cover image Love and Friendship Samplers

Love and Friendship Samplers

Sharon Perna. Sterling Publishing (NY), $12.95 (136pp) ISBN 978-0-8069-6678-6

Like the stitchery worked by young Colonial or Victorian women to demonstrate their needlework skills, these samplers feature traditional mottoes, folkloric motifs and borders in counted-thread embroidery. However, this is a one-woman show by the author of Treasury of Cross-Stitch Samplers et al., displaying a uniform, competent but uninspiring talent, and there is scant variety of style or technique. Projectsmostly pictures but a few other applications like bags, pillows and runnersrely almost exclusively on cross-stitch and white or off-white backgrounds, and lack the subtleties of shading or texture. All samplers feature a heart motif, and while they avoid saccharine sweetness, they also escape wit, whimsy and innovation. Introductory instructions are good but poor book design makes execution difficult. Several charts are continued on front and back of pages, and color keys are misplaced, compelling the needleworker to photocopy or flip pages constantly. Color photographs are clear but banal studio shots. Better Homes and Gardens Crafts Club selection. (March)