Hands Across the Sea - Eliza Bell Cox 1832

If you would like to order the complete kit for this project including all threads and linen required, please contact me on 07 5546 0558 or [email protected].  We carry the complete range of Au Ver a Soie d’Alger and 100/3 silk threads.  We also have a large selection of the Legacy Linen available for HATS Samplers. 

Eliza’s sampler has a delightful free flowing border of entwined damask roses, heartsease, campanulas and tiger lilies in full bloom. This beautiful border has been executed in cross stitch over 2 threads. Her sampler depicts a sweet verse and an exotic bird perched on a leafy bough eyeing a pretty butterfly which rests dangerously close by. There is another documented sampler, Elizabeth Elliott 1835, that bears a striking likeness and it is likely that Eliza and Elizabeth attended the same school, Radcliffe House.

There are two versions of the verse ‘Forget Me Not’. We have found Eliza’s version recorded in the Rural Repository a ‘semi-monthly entertaining and amusing journal’ which comprised of ‘original and popular tales, essays, biography, traveller, miscellaneous, summary, poetry etc.’ The verse is unattributed.

Eliza stitched her sampler using a palette of 39 colours. There has only been a slight mellowing of colour over time and Eliza’s flowers, particularly the heartsease dance merrily around the sampler.

In Victorian England, the pansy flower was used for secret courting.  Any display of love or passion was severely frowned upon and in order to communicate to potential romantic partners the  pansy was employed.  It was placed in what was called a tussie mussie which was a bunch of herbs wrapped in a doily with some flowers in the middle.  The pansy flower was used to convey messages not easily expressed in Victorian England such as I’m feeling amorous towards you, I am thinking of you or I have thoughts of you or I’m missing you, but always it was about one person thinking of another. The pansy flower symbolizes  the love or admiration of one person for another. Traditional meanings of flower colours hold true for pansies, red and violet mean passion whilst yellow means having a bright disposition or happiness.The wild pansy, viola tricolour, has many different names including: ‘Heartsease’, ‘Heart’s Delight’, ‘Tickle-my-fancy’ ‘Love-in-idleness’, ‘Love-lies-bleeding’; and in Welsh ‘Caru’n Ofer’ (Love in vain).

The sampler is stitched in cross stitch over 2 threads, with the verse, the bird’s eye and butterfly’s legs stitched over 1 thread. There are a handful of straight stitches that form the stamens on the pansies. Eliza’s sampler has been rated as suitable for a confident beginner.

Eliza Bell Cox has been brought to you in collaboration with  J.Lee Halpin who has lovingly stitched the model. At the very core of Hands Across the Sea Samplers is a team of needleworkers who are passionate about antique samplers and being able to share those samplers with you.

Thread Legend

The sampler has been reproduced with Au Ver à Soie d’Alger silks and the skein quantities calculated based on 1 strand on 36ct fabric. We have provided a DMC conversion based on 2 strands on 36ct fabric. The model was stitched on 46ct Lakeside Linen Vintage Buttercream.

Soie d’Alger / DMC

5115 / 154 x 1  Grape ~ very light

2946 / 304  x 1  Christmas red ~ medium

4635 /315  x 1  Antique mauve ~ medium dark

2643 / 351 x 1  Coral

2645 / 355 x 1  Terracotta ~ dark

4614 / 356 x 1  Terracotta ~ medium

3826 / 420 x 2  Hazel nut brown ~ dark

4215 / 433 x 1  Brown ~ medium

1846 / 500 x 2**  Blue green ~ very dark

2144 / 580 x 1  Moss green ~ dark

2143 / 581 x 1  Moss green

3835 / 640 x 1  Beige grey ~ very dark

3834 / 642 x 1  Beige grey ~ dark

3833 / 644 x 1  Beige grey ~ medium

2543 / 676  x 1  Old gold ~ light

2542 / 677  x 1  Old gold ~ very light

4244 / 680 x 1  Old gold ~ dark

2212 / 734 x  1  Olive green ~ light

2914 / 760 x 1  Salmon

4642 / 778 x 1  Antique mauve ~ very light

4624 / 816 x 1  Garnet

525  / 831 x 1  Golden olive ~ medium

524 / 832 x 1  Golden olive

3846 / 844 x 1  Beaver grey ~ ultra dark

4246 / 869 x 1 Hazel nut brown ~ very dark

4131 / 898  x 1  Coffee brown ~ very dark

4625 / 902  x 1  Garnet ~ very dark

5384 / 926 x 1 Grey green ~ medium

5382 / 927 x 1  Grey green ~ light

1811 / 928 x 1  Grey green ~ very light

2216 / 935 x 1  Avocado green ~ dark

2136 / 986 x 1  Forest green ~ very dark

236 / 3345 x 1 Hunter green ~ dark

4645 / 3726 x 1 Antique mauve ~ dark

4644 / 3727 x 1 Antique mauve ~ light

1745 / 3768 x 1 Grey green ~ dark

2911 / 3774 x 1 Desert sand ~ very light

4611 / 3778 x 1 Terracotta ~ light

2912 / 3779 x 1 Terracotta ~ ultra light

**  If stitching on 46ct or higher only 1 skein of 1846 is required and we would recommend using Au Ver A Soie 100/3 No: 329 for the bird’s eye, No: 671 for the centre of the bird’s eye and Eliza’s name and the date, No: 530 for the verse.

LINEN SIZES

The design area is 307 stitches (w) x 433 stitches (h). Our calculations have included a 3” margin for finishing and framing.

32ct – Design: 19.19″ x 27.06″ Fabric: 25.19″ x 33.06″

36ct – Design: 17.06″ x 24.06″ Fabric: 23.06″ x 30.06″

40ct – Design: 15.35″ x 21.65″ Fabric: 21.35″ x 27.65″

46ct – Design: 13.35″ x 18.83″ Fabric: 19.35″ x 24.83″

Chart Correction

We apologise for a charting error. Unfortunately these do occur from time to time.

Please see page 9 – the circled flower was omitted from the printed graph.