Catherine Archer Sampler

£15.00

I first heard of the George Müller Foundation when I became the proud owner of the sampler shown here. Catherine Archer, an orphan, stitched this sampler while she was living at Ashley Down Orphanage, one of the Müller orphanages in Bristol, UK. Catherine's original sampler was worked on ecru non-evenweave linen in one strand of red thread. The design was worked over one thread of the fabric: equivalent to 45 stitches to the inch! This is even more amazing when you consider that Catherine had no electric light or magnifier. As was often the case with the alphabet samplers stitched by Müller children, Catherine's design includes dozens of complete alphabets, her classmates' initials, border motifs, keys and a Bible.

Stitch Count: 346 x 360 Work out the design size

Design Size

To work out the design size (or the stitched area) you need to divide the stitch count by the number of stitches to the inch (2.5cm) on the fabric. You then add enough fabric to this measurement to allow for framing etc. If a stitch count is not shown on any design, you will need to count across the design and down the design, which will give you the stitch count.

Example: 140 stitches divided by 14 (Aida) = 10 inches

If working on evenweave fabric, remember that you generally work over two fabric threads, thus 28-count linen is also 14-count when doing the sum. I suggest adding 5 inches to the design size on a project to make sure you have an adequate margin for mounting and framing. Obviously you can adapt this amount when working a small card of lid top.

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