Hands Across the Sea - Mary Ann Preece, 1851 ~ Soie d'Alger Thread Kit

Ships in about 2 weeks

Mary Ann Groom, 1876 is a beautiful historical Sampler from Hands Across the Sea

The sampler is suitable for needleworkers of all levels of ability. The sampler is stitched with cross stitch over two threads of linen with a satin stitch sawtooth border that encloses the verse.

Choice of purchasing thread kit only, Printed Chart only or as full kit with linen. 

Full Kit options:

Includes linen of choice, Chart Booklet +  Soie d'Alger or Soie 1003 threads (+Free Shipping). 

Linen Choices:

• 30 ct Fat Eighth  - Victoria Sponge Cake -17.5" x 18" ~ Recommended for Soie d'Alger Threads only 
• 37 ct Fat Eighth - Russian Tea Cake -17.5" x 18" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
  
• 45 ct Fat Eighth -Jersey Cream - 17.5" x 18" ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 
• 48 ct Fat Eighth - Bride Cake - 17.5" x 18"    ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 
  

Thread Options:

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie d'Alger kit includes 6 skeins. Recommended linen for this thread is 38 ct or lower.

• SDF 1422
• SDF 2144
• SDF 2533
• SDF 3415
• SDF 4624
• SDF 5413

Au Ver a Soie®, Soie 1003 includes 6 spools. Recommended linen for this thread is 37 ct or higher.

• SMS 072
• SMS 109
• SMS 149
• SMS 152
• SMS 188
• SMS 416

***Please note, this item is excluded from any discounts or sales. 

About the Sampler from the Designer

"We are delighted to present to you this sweet sampler that was worked by Mary Ann Groom in the year 1876 when she was ten years old. We particularly liked the border that frames the young maker’s stitching. Mary Ann worked with a limited palette, yet she has created a colourful sampler with some very pretty motifs.

Although Mary Ann did not record her age or location on the sampler, her granddaughter Jackie carefully noted on the reverse of the frame that

“This was done by my grandmother, mother of Robert Edward Wesley Whitbread, my Dad. Bless him”

Jackie also included her name, address and telephone number. We telephoned Jackie, and she told us that she had inherited the sampler and only sold it when she downsized. Jackie knew very little about her grandparents as they were never talked about. She believed they had died when her father was a child.

Mary Ann was born on April 24, 1866 in Tebworth, a hamlet located in Central Bedfordshire. Her parents were Thomas Groom, a labourer, and his wife Charlotte. She was baptised in the Methodist church in Toddington.

The 1891 census return records that as a young woman Mary Ann worked as a straw-hat maker."

Pre Order Available for Soie d'Alger Version. Estimated Ship Date: September 2024

Needlework From Distant Shores – Márta Kauser and Maggie Burridge are two small beautiful, small historical Samplers from Hands Across the Sea.

The sampler is suitable for needleworkers of all levels of ability. The sampler is stitched with cross stitch over two threads of linen .

Choice of purchasing thread kit only, Printed Chart only or as full kit with linen. 

Full Kit options:

Includes linen of choice, Chart Booklet +  Soie d'Alger or Soie 1003 threads (+Free Shipping). 

Linen Choices:

• 30 ct Fat Quarter  - Mariner's Map - 18 x 35" ~ Recommended for Soie d'Alger Threads only 
• 37 ct Fat Quarter - Russian Tea Cake -18 x 35" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
  
• 37 ct Fat Quarter - Fuller's Teazel -18" x 35" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
• 45 ct Fat Quarter - Foxtail Millet - 18" x 35" ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 
• 48 ct Fat Quarter - Bride Cake - 18" x 35"    ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 
  

Thread Options:

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie d'Alger - 37 ct version includes 2 skeins. Recommended linen for this thread is 38 ct or lower.

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie d'Alger - 30 ct version includes 5 skeins. Recommended linen for this thread is 37 ct or lower.

• SDF 2924 x 2 (5 skeins for 30 ct)

Au Ver a Soie®, Soie 1003 includes 2 spools. Recommended linen for this thread is 37 ct or higher.

• SMS 664 x 2

***Please note, this item is excluded from any discounts or sales. 

About the Sampler from the Designer

"Márta’s sampler was stitched in Budapest, Hungary in 1905 and Maggie’s in Pretoria, South Africa in 1900. Whilst the girls lived some 7,447 miles apart, they both stitched a primer sampler as part of their education.

We have made contact with Márta’s family, and they tell us that Márta Sarolta Lujza Mária Kauser was born in Budapest on May 6, 1895. Her parents were Nepomuk János Kauser and Sarolta Kölber. The Kausers and the Kölbers were wealthy families. They often married each other, sometimes for financial reasons. The Kölber family was given a noble title by Franz Joseph I. The Kausers were architects. The most well-known was Jozsef Kauser, who designed numerous public buildings, among them the interior of St. Stephen’s Basilica, a landmark of Budapest.

Márta died five months after her wedding in 1923 as a result of contracting the Spanish Flu.

Maggie Burridge has remained elusive. In a search of family history records, the family name of Burridge appears several times in the Transvaal. However, we cannot find a Maggie/Margaret. Maggie recorded that she stitched her sampler at Abingdon National Girls’ School, Pretoria in the June of 1900. This was during the Boer War.

The origins of the Boer War lay in Britain’s desire to unite the British South African territories of Cape Colony and Natal with the Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (also known as the Transvaal). The discovery of gold in the South African Republic (SAR) in 1886 raised the stakes.​​​​​​ A large number of English-speaking people, called Uitlanders (literally ‘Outlanders’) by the Afrikaners, were attracted by the gold fields. This worried the Boers, who saw them as a threat to their way of life.

Maggie’s formative years were dangerous times for people of all races in South Africa. At the same time Maggie finished her sampler, the British launched an offensive to relieve the siege of Pretoria.

We hope that both samplers will bring you and your needle much joy and will soon adorn your red sampler wall."

Alice M Tippett, 1894 is an adorable, small historical Sampler from Hands Across the Sea

The sampler is suitable for needleworkers of all levels of ability. The sampler is stitched with cross stitch over two threads of linen .

Choice of purchasing thread kit only, Printed Chart only or as full kit with linen. 

Full Kit options:

Includes linen of choice, Chart Booklet +  Soie d'Alger or Soie 1003 threads (+Free Shipping). 

Linen Choices:

• 30 ct Fat Eighth  - Victoria Sponge Cake -17.5" x 18" ~ Recommended for Soie d'Alger Threads only 
• 37 ct Fat Eighth - Russian Tea Cake -17.5" x 18" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
  
• 45 ct Fat Eighth -Jersey Cream - 17.5" x 18" ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 
• 48 ct Fat Eighth - Bride Cake - 17.5" x 18"    ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 
  

Thread Options:

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie d'Alger kit includes 9 skeins. Recommended linen for this thread is 38 ct or lower.

• SDF 524
• SDF 1844
• SDF 2533
• SDF 2916
• SDF 2932
• SDF 2936
• SDF 4112
• SDF 4623
• SDF 5381

Au Ver a Soie®, Soie 1003 includes 9 spools. Recommended linen for this thread is 37 ct or higher.

• SMS 022
• SMS 109
• SMS 217
  
• SMS 241
• SMS 307
• SMS 494
• SMS 523
• SMS 621
• SMS 654

***Please note, this item is excluded from any discounts or sales. 

About the Sampler from the Designer

"Alice records on her sampler that she attended St Ervan’s Board School. When the Elementary Education Act of 1870 came into force, school boards, public bodies in England and Wales, established and administered elementary schools in England between 1870 and 1902. Education was not free but the fees of the poorest children were paid by the parish. The schools were non-denominational and were not to impose any religious education, other than simple Bible reading.

We know that when Alice attended the Board School the headmistress was a Miss M M Winsor, and her assistant was Miss Dora Rowe who taught the infants. We suspect that it was Miss Winsor who taught Alice needlework.

Alice was born to William Tippett, a stone mason and his wife Mary Jane, née Parsons. Her birth was registered in the first quarter of 1883; however, she was not baptised until July 23 at the Bible Christian Church in the village of Penrose. The village is in the parish of St Ervan which can be found a short distance inland on the North Cornish coast. Tippetts can be found living in this beautiful part of Cornwall today and all the way back to the early 1600s.

William and his brother James built the chapel, and the foundation service was held on 24 May 1861.

The Bible Christian Church was a Methodist denomination founded by William O’Bryan, a local Wesleyan Methodist preacher, on 18 October 1815 in North Cornwall. Members of the Church were sometimes known as Bryanites, after their founder.

William died in 1893, and sadly, three years later, on 13 June 1896 Alice died at the very young age of 13 years. Her death certificate records the cause of death as diphtheria. In the 1800s diphtheria was a major cause of death. Though mostly a disease associated with the poor and a particular threat to children, diphtheria did not discriminate by class and age. Its cause, spread and a cure remained a mystery until the last part of the 19^th century."

Pre Order Available. Estimated Ship Date: Late September 2024 

Attention customers, conversion to 1003 is only provided if you purchase the thread kit. Purchase of chart only will not provide conversion to Soie 1003. 

Elizabeth Weston is an elegant and beautiful large sampler from Hands Across the Sea.

Elizabeth executed her beautiful sampler in cross stitch over 1 and 2 threads, satin stitch and 4 elongated lazy daisy stitches. 

The sampler is suitable for needleworkers of all levels of ability.

Choice of purchasing thread kit only, Printed Chart only or as full kit with linen. 

Full Kit options:

Includes linen of choice, Chart Booklet +  Soie d'Alger or Soie 1003 threads (+Free Shipping). 

Linen Choices:

• 30 ct Fat Half - Victoria Sponge Cake -35" x 36" ~ Recommended for Soie d'Alger Threads only  
• 37 ct Fat Half Corn Tassel - 35" x 36" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
• 38 ct Fat Half - Fuller's Teazel - 35" x 36" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
• 45 ct Fat Half -Foxtail Millet - 35" x 36" ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 
  

Thread Options:

Au Ver a Soie®, Soie d'Alger - 37 ct version includes 34 skeins. Recommended linen for this thread is 38 ct or lower.

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie 1003 includes 24 spools. Recommended linen for this thread is 37 ct or higher.

***Please note, this item is excluded from any discounts or sales. 

About the Sampler from the Designer

"When Elizabeth’s sampler first arrived, we were so excited by her gentle beauty. The sampler had probably been hung, for some time, in a position where dappled sunshine fell across the linen. Rather than detract, the faded elegance has added to her beauty. From the back of Elizabeth’s sampler, and three others from the same school that are in the collection of Hands Across the Sea Samplers, we know that these samplers originally burst with vibrant colours. We chose to replicate the time mellowed colours on the front, with occasional help from the back. The soft pinks, creams and olives of today are a delight for the eye.

Elizabeth made good use of her linen choosing many beautiful motifs to fill her sampler. There are three sections contained within a meandering vine which is heavily laden with a profusion of violas, star flowers and snowdrops.  In the top section flanked by baskets and urns filled with a profusion of flowers and fruit is one of our favourite verses ~ “Next unto God Dear Parents I address …….”

This verse was very popular with school girls to stitch on their samplers. It first appeared in 1695 in an educational manual entitled “The Young Man’s Companion: Or, Arithmetick Made Easy” by William Mather.  The book was an encyclopaedia of “practical lessons and useful information applicable to many professions and was intended for the use of both the schoolmaster and the self taught”....."

Multiply Kindness is an original design sampler from Hands Across the Sea.

The stitches used are cross stitch over two threads, satin stitches for the centre of some flower head (the satin stitches can be replaced with cross stitch) and some straight stitches for the flower stamens.

Choice of purchasing thread kit only, Printed Chart only or as full kit with linen. 

Full Kit options:

Includes linen of choice, Chart Booklet +  Soie d'Alger or Soie 1003 threads (+Free Shipping). 

Linen Choices:

• 30 ct Fat Half - Victoria Sponge Cake -35" x 36" ~ Recommended for Soie d'Alger Threads only  
• 37 ct Fat Half Russian Tea Cake- 35" x 36" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
• 38 ct Fat Half - Fuller's Teazel - 35" x 36" ~ Recommended for both Soie d'Alger and Soie 1003 threads
• 45 ct Fat Half -Jersey Cream - 35" x 36" ~ Recommended for Soie 1003 Threads 

Thread Options:

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie d'Alger - 37 ct version includes 25 skeins. Recommended linen for this thread is 38 ct or lower.

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie d'Alger - 30 ct version includes 31 skeins. Recommended linen for this thread is 37 ct or lower.

SDF 122 ~ Turquoise ~ light
SDF 236 ~ Forest green ~ dark
SDF 631 ~ Pumpkin ~ pale
SDF 1315 ~ Grape ~ dark
SDF 1342 ~ Blueberry
SDF 1344 ~ Blue violet dark
SDF 1723 ~ Turquoise
SDF 1746 x 2 ~ Turquoise ~ very dark (3 skeins for 30 ct) 
SDF 1836 x 2 ~ Pistachio green ~ dark
SDF 2125 ~ Avocado green ~ light (2 skeins for 30 ct) 
SDF 2144 ~ Olive green (3 skeins for 30 ct) 
SDF 2532 ~ Straw ~ light
SDF 2643 ~ Apricot ~ medium
SDF 2924 x 2 ~ Christmas red (4 skeins for 30 ct) 
SDF 3024 ~ Cranberry ~ dark
SDF 3046 ~ Mauve ~ medium
SDF 3322 ~ Lavender ~ pale
SDF S3596 ~ Desert sand ~ light
SDF 4622 ~ Salmon
SDF 4623 ~ Rose ~ deep
SDF 4633 ~ Antique mauve ~ light
SDF 4634 ~ Antique mauve ~ medium

 Au Ver a Soie®, Soie 1003 includes 22 spools. Recommended linen for this thread is 37 ct or higher.

SMS 002 ~ Turquoise ~ light
SMS 038 ~ Apricot ~ medium
SMS 061 ~ Forest green ~ dark
SMS 067 ~ Antique mauve ~ medium
SMS 077 ~ Salmon
SMS 088 ~ Desert sand ~ light
SMS 124 ~ Antique mauve ~ light
SMS 133 ~ Grape ~ dark
SMS 148 ~ Straw ~ light
SMS 152 ~ Olive green
SMS 223 ~ Mauve ~ medium
SMS 307 ~ Rose ~ deep
SMS 362 ~ Blueberry
SMS 474 ~ Lavender ~ pale
SMS 478 ~ Pumpkin ~ pale
SMS 605 ~ Turquoise
SMS 619 ~ Cranberry ~ dark
SMS 647 ~ Avocado green ~ light
SMS 656 ~ Pistachio green ~ dark
SMS 681 ~ Christmas red
SMS 690 ~ Blue violet ~ dark
SMS 710 ~ Turquoise ~ very dark

***Please note, this item is excluded from any discounts or sales. 

About the Sampler from the Designer

"Why an original design versus a reproduction sampler? Since I first started to collect antique samplers, I have obsessively searched for multiplication samplers, but I have never come across the one that made my heart sing and my fingers itch to stitch. Whilst I have a few in my collection, none of them called to me to stitch them.

It was a colourful multiplication table sampler that caught my eye back in the 1980s that led to me stitching my first sampler. Whilst in a dentist’s waiting room, I picked up a magazine and came across an article which featured an interview with Moria Blackburn. There were many photographs of Moria’s beautiful designs, but one particular sampler stood out – a large colourful multiplication table sampler. I immediately wanted to take up stitching and recreate the sampler for my son. My journey with cross stitch and samplers was about to begin.

Within days I visited a needlework store and, whilst I could not find the chart for the multiplication table sampler, I came away with a kit to stitch my first sampler. Several years later, I had stitched all the samplers that Moira had charted but not the multiplication table sampler. After exhausting Moria’s portfolio of work, I went in search of other designers and discovered the needlework community and blogs. It was then that the world of needlework with its beautiful linens and glorious silks flung open its doors and my deep love of samplers worked in centuries past bloomed. This in turn led me to collect samplers and to research their history. A few years later, Hands Across the Sea Samplers released its first reproduction sampler.

Shortly after HATS’ first release, I entered into correspondence with Moria and discovered that the multiplication table sampler featured in the magazine was not one of her own designs but another designer’s. The sampler had caught her eye too, and she had stitched it for her children!"