A Winged Heart – PDF Pattern

This design is inspired by Frisian samplers from the 18th century. It features alphabets and motifs borrowed from antique examples in my personal collection, adapted and joined together to form a new design. At the bottom centre is the motif after which this sampler is named: a winged heart. These hearts would often be flanked by initials – either the stitcher’s or those of her parents. On the artwork you can see my initials together with those of my parents – worked in a way as stitchers in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries would have also done.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

This design has a stitched surface that measures 159 crosses in width and 201 crosses in height.
It has 10353 crosses and 2216 backstitches. Please see the graph on the next page for size and floss estimates. Floss estimates are based on working with two pulled strands (14 – 18-count Aida or 28 – 36-count linen) or one strand (20-count Aida / 40-count linen and higher). It is, of course, up to you how many strands you want to use for your project. A three-cross greyed-out overlap area is found from the 2nd pattern page onwards to help you find your way.

As this is a monochrome design, you may stitch it with whatever colour (or colours) you wish.

 If you want to approach the look of the cover, I recommend the following Roxy Floss Co. flosses and linens (all exclusively available through www.evertote.ca in Canada). Falu Red is my absolute favourite red to work with, and would be perfect for this sampler. “Porcelain” or “Buttercup” are great options for linen. As Roxy Floss Co. offers a wide range of colours, I recommend browsing the Evertote website to see what truly speaks to you.