Last week, I shared the backstory behind this silk sampler, an embroidery project I undertook years ago and … ummm … never quite finished.

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person in the Stitching World who has an unfinished project hanging around. (If truth be known, I actually have more than one unfinished project hanging around!)

In any case, many of you asked for the pattern for this sampler, so I thought I would share that with you today, and then let you in on a couple deep, dark secrets that are totally unrelated to the sampler pattern…

You’ll find the PDF for the silk sampler below. It prints at about 6″ wide and 8″ high. You can enlarge it or reduce it to suit your needs.

When I started stitching it, it was significantly larger – about 8″ x 10″ – but, in retrospect, it would have been more manageable at 6×8.

You can certainly use the design for more than a silk sampler! I think it would make a great appliqué pattern, personally, especially if slightly enlarged. It would also work well in wool (I’d enlarge it for that), and also in regular surface embroidery with cotton threads. You could probably even translate the design into blackwork, and you could certainly adapt it for goldwork! So lots of options!

Silk Sampler Pattern PDF

Here’s the link for the PDF:

Hinda Hands Silk Sampler for Hand Embroidery (PDF)

Good News, Bad News: Depends on Your Viewpoint!

On the good news front, I will be absolutely, totally away from my computer, email, smart phone, tablet, internet, social media (and on and on) this week.

(I left yesterday! So I’m already gone!)

By the time you read this, I’ll be on my vacation, which is not really vacation, and isn’t very far away or very exotic. But it is oh-so-needed!

I’ll be just a six hour drive down the road. I’m going on a retreat, and not of the stitching sort. It’s a complete break from pretty much everything, in total silence, and entirely unplugged from all the gadgets, noise, cacophony of our everyday lives. Silence, meditation, contemplation, and rest make up the basic order of the day throughout the retreat.

Originally, I was going to write an article for today on the stitchy stuff I planned to pack and take with me, because, after all, why not stitch? It’s a fairly meditative work, right?

But I think when one does a complete “disconnect” to re-invigorate, re-prioritize, and whatnot, the whole notion of simplicity needs to permeate the break. For me, stitching would not really simplify things and it wouldn’t give me a real break, since stitching is such a constant part of my life.

So, to keep things absolutely simple, I decided against a superfluous amount of things. I took a couple books and my basic necessities.

What does this mean for you? Well, you probably won’t notice a whole lot different. I’ve got a couple articles queued up for your entertainment – one featuring some absolutely stunning and mind-boggling stitchery and the other featuring…well, my version of emoticons, I suppose!

Email and blog comments will be addressed when I return next week.

And the Other News

I should have mentioned this bit a while ago!

If you’re doing a bit of stitching this week and you want something to listen to (and I’m not sure if I would categorize this as good news or bad news…), feel free to hop on over here to We Talk Fiber and pick up a four-way chat between Gary, Christine, me, and my sister, Sarah.

We talked about a lot of stuff in that conversation – embroidery, and knitting, and sheep, and my messy workroom, and all kinds of other bits and bobs. (We didn’t chat about misspelled names, but at the time, we didn’t have a reason to! Chortle, chortle.)

And on that note, I will bid you adieu for a week! I hope it’s a lovely one for you, and I can’t wait to see you again when I get back!!

I won’t be able to access the internet from July 9 – 17th. If you email during that time, you’ll get an auto-responder. Comments left on the website will be queued until I return. Thanks for understanding!