Welcome to the website of Attic Needlework & Collectibles, a retail needlework store located in Mesa, Arizona. Our store specializes in samplers, hardanger, and counted-thread embroidery.

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February 2012


Originally stitched on perforated paper, this mini-sampler is from NeedleWorkPress and was featured on their blog In July 2011:

Chances are the motifs in this mini-sampler were selected by its maker because of their significance in her life. In my mind's eye, the prominent rose spray says she appreciated beauty; the small cross represents her faith; the flag signals her independence, the bird proudly stands for freedom and the potted flower is stability. Who knows the truth?
How wonderful that we are free to interpret art as we please.

The original & the adaptation "Roses in July"



January 2012


Jean had always been intrigued by tablet samplers but never inspired to stitch one until she saw the model of this one ("Tablet Sampler circa 1755") in person on her visit to The Scarlet Letter last June. Photographs couldn't capture the intense glory of the silken flowers:

Tablet Sampler circa 1755


From Marsha Parker of The Scarlet Letter:

The earliest tablet format samplers were created in England during the first quarter of the eighteenth century. The inspiration for the design was derived from the painted signboards often posted in English churches at that period, displaying religious slogans and Biblical excerpts for the edification of the literate members of the congregation. Many of these eighteenth century painted boards still survive and are displayed in English parish churches. The form was ultimately derived, of course, from Moses' Tablets, and on samplers the Ten Commandments were often stitched within that surround, along with Biblical verses. The exuberant, naturalistic, balanced border is reflective of canvaswork, very popular at this time, and was possibly a pattern exercise to prepare the unnamed sampler maker for the next logical step up in embroidery. On the original sampler cross stitch is the primary mode of execution, with some embellishments of stem, satin, double running, and petit point stitches. The emphasis on the printed message, and the use of mainly cross stitch, indicate the sampler's gradual evolution from the elaborate pattern and stitch records of the seventeenth century, to the more literary and pictorial image that became increasingly popular later in the eighteenth century. No longer was the purpose and emphasis of the sampler an exercise in technique and patternmaking: it was becoming an educational tool for budding housewives and artists.

On 40c linen the finished reproduction sampler measures approximately 19 x 24. The Attic provided several silk/silk overdye options.