Last weekend I had the good fortune to visit Sassy Jacks Stitchery in Weaverville, NC to hear a lecture from a stitching idol - Nicola Parkman of Hands Across the Sea Samplers. It was absolutely awesome to hear Nicola speak about the samplers in her collection and about the samplers that she has reproduced through Hands Across the Sea Samplers. Nicola was just as I imagined. Gorgeous, smart, funny, and an absolute treasure trove of information. Her joy at learning more about the girls who stitched the samplers is so obvious. This was a chance of a lifetime!
I'm on the left in the photo below and Teresa (Girl With Needles) is in the middle. Teresa and I are longtime friends and traveled together. To the right is Chris of Tot Hill Farm Stitches blog is to the right. This was my first time to meet her but she too was so very sweet!
Nicola brought with her several original samplers that HATS has reproduced. When Thou Art Rich is below. There is a glare in the photo that really does not enable the true beauty of this sampler to show. I have this one ready to go and have been seriously thinking of starting it soon.
Jane Vaughan 1724 is on the left. The sampler on the right is one Nicola is working on now that is being stitched reversibly. She even had to carefully check to ensure she was showing the front.
Nicola and I
We also got to see what is being released at Market. Our class project is inspired by one of the new releases (shown below) and for that one, we were able to purchase the chart early. The project was designed around the freehand stitching in this sampler.
Our day ended with tea. Truly a delightful day!
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