library.