Wild pansies

I had finished this small tablecloth in late August. And then, just last night, finished the fourth of a series of small doilies in the same colour of pinks on caramel and écru linen. The ensemble makes for such a fresh splash of light on the dark wood of the dining room table. Summer colours for an autumnal day. Another way to bring the light into the house when autumnal light sends off a more wintry message.

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.