~ Red & Green ~

Oh that linen, needle and thread ~

it has my heart tangled up once again in it's web of tiny stitches and rhythm. 

The soothing sound of humble cotton thread being pulled through my blank field of nubby linen

 is something I look forward to each day.

I remember when I was first smitten with those small X's like it was yesterday. 

~ I was in an historic home in Guilford, CT and noticed there on the horsehair-plastered wall, 

a very decorative frame that held the most naive needlework I had ever seen.

It was a small sampler, of a house, some trees and a verse...stitched by a local girl in her young teens.

stained & threadbare, but lovingly housed and displayed for future generations. I was spellbound.

So I went to our local library {this was before computers} and dug into many hours of fascinating research on "School Girl Samplers" ~ something I had never heard of before.

From that day forward,

I would scout out samplers hanging in historic homes and places that I visited in New England... 

as well as Colonial Williamsburg on our trips down here to VA before moving here.

I knew right away that I wanted to replicate the look of these works of heART, and set about gathering supplies...luckily, there was a local needlework shop {which I never knew existed!} and I now made regular trips weekly to restock threads and linen and patterns.

My very favorite designs came from The Scarlett Letter and Homespun Elegance.

I was honing my 'skills' with the use of others' designs.

BUT I WANTED MORE.

I wanted to do what they did ~ 

create like those young girls who stitched those samplers so very long ago 

without the aid of graph paper, drawn motifs or nowadays, computer software programs.

SO I DID.

and I'm thankful that I stumbled upon the path of Needle and Thread ~

 it has led me to many chapters of creativity and most-wonderful friendships with kindred needlewomen who crave the same sense of completion and humble pride.

 Here are a few of my favorite Red & Green samplers that I 'collect' in my Pinterest boards ~

~ enjoy the past....

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori