Antique Sampler Stories with Cissy Bailey Smith

Join us for a session with designer Cissy Bailey Smith as she delves into samplers made during Berry Hill’s early years. Enjoy a delicious dessert, a custom designed cross stitch chart designed by Cissy and an Interactive Sampler Stories presentation which includes 40-50 Scottish, English and American samplers in Cissy’s personal collection dating from the early 1720s through 1850. She will discuss the history of samplers as they evolved from long narrow memory aids to frame worthy examples of female accomplishment. Types of fabrics and threads used, the structure of childhood education and historical events during the time period will be discussed.

Attendees will quickly learn to identify the combination of design elements that make Scottish Samplers unique and will obtain clues for discerning where a sampler was made. Everyone will interactively hunt for Scottish and English identification clues as we see photos and prints of the samplers. Early American…