MHD 1864 – A Zeeland Sampler – PDF Pattern

A few weeks ago I purchased a couple of samplers at an auction house in Zeeland. On the back, in pencil, it mentions “M. H. Dekker – Aagtekerke”. I do believe that the sampler was stitched in Zeeland, but I cannot find any details on any person named M. H. Dekker. Nevertheless, this sampler spoke to me and I had to stitch her. So I sat down, charted her, and a day later I was already stitching this one. This morning I put the final stitches in and she is now ready to be framed.

As with many samplers from this period, the colours on the front vary wildly from those on the back. I decided to use for my version most of the colours from the front, with some matching shades taken from the back.

On the next page you will find the key to the chart. It comes with three options – the one I used for my sampler, a version with bright colours how it originally might have looked, and finally a version with cool shades of blue and green greys.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

This sampler is 154 crosses wide and 155 crosses high. Stitched over two threads on 32 count linen (or 16 count aida) it would measure approximately 8 5/8” by 8 5/8” (21.7 by 21.9 cm). Please refer to the key below for all of the required colours.

On average, you can stitch approximately 1800 crosses with an 8 yard (7.3m) skein of floss. When working with 2 strands on 32 count linen, you will need only 1 skein of each colour to complete this project, with the exception of 3777 (or, if you use them, the alternative colours), for which you will need 2 skeins. The key gives you the exact amount of crosses the chart has.

The pattern has been split over 4 pages. After the 1st page you will notice a 3-cross wide greyed out border: this area is an overlap from the previous page, which will make it easier to find your way on the next page.

The design comes with three colour options: one is my interpretation of the front (with two colours brightened up just a little), a 2nd version which takes the original colours from the back, and finally a 3rd option which takes a cool palette of blues and grey green shades.

PLEASE NOTE: This design is available immediately after purchase. If you do not receive a confirmation email with download links, please check if it has gone to your spam folder.