New Pattern Release... On the Oregon Trail

I am so excited to introduce to you:

On the Oregon Trail
Stitch Count: 140 by 342
Model stitched on Weeks Dye Works 35 count Linen-colored linen.
Model stitched using mostly Weeks Dye Works flosses, with the addition of a few DMC colors.
Frame by Valley House Primitives
Retail Price: $12

The idea for this sampler has been floating around in my brain for quite some time; it is my tribute to Oregon's 150th year of statehood.

Although the characters in my little story are fictional, each aspect of their story is a historically documented event that occurred during this important part of American history.

Lydia Winters dearly loved to work with needle & thread. At 11 years of age, she was already an accomplished seamstress. Upon learning that her family would be traveling the Oregon Trail, she immediately knew how she wanted make a record of their travels. She had from infancy admired the carefully preserved band sampler which was stitched years ago by her Great-Grandmother, & had always wanted to make one herself. But sampler stitching was no longer in vogue, so the opportunity had not presented itself to her until now… Now she would stitch bands representative of the visions they would surely see on their way.

In addition to the charted sampler, there is a more complete story of the Winters family, including a sheet dedicated to telling the historical context of each band stitched in the sampler.

The pattern is available through my etsy shop (see sidebar for link), or by contacting me directly.

In a fitting finish to this project, I drove the sampler and the kids just 7 miles down the road to the Philip Foster Farm for a quite meaningful photo shoot.

It may be that we were in an air-conditioned SUV rather than a rickety wagon pulled by oxen, but my sampler model and I did travel a portion of the last leg of the Oregon Trail together.