Memento Mori 1737

Description

This piece was designed after an early eighteenth century English sampler. The unusual design unites seventeenth and eighteenth century needlework traditions including the narrow vertical shape and the wide range of stitches. The solidly filled geometric shapes mimic upholstery patterns of the period and this design might have been a practice sampler record for creating cushion and stool covers or chair backs. Stitches used in the sampler are cross, petit point, herringbone, queen, eyelet and bargello (flamestitch, a variation of upright satin stitches, also known as Irish stitch). The verse is as follows:

In all your pride and self vain glory
Mind this same well: Memento Mori

On 35 count linen the sampler will measure approximately 7″ x 15″. It is recommended for advanced needle workers.

Stitchers and designers, like me, suffer many faults, and the bargello pattern in the new “Memento Mori” design should have been stitched using these colors. The correct colors, as shown in these pictures from Ilana Kaye, are what I intended, and are far more exciting than what you see on the cover photo. Remember: follow the graph and not the photo.