Fresh Snow & Frisian Samplers

Earlier this morning, as we opened our living room curtains, we were greeted by big flakes of snow slowly falling from a grey sky. It was a beautiful sight, and for us in York the first snow of the year!

I ventured into town for a quick coffee, to discover that unfortunately this particular batch of snow was more frozen water than actual snow. But hey, it looked great for an hour, and the rooftops are still covered in a nice dusting of the white stuff.

We are lucky to live in a beautiful city, very close to some of the oldest streets in York. One of my favourites is this one, Lady Peckett’s Yard. It’s a very quiet alley that leads from our street onto Pavement. After I had my coffee & bought some art supplies from my local art shop on The Shambles I quickly went home, where I’ve been doing some research on embroidery from my native country, and in particular Frisian samplers.

The Fries Museum in the local capital of Leeuwarden has a fantastic collection of textiles, some of which can be found online. The samplers are often focusing on a great variety of alphabets, increasing in size and complexity as you reach the bottom of the sampler. The girls making them would incorporate details of their personal lives in the samplers by referring to family members, marriages, deaths and other momentous occasions.

I’m currently looking at various samplers and other folklore arts from the region to make another Frisian inspired pattern. Earlier last year I made a sampler based on these beautiful traditional works, and I feel it’s about time to add one or two to that collection. The arts and crafts of the north of the Netherlands are very dear to me, and I am planning on dedicating a few future posts to these.

But for now, under the enjoyment of a nice cup of tea, I’m going to sign off and continue to design something that I’ll hopefully be able to share with you very soon!