Ann Forfitt 1812 is a very large and impressive sampler at 519 stitches (w) x 570 stitches (h) and is sure to be a blue ribbon winner for the competitive cross stitcher.

The 40 page chart, of which 36 pages are the graph, comes in booklet form in full colour throughout.

There are some 71,788 cross stitches, a small amount of straight satin stitches and a handful of Algerian eyelets. The verse is stitched in cross stitch over 1.

No songs of Triumph now be sung

Cease all your sprightly Airs

Let sorrow silence every Tongue

And Joy dissolve to Tears

If at this Sight we don’t repent

What other Sight can move

Ingrateful shall we not relent

And pay him love with love.

The verse Ann chose for her sampler is from a hymn written in the 1700’s that was sung on Good Fridays.  It appears in the “The Universal Spelling Book” published in 1756 in Rotterdam by Daniel Fenning an English school teacher.  It was greatly used in America and was first published in 1769 in Boston, Massachusetts. Imported English editions were available before then.  It also appears in a musical piece called Laindon, composed by Samuel Holyoake.  It was first published in “Harmonia Americana” in 1791 for three voices:  Treble-Tenor-Bass.

No trace of Ann Forfitt can be found in official records and all we have to remember her by is from the efforts of her own needle.  Ann stitched, with great care, her large and charming sampler using silks and very fine linen. We know from the information Ann recorded with her needle that she completed her sampler during the reign of George III on March 21 1812 whilst living in Lyndhurst in the county of Hampshire, England. Little did Ann know that during the next two centuries her sampler would travel across the Atlantic to New York, where it was conserved, and then many decades later back to England where it was acquired by Nicola Parkman for her private collection.

Ann’s sampler has been rated as suitable for an enthusiastic beginner.

Hands Across the Sea Samplers are on hand to help those stitching our charts. If you need assistance or have any questions we can be reached via the CONTACT page on our website. Our website has stitching tutorials which can be found in the “SEWING BASKET AND TOOLS” section.

Ann Forfitt has been brought to you in collaboration with Suzanne Sirotti who 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.