Stitching Stories: An Interview with Moira Blackburn!

Today we are revisiting our interview with Moira Blackburn and featuring her samplers and designs for our sampler party weekend!  It was Moira’s beautiful samplers that introduced Nicola to the world of stitching and love of samplers.  Moira has graciously given us an inside look on her journey in stitches and to reproducing and creating her very own samplers and company!  She gives us her thoughts on the young girls who stitched samplers hundreds of years ago and tells us about her favorites.  Enjoy! 

Moira, how old were you when you first picked up a needle and who taught you to stitch?  What was the very first sampler that you stitched?

*I learned a can-do attitude from my mother so was knitting and sewing doll clothes around age 8.  I completed my first sampler in 1981 which I wasn't very happy with but I missed stitching so much when it was finished that I went on to stitch large samplers for my 3 children.

When did you start charting reproduction samplers / designing your own samplers?

*When my youngest child started school in 1988 I got the idea that producing sampler kits could be my occupation. I loved stitching, I had worked in design, had a passion for researching samplers and a belief that I could bring more authentic-styled samplers to the market.

What was the first sampler you charted?

*The Time and Season Sampler was one of the first five designs I produced as a kit and has proved to be a best seller for over 25 years.       Charting was done by hand on to graph paper back then, first in pencil and then in pen, any mishaps would involve starting all over again.  Patience became my middle name!

Can you tell us about your creative process of reproducing samplers / designing samplers?   What inspires you?

*Samplers of the 19th century have been my inspiration and my study.  I often would start with a verse that had a special meaning for me and the line lengths would determine the orientation of the design.  Sometimes the design would come first and I would make trouble for myself in finding a suitable verse to fit.  I loved the search for words as much as the search for motifs or borders which I could use from original sources.  My designs developed in the stitching and searching simultaneously, often evenings of no stitching while the choosing and rejecting went on.  Even behind my eyelids before I slept.  

Reproducing an original sampler completely is down to counting through a magnifying glass and transferring what you see.  It always felt like a privilege to be touching close to the work of a child from the distant past.  The true colours can be seen on the reverse of the sampler, which can be surprising. 

What is your favorite time of day to stitch?  Do you sit in a set place and what tools do you like to have on hand?

*During my busiest years producing the kits my children were still young so the school hours were spent filling orders and my stitching and designing hours were confined to the late evenings and into the night and a daylight lamp was my most essential tool.  Since the years and children flew and I have more time and daylight, I have to admit to getting much less done.

Do you use the stick and stab technique, or a sewing stitch?  Do you prefer to stitch in hand, or with a hoop or frame?

*I use the stab method of stitching and always use a frame as I like the fabric to be under tension.  I have a lovely, varied collection of wooden frames but ultimately choose to use the hollow tubular plastic frames as they are light and reliable tight.

Do you have a favorite linen?

*My sampler designs and reproductions reflect the period they were first made so my preference is for unbleached and darker shades of linen.  Belfast 32count and Edinburgh 35c Zweigart linen.

What is your favourite period of sampler-making and why?  Which designs appeal to you the most?

*Elizabeth Oliver's sampler epitomises the type of sampler I like best. I was given permission to reproduce this sampler from the collection in the Castle Museum in York.  Houses, birds and animals and the irregularities in the work of a child's hand all appeal to me.  I have stitched 3 Quaker samplers from other designers just for the pleasure and love the Quaker alphabets. 

Has working with reproduction samplers given you any new insight into the lives of the girls and women in the 17-18-19th centuries that you did not realize before?

*Inevitably the class or wealth into which the stitchers were born does make a difference.  Whether you were the lady of the house stitching for pleasure, or the young woman stitching marking samplers to enable herself to get employment in the houses of the wealthy.    A lot of samplers were made sadly to record multiple deaths of siblings.  Some demonstrate a strict religious discipline.  I think it's clear that many samplers were made under difficult circumstances and that we are very fortunate to be stitching for pleasure.

How do you display your stitched samplers?  Do you frame them?  Hang them singularly or in groupings?  

*I do frame my samplers and have previously hung them in groups however the house I live in now is more suited to hanging samplers singly.  I have shared a lot throughout my family and have a lot of my stitched models in storage.  I have the Time and Season Sampler hung above the bed in my guest room and Rebecca Robinson's sampler above my own.  I find I admire the samplers of another’s hand more than my own.

Do you collect antique samplers?  Or have any other collections special to you?                                                                                                                                                      

*I do have a small collection of Antique Samplers which I love.  I also have quite an assortment of hare ornaments as the hare running through the letter M has been my logo from the beginning.                                                                                                                                      

Do you have other types of hand work that you enjoy?

*Since two hand surgeries I find I don't have the ability for stitching samplers so I have a wonderful stitcher who will work my designs for me.  I do enjoy knitting and machine quilting, curtains, cushions, bags.  I have three dogs to walk and sometimes I practice trying to do nothing and to not feel guilty.  I go to a mat making group when I can and love the companionship of other ladies with busy hands, interesting stories and warm hearts.                                                                                    

What has been your worst needlework disaster?

*A sampler model which I had collected from a stitcher was stolen from my car along with other items.  The worst part was knowing that it would probably have been discarded as unwanted.  I have three excellent linen tea towels which started out as new sampler designs and were abandoned as not working out at early stages.  Waste not want not. 

Are you currently working on a project that you can share with us?

*I don't have a design in progress at the moment as I am planning to retire and pass on the production of my kits and charts to others. When that is accomplished I hope to get back to designing and can feel the little itch of ideas already. I'm so happy that the market place is now rich in designers and wonderful sampler designs.

If you can pick just one, which is your favorite sampler that you stitched?  And why? 

                                                                                                                                                                                     

*The Keep Me Sampler.  I have chosen this example as it most closely represents the type of sampler I am most fond of.

Thank you so much, Moira, for sharing your story and your samplers with us!  Seeing your beautiful works will pass your inspiration along to others just as Nicola was inspired years ago.  It is so important to pass along the inspiration and keep the love of stitching alive.  We will all be wanting to pick up our needles today and stitch away.  To learn more about Moira’s collection of samplers and future endeavors please visit her website at Moira Blackburn Samplers!