on my trip to Italy -
As per usual - what a wonderful time we had at the fifth Sampler Gathering at Taupo!
Almost sixty ladies attended - all with the same passion - samplers.
Fabulous Venue : Fabulous Food : Fabulous Samplers
Awesome Tutors : Amazing Historical Insight shared by the Lecturers
Keith and I arrived at Taupo about 6.30 pm at which time Keith
began unloading the wagon and I began sorting out in my mind
where and how I wanted to set up the displays, and began dressing the tables
with props and cloths and I began unwrapping some of the stitched models.
At 9pm Keith left me in my motel and travelled back to Napier.
At about 9am the next morning I began unpacking all the crates
and setting up the all the displays, finally finishing at nearly 1pm
at which time I returned to my motel for some lunch and put my feet up!
Returned to the venue about 3pm as registration began at 4pm.
Here are a few pics (sorry, one or two of them are not properly focused) -
Apologies - due to being constantly busy - forgot to take photos of the attendees
or any of the events. Sorry.
Unlike previous years, Melissa was not able to help me this year and so I wasn't able to relax quite the same and missed or was late for some of the happenings as attending to filling requests such as cutting pieces of fabric, etc.
I had chosen Elizabeth's Darrah's class -
"A pretty pinball Quaker inspired design.
You will be shown how to construct this traditional piece.
Colour of thread and fabric is your own choice,
and co-ordinated with the Petersham Ribbon trim".
Here is a pic of three pinballs that Elizabeth had made
as models for the class (pictured at front) -
Elizabeth had created these lovely pinballs from the book -
"Quaker Pinballs" by Eric Uten.
This wonderful book gives the history of when and where pinballs
were made and contains over twenty designs
so that one can stitch pinballs for themselves or for gifts.
This book is available for purchase -
Code: NP:TOKENS
Book Title: Tokens of Love - Quaker Pinballs
Price: $55.00
A few years ago I stitched a few of the designs,
but rather than make traditional rounded pinballs, I made mine into ornamentals.
One I made with a different design on the back to the front.
Also, I didn't use silk or stranded cotton but Perle #12.
One design with colour #504 (as pictured in the background of the photo above)
and the other with colour #503 (as pictured in the background of the photo below)
on Permin linen - Colour : Stoney Point (28 count).
The other I made with DMC stranded cotton (#3041)
on lilac coloured Belfast linen.
I also knitted one of the designs (pictured at front),
but once again didn't make it up in the traditional manner.
Instead opted for a one-sided piece, with the back just being
a piece of the same coloured linen fabric as the thread colour
which I stretched over a cardboard disc covered with quilters needlepunch.
I knitted with Perle 12 (#3042 & #3743) on very fine needles.
Oh - how I admire those little girls over 200 years ago
who created their pinballs by knitting them with silk or cotton thread !!
Knitting with Perle 12 was NOT easy - and if one dropped a stitch - on dear!
It was almost impossible to pick it up. Almost had to unpick
right back to where the stitch had unravelled, especially if in the pattern area.
A couple of the attendees were ladies whose samplers are featured
in Vivien Caughley's recently published book -
New Zealand's Historic Samplers.
This book is a unique glimpse into our sampler history, featuring more than eighty
samplers and their stories, including Mrs. Cook and her map sampler,
Maori women in the first Mission Houses, and settler mothers and daughters
from the far North to the deep South, at home and together.
This book is available for purchase -
Code: NZHS
Title: New Zealand's Historic Samplers
Price: $50.00
The 1853 sampler featured on the cover of the book is reproduced
as a pattern with instructions on the reverse side of the jacket.
To follow are images of the samplers that were created by the two ladies
who attended Sampler Gathering -
Olwyn Horwood (nee Reilly) : page 150
Olwyn created her sampler in 1954 as part of her high school education -
the piece to be examined so as to obtain her
'School Certificate Sampler' qualification.
Joan Clouston : page 156
Joan worked her piece in 1970 after hearing a radio interview
with Nancy Robb who had just returned from London where she studied
at the Royal School of Needlework and had set up a class and
needlework department in the James Smith department store in Wellington.
I can remember visiting this store and department in my early teen years.
Also, my brother's first job after leaving school at the age of 15
was a junior window dresser, ticket-writer and sign-writer at the James Smith store.
Those were the days of "on the job training" - that is, training and working
at the same time. The days when one was employed for their natural talents
and gifts and not what they had to have learnt through an educational course or degree.
My brother was a natural artist.
From the age of ten he used to earn pocket money every Christmas
by sign-writing or artistically decorating on the windows of shops in Upper Hutt.
Today he doesn't earn from his talent but uses it to create the most amazing 'Hot Rods'.
Over the years he has won endless awards for the best Hot Rod.
These and many more have been featured in the Hot Rod magazine.
Me - I can't even draw a stick figure !
That's all for the moment.
