Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Midweek Progress...

Welcome dear needlefolk friends!

Such a lovely day I've been enjoying ~

~ five mile morning walk (treadmill)
~ dishes, laundry & kitchen floor swept
~ lunch...shrimp & veggie stir fry 
~ online orders filled and shipped
~ quality stitching time...ahhh!
~ blog break ~ progress update...


Working on the greenery...
~ leaves added to the border
~ leaves & stems all done

Tonight, after supper I'll finish with 
the green by adding grass to the lower 
portion of the sampler.

Then, I can finally start adding some 
new colours...can't wait to start 
adding the fruit, flowers and
a final mystery motif!

☙❧

The featured topic for today's needle wisdom segment
will be ~ Sampler Verses

And now, a quick little glimpse from the past!

Needle Wisdom... 


A sampler, was a record of a blossoming young woman
at the time when she hoped to become the center of attention
of at least one man.  

If not always worked with the expertise she would gain later...
 most old samplers show true accomplishment!

The sampler was likely to be charming, creative, 
and, perhaps most important made for the maker herself.  

A sampler was her direct expression, and it would serve 
her the rest of her life, even functioning as a sort of 
memorial after she died.  

The following is an example from a sampler
stitched by Jane Simon ~

The Gracious God Did Give Me Time
To Do ths Work You See that Others Mayd
 Larn The Same When I Shall Cease to Be.

Another sampler verse ended ~

When gredy worms my body eat 
In this you may read by name complete.

Sampler verses, a virtual catalog of ideals that females
cherished, show us the character traits that these girls were
supposed to exhibit.  

There are odes to virtue, humility, selflessness, cheerfulness,
and industry;  dire warnings against the corresponding evils;
and, as the two verses just cited reveal, and ever~present
preoccupation, indeed an almost morbid fascination,
with death!

Over and over, girls began their verse with 
"When I am dead and laid in my grave,"  or some
similar line.  

Perhaps, these verses served as a means for young
 girls to reconcile themselves to death.

☙❧

Midweek Soul Food...

God, grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.

American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr 

I like to also think of this prayer as...

God, grant me the serenity to accept
the people I cannot change, 
the courage to change the one I can,
and the wisdom to know it's ME!

☙❧

I enjoyed sharing my break time with you,
now it's time to start thinking about supper!

Enjoy a lovely evening,
Tammy


4 comments:

  1. Tammy: This Sampler is so beautiful and not even finished yet, one I will own soon.
    I love the story of the stitching of the blossoming young woman, so sweet.

    Blessings
    Catherine

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  2. The Sampler is looking great.
    Thanks for sharing the Sampler stories.
    Marilyn

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  3. Those qualities expressed by the women such as virtue, selflessness and cheeriness would be well heeded by we women of today. It's so interesting to know that the stitched sampler was so much more than artistic expression, it was also a memorial and a statement of principles.

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  4. I am familiar with the first version of the serenity prayer but not the second. I need to practice that one. I copied it down and will refer to it often.

    Thanks for sharing your work in progress- beautiful.

    Charlotte

    ReplyDelete