Mary Victor Sampler of 1764

I haven't written all summer for family reasons, but I haven't been idle. Here is the piece that I had started in 2000 and had left in a drawer at our weekend house so that even if I had not put a project in my weekend luggage, I was assured that I had something to work on if the time presented itself through the weekend.

We now live in this weekend house fulltime and I am trying to tidy up and finish projects which have been sitting in baskets or drawers waiting for the right moment to work on and complete.

It is a Williamsburg sampler stitched by Mary Victor at the age of 10. It is dated 1764. I found the mechanical process of following the pattern very restful. Unable to dig down and do something innately creative, cross stitch can be a wonderful friend since the creative aspect is taken care of and one can revel in the colour and the form which ends up on the canvas.

I finished the piece last week and made it into a table carpet which now sits on our dining room table under a bevelled piece of glass. I can admire it, set things on it, enjoy its colours without any fear that it will become damaged. It is also very accessible as a table carpet rather than in a frame since I can take the glass off and hold the finished piece in my hands.

I love its naiveté and simplicity. I appreciate its historical significance, a reflection of the lifestyle of a past era, how we have progressed, as women, from that point, but how there is still a place in our society for these quiet activities which allow the embroiderer to return to her centre, find herself and, if only momentarily, a perspective on the day and life.