Cross Stitch Progress and Incredible Cross Stitch Books

I completed part 1 of the mystery sampler and started part 2 last night.  I'm really enjoying stitching on this -- maybe because each band is different so I never get bored.

I've been thinking a lot about cross stitch lately.  When I start thinking about a craft, I turn to the internet and begin manically searching for everything I can on the subject.  My search brought me to two books that I want to share with you:

First, Quaker School Girl Samplers from Ackworth by Carol Humphrey.  (I'm afraid it is still unavailable at Amazon.)  This book is *incredible*!!  You can tell that a lot of research went into this book.  And it is absolutely filled with photos of many samplers and other items.  Here is a sample:

This is just a random page showing some of the samplers -- there are probably over 100 photos like these showing hundreds of different motifs.  Just beautiful.

And I thought these were pretty.

And pincushions!  And pinballs -- these are knit and there is another book (which I don't have yet) called Tokens of Love which is all about the knit pinballs the girls made.

I purchased my copy of this book at Criss Cross Row and was very pleased with their service.  It arrived quickly and well packaged.

The second book is Petit Points et Toile de Lin by Marjorie Massey of Passe Compose.  I love the Passe Compose charts, but they are very difficult to find in the US so I was excited to find this book.  It is packed with charts for everything from whimsical (in a folkish way) farm animals to beautiful monograms and samplers.  It features mostly monochromatic designs -- which I love.  Here is another photo:

The book is all in French, but really it's all about the photos and charts.  I purchased this book from The French Needle and was also pleased with their service. 

So that's all the cross stitch news I have for now.  I hope you enjoyed a peek at these books!

Comments

[sequinK]

LOVE the Massey book! Whoops,... looks like I just ordered a copy for myself! ;-)

[amy k.]

oh!! thanks so much for showing these book insides-I need to show mine too-
and both of these are going on my b-day list (although I could write them off, I'm sure. . )
thank you!

[terby]

Oh those are lovely! And thanks for the link to the online shop, too. I haven't found anything locally, as needlepoint appears to be more popular here.

[Tracey]

Oh wow, what beautiful needlework. Hmmm, what were we just saying about room for books? ;)