Sample Me

I think the first time I heard about a "sampler" was when I was a little girl and playing with my Molly doll- she was this doll that was supposed to be from the 1940s and there was a whole story that went along with her. I have a vague recollection of her having to make a sampler for school. It seemed awfully boring at the time. I guess I've changed my mind about embroidery. I've been really inspired by a lot of other crafty bloggers out there working on some beautiful embroidery, and was starting to catch the bug.

A couple of weeks ago, I found this book at a rare and out of print book store, and I knew it was time to take the plunge and learn the ropes. I already had an extensive embroidery hoop collection that I've been working on in the hopes of putting together my own liberty wall hanging (that hasn't happened yet), so I just picked up some nice simple fabric and a small assortment of embroidery floss and started working. I've been trying to simultaneously learn some cool stitches and make a cute design (for which I have absolutely no plan, so it's a bit haphazard). This is my sampler so far, and it's by no means complete.

I sense a whole new world of designs and projects and sources of inspiration coming on fast. I'm working on a lot of new ideas for this fall/winter that will be getting worked on quite soon (I can feel it- the heat is subsiding, which means I can actually work again!). So this is my new exciting project- what's yours??