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Saturday 4 April 2020

The People Chose Modern Samplers


This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog.  Each month I ask for suggestions for themes and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice.  This is what they have chosen:

April - Modern Samplers
May - Fire
June - to be advised

I have had a couple of emails from people asking what The People mean by Modern Samplers - well, as ever that interpretation is up to you!  But this post may help.

When we say a "sampler" we all tend to know what that looks like without actually needing a definition.  It will contain some of the following elements:

a border
an alphabet
numbers
spot motifs
a variety of stitches
a verse or motto
a name and date

We will probably think of the traditional antique samplers made by girls and young women in the 17th to 19th centuries and reproduced now by one of the many companies such as Hands Across The Sea or the Scarlet Lettter.

So what is a "modern" sampler?  One designed in the 21st Century?  One with "modern" motifs or a modern aesthetic or style?  Maybe a snarky saying or song lyric in the place of a Bible verse?

I Googled the phrase "Modern Sampler" and this is what came up:


Apparently Google thinks of electronics when you have a Sound Engineer for a husband and you share WiFi!

The next two pages were more helpful:


We have bright, modern colours, geometrics, modern books, space rockets and quirkiness.  It would be interesting to see what Google shows you when you type just those two words "modern sampler".


So what have I stitched that comes under the category?

A fun Birth Sampler with a modern alphabet in non-traditional colours:

Elissa Hudson from Cross Stitcher issue 249

This is a challenge piece where I took a traditional motif provided and added a modern equivalent to it to show both facets of myself as a stitcher:

The left side comes from Cross Stitcher magazine
The right side and wording is a Plum Street Sampler freebie

This is another example of a traditional design stitched in a modern way.  The original Pansy came from Marie-Therese Saint Aubin blog.  I took just the flower head and turned it into a Warhol-inspired quartet, colouring the fabric with that very modern item - the felt-tipped pen.


 This is one very modern sampler in my stash, it's out of this world in fact; The Little Alien Schoolgirl by Ink Circles:



My earliest memory of a modern sampler is one which my Mum stitched in 1972.  It hung on our middle room wall for my entire childhood and featured a cityscape and modes of transport including a plane.  But that would now be nearly 50 years old, so is it still modern?


Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of Modern Samplers, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog. Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog. I look forward to seeing what you all post.


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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll. Any thing, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll. Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Blue, or Holidays, or Warmth etc. Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.


Looking forward to reading them all!




19 comments:

Clare-Aimetu said...

Lovely stitching for your sampler category Jo, I too posted about what is a modern sampler... great minds hey!

Mary said...

Love the colors of the birth sampler. A boys room decorated around those colors would be so bright and cheerful.

Tiffstitch said...

Lovely stitches! I wasn't sure if all of mine fit, but I thought I'd put them in anyway.

butterfly said...


Your posts are always fun .
Love the stitching .

Julie said...

What a great post, I think i'm old fashioned and i'm over 50, so maybe your mums sampler is old too LOL

Katie said...

Lovely stitching. Thanks for sharing. I'm all linked up. Thanks for hosting.

Rachel said...

I don't think I've ever seen Warhol in cross stitch (not that I would have looked) but yours are fabulous and definitely modern!
Thanks for hosting again, and thank goodness we have a more definitive category next month! This month was difficult, but certainly no less enjoyable, despite the fact Google was little help! :)

Mini said...

I was about to email to check with you, what could be included in modern samplers. Then I thought as its an easy SAL open to interpretation, i didn't.
I love the sampler from Elisa Hudson.

Beth in IL said...

Thanks for hosting this! June ideas-sunshine, fresh fruit, gardens
Can you tell what I'm looking forward to?

An Arizona Stitcher I said...

Great lineup of modern Samplers. I like how you tweaked your challenge piece with the two different motifs.

Barb said...

This was so interesting. I had never really thought about a "modern" sampler!

Mary's Thread said...

I love this category! Your birthday sampler is darling. I love that Little Alien Schoolgirl. It is so fun, I will have to look for that chart!

DJ said...

What a fun post!! I entered a "modern sampler" into a needlework show once and I was criticized for it...LOL!! It had a variety of stitches (which was their definition in the packet they gave out) but no lettering. I love all the ones you posted, especially the Alien schoolgirl sampler. So creative!

jocondine said...

Can't miss a You choose post but not so simple this time! Love the Warhol-inspired stitching, so clever! xxx

Sheryl said...

Interesting post Jo and some great examples of modern samplers. Love your birth sampler and the chosen colours. I need to do a birth piece for one of my grandkids so may do something like yours.

Christine said...

The little alien girl is called amygdala! Too funny!

Carol said...

I am not a stitcher of traditional samplers, but loved seeing your modern variety, Jo! That is such a unique and pretty birth sampler :)

Hope you and your family are all doing well!

BronnyB said...

Hi Jo,
I guess if I were to Google Modern Samplers, I too would end up with mixing sampler or lighting desks given Allan's occupation. Made me chuckle..
You've quite a lot of samplers there - I think I like the alien sampler best..a bit of whimsy.
Looking forward to the Easter Blog Hop too.. Now going to have a look at all the others who have joined this SAL

Leonore Winterer said...

What an interesting topic this month! Lots of different interpretations out there. I love the Little Alien Schoolgirl, don't think I'd seen that one before.