Sampler Resources: Designers and Suppliers
"Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e're shall be."
Alexander Pope: "Essays on Criticism" part II
Quoted on an American sampler dated 1830
"Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e're shall be."
Alexander Pope: "Essays on Criticism" part II
Quoted on an American sampler dated 1830
Designers Listing
| NAME | Eileen Bennet |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional |
| FORMAT | books; charts; magazines |
| NOTES | Traditional with a touch of humour; many different stitches and techniques |
| NAME | Emie Bishop |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; hardanger; multi-stitch |
| FORMAT | books; charts |
| NOTES | Hardanger; pulled and drawn thread work |
| NAME | Moira Blackburn |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional (pictorial) |
| FORMAT | kits |
| STOCKIST | Avaliable in the UK from: (1) Creative Leisure Centre, GPT Business Park, Technology Drive, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9 2ND Phone: 0115 925 7397 Fax: 0115 925 7349 (2) Willow Fabrics |
| NAME | Deborah Bull |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional (pictorial); |
| FORMAT | Mainly magazines |
| NAME | Linda Culp Calhoun |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; band; multi-stitch |
| FORMAT | charts |
| STOCKIST | Leisure Arts |
| NOTES | Band type samplers in a modern interpretation, many different stitches |
| COMPANY | The City Stitcher |
| ADDRESS | 2598 Brush Hill Court, Dayton, Ohio 45449, USA |
| CATEGORY | Supplier (?); Designer (?) |
| STYLE | tradional/modern |
| NOTES | Offers new interpretations of traditional motifs, particularly of some neat houses. |
| NAME | Lori Bell |
| COMPANY | Dancing Needle Designsr |
| URL | http://members.aol.com/dancingndl/index.html |
| ADDRESS | 479 Charlotta Ave SE, Palm Bay, FL 32909, USA |
| dancingndl@aol.com | |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional |
| NOTES | Lori Bell offers traditional and elegant designs. Not available retail. |
| NAME | Linda Driskell |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; drawn-thread; multi-stitch |
| FORMAT | books; charts; kits |
| NOTES | Pulled and drawn thread work; different techniques and stitches |
| NAME | Charlene Garvin |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; band; multi-stitch |
| FORMAT | charts; kits |
| NOTES | Mainly band samplers; many different stitches; embellishments, her trade mark is a silver charm on each design |
| NAME | Mary Riggs |
| COMPANY | Handwork |
| URL | http://www.handworksamplers.com/ |
| ADDRESS | 10175 Hillington Court, Vienna, Virginia 22182, USA |
| PHONE | (703)255-1139. |
| HANDWORKMR@aol.com | |
| CATEGORY | Designer; Supplier |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| CATALOG | Catalogue available. |
| NOTES | Mary Riggs, who lived in Germany and in the U.K. for some years, has a great assortment of samplers she has reproduced from her collection and from museums. There are two more English reproductions now available (November 1997) - one from the recent exhibit at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge. |
| NAME | Joanne Harvey |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| NOTES | Owner of the Exemplary, and reproducer of the Loara Standish Sampler |
| NAME | Nan Caldera |
| COMPANY | Just Nan |
| URL | http://www.justnan.com/ |
| designs@justnan.com | |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; band; multi-stitch |
| FORMAT | charts; kits; embellishement packs |
| STOCKIST | UK: Heritage Stitchcraft Tel: 01889-575-256 |
| NOTES | Mainly band samplers, many different stitches; speciality threads and beads |
| NAME | Brenda Keyes |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | Mainly traditional pictorial and alphabets; |
| FORMAT | books; kits |
| NOTES | Beautifully presented kits, available on Aida or evenweave |
| NAME | Brenda Keyes |
| COMPANY | Country Yarns; The Sampler Company |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| SUPPLIES | Offers binders with inserts for floss/threads storage |
| NOTES | Traditional style and reproduction samplers; usually avaliable in a choice of evenweaven or aida; beautifully presented |
| NAME | Lesa Steele |
| COMPANY | Lesa Steele Designs |
| URL | http://nj5.injersey.com/~lsdesign/index.html |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; band; multi-stitch; hardanger |
| NOTES | Modern band samplers; speciality stitches and threads, hardanger |
| NAME | Cynthia Daly |
| COMPANY | Little by Little |
| ADDRESS | Post Office Box 242046, Charlotte, North Carolina 28224-2046, USA |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | primitive |
| NOTES | Primitive, original sampler designs by Cynthia Daly, who was formerly with Sheepish Designs, which now is exclusively run by Dawn Bradford. |
| NAME | Dawn Lewis |
| COMPANY | The Needle's Work |
| ADDRESS | 406 W. Lawndale Avenue, Peoria, Illinois 61604, USA |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional |
| NOTES | Dawn Lewis has original designs of traditional sampler styles. |
| NAME | Sharon Cohen |
| COMPANY | The Nostalgic Needle |
| ADDRESS | 20200 Shipley Terrace, #202, Germantown, Maryland 20874, USA |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional |
| NOTES | Has eye-popping 17th Century-style pieces. See her work also in Just Cross Stitch magazine. |
| NAME | Darlene O'Steen |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional; band |
| FORMAT | books; charts; magazines |
| NOTES | Traditional 17th century, mainly band samplers; many different stitches and techniques |
| NAME | Tana Taylor |
| COMPANY | Patches and Tatters |
| URL | http://www.best.com/~amethist/pt/home.html |
| amethist@best.com | |
| CATEGORY | Designer; Supplier |
| NOTES | Tana Turner designs and stitches primitive folkart samplers; only finished products are available at this time. |
| NAME | Pat Ryan; Ann Robbins |
| COMPANY | R & R Reproductions |
| ADDRESS | 5386 Kemps River Drive, Suite 108-6, Va. Beach, Virginia 23464, USA |
| PHONE | 1-800-921-3299 |
| FAX | 757-474-9660 |
| WEDYE4YOU@aol.com | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier; Designer |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| SUPPLIES | The first hand dyed linen company in America; currently work with about 40 of the top cross stitch designers in the country. They have 125 colors on the market and can dye in any count from 18 to 50. |
| NOTES | R & R Reproductions is owned by Ann Robbins and Pat Ryan (who wrote the book Historic Samplers. She has also just been listed in the new volume of 2000 most notable women of the decade.) R & R Reproductions have contracts with 21 museums all over the United States to reproduce their sampler collections. Currently they have 75 charts on the market of mostly American but a few English reproduction samplers |
| NAME | Page Dorsey |
| COMPANY | Samplar Works |
| ADDRESS | 301 Colonial Court, Towson, MD 21204, USA |
| PHONE | (410)337-7349 |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional; reproduction |
| NOTES | Page has done both delightful original sampler charts and antique reproductions, many of them in band sampler style with many interesting stitches. She may be contacted through her company. |
| NAME | Sheepish Designs |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | Traditional samplers, reproductions |
| FORMAT | charts; occasionally magazines |
| NAME | Teri Richards and Tina Richards Herman |
| COMPANY | Shepherds Bush |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | band; modern; multi-stitch |
| FORMAT | charts; kits |
| NOTES | Mainly whimsical band samplers, many different stitches; embellishments (buttons, etc) |
| COMPANY | Simply Samplers |
| ADDRESS | P.O. Box 1921, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19381, USA |
| CATEGORY | Supplier; Designer (?) |
| STYLE | traditional |
| NOTES | has wonderful old Quaker sampler designs. (Although we share a name, this Simply Samplers is nothing to do with me or my pages!) |
| NAME | Kay Montclare |
| COMPANY | Special Projects |
| URL | http://needlearts.com/special_projects/index.htm |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| FORMAT | books; charts; kits |
| NOTES | Owner of "Special Projects". Spectacular (but expensive) reproduction samplers |
| NAME | Sweetheart Tree |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; band; |
| FORMAT | charts |
| NOTES | Smallish band sampler type designs; different stitches; embellishments |
| NAME | Nancy Sturgeon |
| COMPANY | Threads Through Time |
| ADDRESS | 450 Bedford Ct., Naperville, IL 60540-7001 USA |
| PHONE | 708-778-1037; fax 630-357-7472 |
| Nthread@aol.com | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier; Designer |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| SUPPLIES | Kits of tiny samplers on 40 or 48 count silk gauze in addition to other needlework supplies, scissors, etc. |
| CATALOGUE | Catalogue available, price $2 (US) funds. |
| NOTES | Nancy has a small mail order business reproducing antique samplers and selling them in kits with DMC floss and linen. She includes a photo of both the antique and the reproduction sampler in the kit and also a history of the stitcher whenever possible. Nancy also design some of her own samplers |
| NAME | Thea Dueck |
| COMPANY | The Victoria Sampler |
| URL | http://www.islandnet.com/~vsampler/ |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | modern; multi-stitch |
| FORMAT | charts; kits |
| NOTES | Many different stitches; beads, speciality threads, embellishments |
| NAME | Cynthia Zittel |
| COMPANY | Drawn Thread |
| CATEGORY | Designer |
| STYLE | traditional; band |
| FORMAT | charts; kits |
Suppliers Listing
| COMPANY | The City Stitcher |
| ADDRESS | 2598 Brush Hill Court, Dayton, Ohio 45449, USA |
| CATEGORY | Supplier (?); Designer (?) |
| STYLE | tradional/modern |
| NOTES | Offers new interpretations of traditional motifs, particularly of some neat houses. |
| COMPANY | DMC Corporation (USA) |
| URL | http://www.dmc-usa.com/ |
| dmc@web.craftnet.org | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| NAME | Edna Medlin |
| COMPANY | Em-Li's; Threads of Gold |
| URL | http://www.emlis.com |
| ADDRESS | 1004 West Cumberland Street, Dunn, NC, USA |
| PHONE | (910)892-3083 or (910)892-3024 |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| FORMAT | charts; kits |
| SUPPLIES | Hand-dyed linen, particularly in the higher counts, that has been "aged" for that old look we love. Threads of Gold has sampler charts and kits and supplies hand-dyed linens, overdyed fibers and silk floss. |
| CATALOGUE | For charts; general catalog of sampler charts and supplies. Threads of Gold catalog price $4.00 |
| NOTES | Edna's needlework shop is known the world over for its incredible supply of sampler charts and materials. She gets calls from every country you can imagine for things and is always glad to send whatever you'd like. Also, she has a reproduction sampler business, Threads of Gold, through which she has published many fine charts. |
| COMPANY | The Essamplaire |
| URL | http://www.catscan.com/essampla/essampla.html |
| ADDRESS | 4126 44th Street, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada T4N1H2 |
| PHONE | (403)347-3574 |
| FAX | (403) 347-4047 |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | traditional |
| FORMAT | charts; kits |
| SUPPLIES | They also sell books on sampler stitches and samplers, as well as scissors and other equipment. |
| CATALOGUE | Colour catalogue (price $3 US) |
| NOTES | Offers 70 samplers from the 17th-19th centuries, representing works from England, Scotland, and Canada. They vary in size from a 3" x 3" mini sampler, to very long and/or wide band samplers. Some have alphabets, others are purely pictorial, and all are "graded" for beginners to advanced stitchers. Many of the items are available as charts or kits; some of the kits come in a choice of cotton or silk. Prices for charts are between $4 and $10, and for kits $16 to to $110 (for a larger, complicated sampler with many colors of silk thread). Most of the kits are in the $25-45 range. |
| COMPANY | Green Mountain Hand Dyed Linens |
| URL | http://www.sover.net/~mitlfrah/ |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| SUPPLIES | Finest linens hand-dyed for your samplers. |
| NAME | Mary Riggs |
| COMPANY | Handwork |
| URL | http://www.handworksamplers.com/ |
| ADDRESS | 10175 Hillington Court, Vienna, Virginia 22182, USA |
| PHONE | (703)255-1139. |
| HANDWORKMR@aol.com | |
| CATEGORY | Designer; Supplier |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| CATALOG | Catalogue available. |
| NOTES | Mary Riggs, who lived in Germany and in the U.K. for some years, has a great assortment of samplers she has reproduced from her collection and from museums. There are two more English reproductions now available (November 1997) - one from the recent exhibit at the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge. |
| NAME | Sandra Sullivan |
| COMPANY | Homespun Elegance |
| URL | http://www.homespunelegance.com/ |
| ADDRESS | 11047 Pierson Drive, Suite 1, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22408, USA |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | folk; primitive |
| NOTES | A collection of needlework publications by Sandra Sullivan that truly refects "Our American Heritage". The designs include accurate reproductions of antique sampers, as well as original designs reflecting Traditional, Country, and Folk Art Styles. |
| REF | Symbol of Excellence |
| COMPANY | Just Cross Stitch |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| FORMAT | charts; kits (?); magazines |
| COMPANY | Madeira (UK) |
| URL | http://www.madeira.co.uk/ |
| info@madeira.co.uk | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| SUPPLIES | Silk and cotton threads, machine embroidery and sewing threads, metallics |
| COMPANY | Mary Garry's Sewing Cabin |
| ADDRESS | 408 E. 14th Street, Naperville, IL 60563, USA |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | primitive |
| COMPANY | McIntosh Samplers |
| URL | www.mcintoshsamplers.com |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | traditional; reproduction |
| NOTES | McIntosh Samplers is a mail-order needlework company specializing in counted cross-stitch reproduction antique samplers, books on historical needlework, and quality needlework accessories. |
| NAME | Tana Taylor |
| COMPANY | Patches and Tatters |
| URL | http://www.best.com/~amethist/pt/home.html |
| amethist@best.com | |
| CATEGORY | Designer; Supplier |
| NOTES | Tana Turner designs and stitches primitive folkart samplers; only finished products are available at this time. |
| COMPANY | Ramsgate Limited |
| ADDRESS | Post Office Box 143, Okemos, Michigan 48864, USA |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | folk |
| NAME | Pat Ryan; Ann Robbins |
| COMPANY | R & R Reproductions |
| ADDRESS | 5386 Kemps River Drive, Suite 108-6, Va. Beach, Virginia 23464, USA |
| PHONE | 1-800-921-3299 |
| FAX | 757-474-9660 |
| WEDYE4YOU@aol.com | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier; Designer |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| SUPPLIES | The first hand dyed linen company in America; currently work with about 40 of the top cross stitch designers in the country. They have 125 colors on the market and can dye in any count from 18 to 50. |
| NOTES | R & R Reproductions is owned by Ann Robbins and Pat Ryan (who wrote the book Historic Samplers. She has also just been listed in the new volume of 2000 most notable women of the decade.) R & R Reproductions have contracts with 21 museums all over the United States to reproduce their sampler collections. Currently they have 75 charts on the market of mostly American but a few English reproduction samplers |
| COMPANY | The Scarlet Letter |
| URL | http://www.pentimento.com/fl10.htm |
| ADDRESS | POB 397, Sullivan, WI 53178, USA |
| PHONE | 414-583-8470 |
| FAX | 414-593-2417 |
| samplers@scarlet-letter.com | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| FORMAT | Kits; charts |
| CATALOGUE | A full-color catalogue is available for $5.00 (US), or $10 to overseas customers. |
| NOTES | Offer over 200 samplers in kits and graphs. Many of the samplers are from museum collections around the world. |
| COMPANY | Scottish Samplers |
| URL | http://www.made-in-scotland.co.uk/mis-10.htm |
| ADDRESS | 6 Bishop Gardens, Dunblane, Perthshire,Scotland, FK15 0AW |
| PHONE | +44 (0) 1786 824272 |
| FAX | +44 (0) 1786 824272 |
| robbins@enterprise.net | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | traditional |
| NOTES | A range of high quality counted thread embroidery kits designed and produced in Scotland, all carefully researched with regard to content and colour. Packed in clear bags with needle, thread, fabric, chart, photograph and instructions - some are on linen woven in Scotland, others on easy Aida cotton. The 'Classic Collection' has 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th Century designs, some based on museum study and real 'Heirlooms of the Future'. |
| COMPANY | Simply Samplers |
| ADDRESS | P.O. Box 1921, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19381, USA |
| CATEGORY | Supplier; Designer (?) |
| STYLE | traditional |
| NOTES | has wonderful old Quaker sampler designs. (Although we share a name, this Simply Samplers is nothing to do with me or my pages!) |
| COMPANY | Sudberry House on the Web |
| URL | http://www.sudberry.com/ |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| SUPPLIES | Wooden 'accessories' to show off your needlework |
| COMPANY | Symbol of Excellence Publishers |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| FORMAT | charts; kits (?); magazines |
| NAME | Kathleen Smith |
| COMPANY | Textile Reproductions |
| ADDRESS | Box 48, West Chesterfield, Massachusetts 01084, USA |
| PHONE | (413)296-4437 |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| SUPPLIES | Sells fabrics and materials for making reproduction textile goods of all types, as well as needlework books and charts. They hand-dye wonderful silk floss that is softly colored and perfect for achieving a faded sampler look. |
| NOTES | Run by Kathleen Smith and her husband. Kathleen, a former textile curator at Williamsburg |
| NAME | Nancy Sturgeon |
| COMPANY | Threads Through Time |
| ADDRESS | 450 Bedford Ct., Naperville, IL 60540-7001 USA |
| PHONE | 708-778-1037; fax 630-357-7472 |
| Nthread@aol.com | |
| CATEGORY | Supplier; Designer |
| STYLE | reproduction |
| SUPPLIES | Kits of tiny samplers on 40 or 48 count silk gauze in addition to other needlework supplies, scissors, etc. |
| CATALOGUE | Catalogue available, price $2 (US) funds. |
| NOTES | Nancy has a small mail order business reproducing antique samplers and selling them in kits with DMC floss and linen. She includes a photo of both the antique and the reproduction sampler in the kit and also a history of the stitcher whenever possible. Nancy also design some of her own samplers |
| COMPANY | Witney Antiques |
| URL | http://antique.collectors-on-line.com/Dealers/witney/stock.html |
| ADDRESS | 96-100 Corn Street, Witney, Oxon OX8 7BU, UK |
| PHONE | 0993 703902 |
| CATEGORY | Supplier |
| SUPPLIES | Antique samplers; also other antique embroideries, furniture etc. |
| NOTES | Witney Antiques has one of the best sampler collections in Europe, and their samplers are available both for viewing and purchase. They also hold an exhibition each year, and illustrated catalogues are available. |
You are visiting the Simply Samplers Sampler Resources page at:
http://www.needleworksamplers.com/Simply_Samplers/sampler_resources.cgi