Priceless Treasure

I have been stitching for 13 years. Since my son was born. My obsession took over when my son turned about 2. My mom was my biggest fan and loved seeing what I was stitching. She was not a stitcher though she knew embroidery, knitting and crocheting. About 10 years ago, my mom handed me a bag she took out of her cedar chest. She said she had something that she treasured but knew I would treasure it always like she did. This is what I was given:

This huge sampler was stitched by my maternal grandmother back in 1903. My mother had it since my grandmother passed away in 1966. It had sat in my mom's cedar chest til the mid-90s when she handed it to me. To say I was speechless was an understatement. She said she realized I got my stitching gene from my grandma.

Now a little background about this sampler. My grandmother was born in the Abruzzi region of Italy in 1890. She came to America when she was 13. The sampler is signed and dated 1903. My grandmother was 13 when she finished this sampler. My mom felt that my grandmother started this as part of her education in Italy. My mom also felt that my grandmother finished it in America. The reason-well there is a piece of linen tacked onto the bottom of the sampler where her last row of freeform alphabet, motifs and name and date are.

The above picture shows the detail and the different alphabets my grandmother did. The linen has to be 40 ct. if not smaller. I should count it out but haven't done so. It takes my breath away every time I look at something that was stitched by a 13 year old. Amazing!
This picture shows maybe what was her family crest. I don't know. I really couldn't care as I am just in awe of the detail in this sampler. Someday I will look into this.

This is a close up of the middle of the sampler. Obviously this was something my grandmother made up or looked at someone elses (a teacher maybe?). It is freeform. Some time years later, my grandmother repaired it. You can see the brighter red in the "D". You can also see "lines" she stitched on. It is all cross stitched over 2 threads. The "line" you see is not seen on the back. It was stitched between the threads of linen.

Here is a close up of the date along with something that made me chuckle. This sampler is "perfect". Every alphabet letter is correct with the exception of the "y" above the date. It is backwards and the only letter done that way. Maybe my grandmother was taught that only God is perfect just like the sampler makers long before her time. :) Another tidbit is that she only has the number 0-9 on here once. The rest is alphabets and they are just beautiful. I forgot to take a picture of the back but it is flawless. Unless you are looking at the backward letters, you cannot tell the front from the back.

This sampler will be placed back into the cedar chest where it once was. The cedar chest is now mine. Once Tesori is finished, I will have both of these framed the same way. My DH will be doing the framing on both. I would not trust anyone with my grandmother's sampler. I won't even be washing the sampler or fixing a few loose threads I see now. I will probably just run the iron on the back of it and that is that. A few years ago, DH and I were going to have this appraised. At the last moment, I decided against it. It doesn't matter what the monetary worth of this piece is. I would never give it up. To me it is priceless and connects me with my grandmother who stitched something so beautiful 103 years ago.

Besides this sampler, I now have beautiful embroidered hankerchiefs she made for my mother. don't think my mom ever used them. Maybe she just kept them in her purse because they were all different colors and techniques on the edges. I even found a bag with the extra threads and some needles. My mom used to keep them in a triangular glass box on her bureau. I hope to find a home for them here someday. For now they are tucked away safe and sound along with that bag of thread and needles.

Thanks for letting me share my treasure today. I like to think that my stitching will be treasured by my children and maybe grandchildren and great-grandchildren years from now.