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We feel very fortunate to be able to present to you a small red marking sampler that was stitched in 1891. The sampler was worked mainly in cross stitch over two threads of linen with one row of half cross stitches over two threads. It contains three uppercase alphabets in different fonts and one lower-case alphabet (none contain the letter “J” ) and the numerals 0 to 9. The sampler demonstrates that Bertha was able to competently mark her linen.

The sampler was acquired by Hands Across the Sea Samplers in the United States. There were families with the surname of Lausch living in the USA, but we could not find a Bertha of the expected age. In searching family history records, we have found several Berthas in the right time period, all of them born in Germany or Austria. It is with regret that we are unable to say which girl stitched the sampler.

Bertha’s monochrome sampler has been reproduced using Soie 100.3 from Au Ver à Soie. We have provided conversions for Soie d’Alger and DMC.

The sampler has been rated as suitable for all levels of ability and can be worked on Aida or linen. The model was stitched using 56ct Zweigart-based linen that was overdyed to the shade Muddy Duck by Tabbycat Linen. The design area is 158 stitches (w) x 106 stitches (h).

Bertha’s sampler has been reproduced by Lisa Brown and the model stitched by Nicola Parkman. At the very core of Hands Across the Sea Samplers there is a team of needleworkers who are passionate about antique samplers and being able to share those samplers with you.