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Friday 3 September 2010

Mapping Out A Vierlande Sampler

I am again greatly indebted to Gisela for sending me these images of a very rare Vierlande sampler, arrested for whatever reason during the early stages of its making. Here we can see how the large medallions are being mapped out on the linen.
When we go in for a closer look you can see that the row of oblique, half-cross stitches mirrors the placement of stitches on the completed left hand side. Click on the image for a bigger version to see more clearly. In this way the stitcher has mapped out the space required for the completed medallion, allowing her to place the next medallion without having to fully complete this one.
For medallions with an additional degree of symmetry, the mapping becomes (for us) more interesting. You can see an example above - again click for a closer view - here the mapping goes in two directions and only a quarter of the medallion needs to be complete.

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