An Austrian Sampler Adaptation by Toni Gerdes

This project was inspired by a sampler from the Upper Rhine Region, housed at the Cooper Hewitt Museum in New York. The original sampler is dated 1922. A similar sampler, worked in shades of blue and white, can be found in Madison, Wisconsin. It represents a selection of patterns adapted for a smaller count (48) of ground material.

The symbols in the sampler represent several aspects of love and marriage; leading me to believe this might have been a marriage sampler. The heart, of course, represents love, the center of being, both physical and spiritual. The heart represents the central wisdom of feeling as opposed to the head-wisdom of reason; both are intelligence, but the heart is also compassion; understanding; the "secret place," love, charity, it contains the life-blood. The tulip is the Persian symbol of perfect love. The red carnation depicts admiration, marriage, passionate love (a pink carnation can represent motherhood and a white is pure love).

The piece, worked on 23 -count cream Congress Cloth uses: Double Running Stitch, Satin Stitch, Upright Cross, Algerian Eye Stitch, Cross Stitch and Scotch Stitch.

Threads Used were: Rainbow Gallery’s Splendor Strandable Silk – Burgundy #S826, Rose #S886, White #S800.

Note: The information on symbols came from An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols by J.C. Cooper.