And when you are not stitching Mary Wigham

In 17th century Britain, spot motif samplers were cloths which recorded a repertoire of patterns and motifs for further use. Your Mary Wigham is now your very own spot sampler. You can take motifs from it, change the palette - and you have all had plenty of inspiration from each other, haven't you? - and use the motif to create something very personal for yourself. This morning before breakfast I just digitally whipped up this pin-keep thanks to a little help from Zaza in France who stitched this lily motif (you will see her sampler later, I promise). You can see some fabulous 17th century spot motif cloths in The Goodhart Samplers. Maybe you have some good ideas for smalls using Ackworth motifs which you would like to share with us?

New Mary Wighams in the Gallery and here is Christine's from France

Well, we are almost there with restructuring and it was my pleasure to update the gallery with last week's new works in progress. You can always look on the right hand side bar to visit the your work in progress - there is so much to admire! Or just for now you can click on Christine's lovely creation here. Christine Lopes is from France and says she is really enjoying the SAL with us all. Like her you are such brilliant designers. You can simply take the motifs from Mary Wigham's sampler and use them in all sorts of combinations and shades to create anything you want. I don't think you ever need to buy a new pattern again! If it wasn't for the fact that it is Japanese take-away tonight when I take out a few widgets on the side bar to make our blog accessible to our Japanese companions, I would have the music box playing our Mary Wigham Stitchalong song..........I have to say you really all are my favourite people.

Everybody now cheer for the ladies of Loudon Sampler Guild in Leesburg Virginia, USA

I hope Anne who is at the right of this photo and Barbara who is second from left can hear us all. What good progress they are all making. It is lovely when you can meet up together and stitch, isn't it? I know that Betty Whiting Flemming is there with you still in spirit. For those of you who never had the privilege to meet Betty who died this year, she was a curator at the Loudoun Museum from 1992 to 1999, where she was responsible for Threads of History, a sampler exhibit and symposium. She spent two years researching and planning a Loudoun Museum event, The Quaker Girl: Her Life and Her Needlework, in 2008. Betty was a great force for good in the field of needlework, samplers in particular. So let's all give a hearty cheer for Betty too - altogether now - Hip, Hip, Hip, Hooray!

A Lovely Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler from Doris in Alsace

Doris Hirth has just sent me an image of her framed Beatrix Potter Quaker Sampler and I had to post it straight away for you to see. I am delighted to share all the special variations you are creating with these sampler charts - it really does my heart good to see them and to see all the loveliness of your designs and colour choices. Although the original sampler chart is no longer in print, you can still obtain a .pdf Beatrix Potter Quaker chart as a download.