Quaker Samplers: Techniques, Designs and Modern Projects

Pick up your needle and join the sampler craze using beautiful Quaker designs with modern twists! - 10 traditional and 10 modern samplers, 3 full alphabets and 2 stunning projects

A stunning collection of the popular medallions, motifs and styles of the Quaker sampler, plus 2 modern projects.

A treasure trove of inspiration, this book contains an extraordinary range of Quaker medallion, motif and sampler designs, all created using just 2 simple stitches. Needlework expert Lesley Wilkins’ designs bring a modern twist to this traditional craft; they are full of color and charm, and feature popular subjects including birds, flowers, wreaths and monograms. The book contains:

• 10 traditional and 10 modern samplers, each with a full stitch chart and stunning photography.
• 180 individual charted motifs and medallions that you can use to build up your own sampler designs.
• 3 full alphabets in both upper and lower case so that you can customize your designs in quintessential Quaker style.
• 2 stunning projects: a Quaker motif heart and a pincushion.

Lesley also includes an overview of the history of the Quaker sampler and the mystery surrounding its origins.

Worked almost entirely in cross stitch, the Quaker motifs are patterns of medallions and octagons with a border of various shapes. Known for the hallmark shapes that were used throughout the patterns, the original patterns were stitched by young educated girls in the newly formed United States of America. These patterns remain incredibly popular today, in both original forms and modern designs.

Lesley Wilkins discovered blackwork samplers on a school visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London when she was only ten, and has been hooked ever since. Her fascination with the craft has led her to become not only an embroiderer of extraordinary skill, but also an expert in the history of blackwork. She has collected thousands of patterns from all over the world, and her own work is inspired by historical motifs, patterns and borders. Her designs have appeared in Needlecraft and Needlework magazines, and also edited her own embroidered sampler magazine Antique Samplerstitcher for nine years which contained many blackwork designs.
Now retired, Lesley self-publishes a variety of embroidered projects online. You can visit her Etsy shop: etsy.com/uk/shop/QuakerSamplerDelight