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Your Stitching Signature

Marylee Klinkhammer

I think that most stitchers will agree with me that signing our stitching adds a unique quality to the piece that even non-stitchers will recognize.And I believe that heirloom-quality stitching deserves recognition! We have stitched on that piece for days, weeks, months or (sometimes) years and signing it is the culmination of all our efforts.

Every stitcher eventually develops his or her own style for a signature, whether it's a full name or just initials and a few of us will include this somewhere on everything we stitch.Or, as with this design, Martha Spence Sampler, you see that incorporating the name of a family member to a stitched piece can give your family a history lesson in love.We have all seen the samplers commemorating a wedding, birth or anniversary, but what about some of the more unusual ways of including a bit of history with your stitching?

I attended a stitching show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, several years ago.At this show there was a wonderful lady, Ann Trussel, who shared a sweet story with me.She told me of a card included behind the framing paper on a project stitched by her great-grandmother. This card had several bits of information that probably seemed trivial when it was penned and placed with the piece, but for Ann it gave this ancestor a voice that she wouldn't have otherwise had. It included the date the piece was finished, the weather conditions the day the piece was framed, the full name of the stitcher and the name of the fabric weaver.This information became a treasured piece of history for the family.

I took this story to heart, and I began to include news columns, short letters of introduction, what age and height my children were on the day I finished stitching, a manufacturer listing for the products I used, and anything else I can think of that will be a window into my world from years in the future.

Be inventive!

You can chart the letters of your name or initials on graph paper. Include the date and stitch this information on your project. Sign your name with an air-soluble marker, then embroider over the lines.If you include information with a framed piece, pin it to the center back of the mounting board, and this way the paper or plastic never comes in contact with your fabric.