Stitch Count: 518 wide x 573 high
Stitches Used: cross stitch over two
Model worked on: 46 count Old Sheep by XJude Designs
Thread: Au Ver a Soie 100/3 silk, conversions provided to NPI and DMC
The Antique: Amelia stitched her sampler at the age of seventeen while living at the North Wing, 3 New Orphan House, Ashley Down, Bristol, in 1868. The original sampler’s stitched area measures 13.5 inches wide by 15.25 inches high on a cream cotton ground fabric measuring 76 threads to the inch, over two in red cotton thread, which equates to approximately 38 stitches per inch. The stitch count is 519 stitches wide by 573 stitches high and the edges are hemstitched as is traditional for Bristol orphanage samplers. On her sampler, Amelia stitched twenty alphabets, seven sets of numbers, two sets of Roman Numerals, twelve assorted initials, thought to be friends of the stitcher and fellow orphans, with the first set of initials EF possibly in honor of her little sister, Eliza Fox, forty-seven different bands, thirteen corner motifs, two crowns, a cat, a dog, the ever-present Bible, and the religious verse “Jesus Permit ….”
Provenance: Extensive provenance regarding Amelia Fox, her family and an overview of Bristol Orphanage samplers provided in the chart.
