Free Chart... Unna von Bergen 1869

Do you remember the promise I gave you last month?

Click on the photo above to be directed to a free downloadable pdf charted version of Unna's sampler.

It is charted for the original, uber-bright colors (if you want to make an authentic reproduction, you will need to stitch with wool), but please, by all means, change the scheme to suit your own tastes!

I left out stitches on the chart where stitches are missing on the sampler, due to the wear and tear of time, but you can fill in the blanks and stitch it as you imagine it might have originally looked, if you so desire.

Anja, a blog reader from Germany confirmed that the antique sampler is stitched with German words... Im Jahr 1869 = In the Year 1869.

Change the name and date to your own... or don't... it is completely up to you.

I am sure that Unna wouldn't mind; I like to think that she would be thrilled to know that anyone at all has been inspired by her original stitches to create something all their own. She most likely used motifs that were charted in some booklet or magazine, arranging them to her delight, using the colors that were fashionable at the time.

So, off you go... download the chart, spread the word to your stitching friends, challenge each other to be creative, send me photos of your completed work, and start checking the Heartstring Samplery Finish Blog to see how many different ways it is translated!

As always, I would be very grateful if you gave credit to me if you post photos or links anywhere online, or offer your finished goods up for sale.

Look What I Bought!

A friend and I went to a large antique show last weekend, something neither of us had done for a very long time. Being so out of practice, we were both experiencing sensory overload and s l o w l y making our way through the outdoor booths.

A large bakers rack with assorted linens caught my eye, because it held a few cutter quilts. I quickly decided that they weren't for me and was about to step away, when I saw the corner of *something* peeking out from the bottom of a stack.

Garishly bright, stitched with wool in 1869, but a truly old sampler nontheless.

On the $10 shelf.

An 140 year old hand-stitched sampler? Sure, it isn't in my preferred color scheme, its small, a little rough, and not of the high quality caliber most collectors look for. But surely, they couldn't REALLY mean to sell it for a measly ten!

So, I headed over to the guy taking money and said,
"This was on the ten dollar rack?"

"Oh!" he said, "It doesn't belong on the ten dollar rack!" Grabbing it from me and heading back over to the linens.

Sure that he was going to put a much higher price on it, I was thinking that I would be walking out of there without it after all.

But then, my chin nearly hit the ground when he flippantly tossed it onto a shelf and said, "it should be on the one dollar rack".

Yes, my friends, I paid ONE DOLLAR for this:


The next few weeks will be very busy around here (have I told you yet that we are hosting my baby sister's wedding?), but once the air clears, I fully intend to share my little windfall by charting it and giving it to you for free. Stay tuned...