The Scarlet Letter ~ Eleanor Parr 1816 Reproduction Sampler Pattern

Eleanor Parr created this amazing and unique sampler some time before 1835. The border of birds encircled by vines and leaves is unprecedented. Fleurs de lys embellish each of the four corners surrounding a central reserve containing a traditional verse, floral sprays and garlands, and two elegantly clad young girl friends enjoying a frolic in this amazing landscape. The verse reads:

When his lost sheep the shepherd finds He calls his friends around Rejoice with me my friends he cries, My wandering sheep are found. The reconciled father joys, To see the sinner weep, And Jesus with extended arms, Welcomes his ransom’d sheep.

While the original sampler was stitched with wool threads, this reproduction is supplied with either DMC cotton, or au ver a soie, soie d’alger silks. Eleanor was born in 1816 in Burscough near Ormskirk in Lancashire, to John and Ann Parr. At the time of her birth her father was a boatsman on the canals, but in a later census he is described as a farmer. Eleanor married a farmer by the name of Joseph Webster. In fact there are still Websters farming in the Lotham area today. Eleanor lived to be nearly 81 years old.

Eleanor’s extraordinary sampler, employing only cross stitch, petit point and stem filling stitches, is a magnificent testimony to what the simplest stitches can accomplish given creativity, motivation and of course access to some very good materials. The range of color and the intricacy of the design- such that one can identify the birds she has stitched- astound the viewer and the needle worker to this day. On 35 count linen, the finished sampler will measure approximately 24-1/2 ” x 28 “.