Wednesday, October 17, 2012

*NEW* Shooter's Hill

This sampler’s roots go way back to the beginning of my designing days. Originally charted on graph paper and stitched a few times to be sold as a finished item, the chart lingered in my mind. One day I decided to enter it into my charting software, but along the way I became disenchanted with the original form. I then spent the next few years tweaking and changing it, but was never fully content with the outcome. Finally, this last Spring, I settled on the perfect combination of primitive and whimsical to make it just right.

The name Shooter’s Hill comes from a real location. Probably so called from the archers who frequently exercised themselves there in shooting with the bow, it is eight miles from London on the high road to Dover. The summit of Shooter's Hill is at about 423 feet, giving it the distinction of being one of the highest points in London, and therefore commanding great views of the city and Thames River.

My character and her house are entirely fictional, but in my imagination, she lives in a family home surrounded by forest and dangerous byways, but with view and birdsong unparalleled. The fences her father built suffice to keep highwaymen away, so she always feels safe in her hilltop home.

Stitch Count: 172 x 140
Model stitched on Northern Cross 35ct Natural, coffee stained prior to stitching.

Using flosses from The Gentle Art: 0420 Gold Leaf, 0430 Summer Meadow, 0440 Maple Syrup, 0560 Nutmeg, 7010 Ohio Lemon Pie, 7019 Pomegranate, 7039 Bayberry, 7049 Lambswool, 7079 Heirloom Gold, 7082 Piney Woods

Frame by Valley House Primitives.

This design is now available in my etsy shop, and will be going out to my distributors and the shops on my automatic shipments list soon. If you prefer to bypass etsy and order directly through me, you can send me an email: beth@heartstringsamplery.com

3 comments:

Krista said...

Love it! Will stop by your etsy shop! :)

marly said...

Good one. Really really good one. Really.

Anonymous said...

Neat new design. Interesting to hear the background story surrounding the design. Congratulations on a perfect finish.