PieceWork Summer 2025

Centuries of Samplers

Before modern charts, how did needleworkers learn their skills? What can studying techniques of the past teach today’s fiber artists? Explore these ideas and more with PieceWork Summer 2025: Samplers and Threads. Get an up-close look into amazing sampler collections, including the goldwork and silk embroidery of St. Mary’s Convent, the embroidery treasures of the Royal School of Needlework, and the sprang lace preserved at the Vesterheim Museum.

Discover the stories in samplers as you:

• Master the elegant queen stitch and bold mosaic knitting.
• Knit a throw inspired by a historic sampler to try a variety of stitch patterns.
• Discover a Scandinavian intertwined-thread technique used to embellish household linens.
• Visit southern Portugal and learn how a stitch helped revive a community.

PieceWork Summer 2025 celebrates samplers as both historical records and cherished works of art—don’t miss this fascinating look into their stories and stitches! 

CONTENTS

• Studying Stitches: Samplers in the RSN Collection by Isabella Rosner
• Nimble Fingers and a Devotion to Detail: Samples and Samplers from Goldwork and Silk by Rachel Midgley
• Regina Repetita: A Box Top Embroidered in Queen Stitch by Elisabeth Jenkins Baty
• Marking, Medallions, Mending, Motifs, and More: Westtown School Samplers by Mary Uhl Brooks
• A Quaker-Style Medallion Sampler to Stitch from Quaker Samplers by Lesley Wilkins
• Samples of Sprang: A Scandinavian Intertwined Thread Technique by Laurann Gilbertson
• Brooklyn Museum Sampler Throw by Melissa Dehncke McGill
• Joyful, Wonderful, and Useful: Samplers from Anna Næsgaard’s Needlework Collection by Astrid Colding Sivertsen, Bodil Kappel Schmidt, Lea Geiger, Agnete Rasmussen, and Anne Julie Bibby
• Boardwalk Mosaic Shawl by Mari Tobita
• Expression in Small Stitches: Khamak Embroidery Samplers in Afghanistan by Rangina Hamidi
• “De mano de”: The Making of a Mexican Sampler by Lynne Anderson, PhD
• Arraiolos: Hand-Embroidered Rugs from Portugal by Sarah Pedlow
• Post-War ID: A Surprising Use for Samplers by Pat Olski
• Revisited: Miniature Needlepoint Sampler by Annelle Ferguson