Susan Johnson

A Stitcher's Sketchbook Susan Johnson

Sometime during the 1920s or 30s an unknown needleworker created her own collection of 47 counted thread charts plus three designs for embroidery in a very ordinary-looking notebook filled with pages of graph paper. For each of the 50 patterns, she first sketched the motif in pencil, used watercolor paints to fill in the colors and finally painstakingly outlined each section with black ink. 75 years later I found it at the bottom of a box of scraps. This is a charming assortment of vintage patterns. Look closely and you'll see that the fanciful blue rooster on page 17 was charted from the watercolor version on page 22; several other designs bear notes suggesting ways to combine motifs. Those notes also mention that many patterns were taken from antique samplers- was she was carrying this sketchbook on visits to a museum? The exotic "Turque" (Turkish) motifs indicate access to an interesting collection of textiles. The notebook bears a "Made in Britain" tag- might she have been a student at the Royal School of Needlework? We'll never know the identity of this needle artisan or what projects she might have eventually created using her charts. In any case this small and very personal collection is a tribute to one stitcher's skill and resourcefulness as well as a reminder that inspiration can be found anywhere and everywhere, and passed down from one generation of needleworkers to the next.