My Trademarks

On every sampler I stitch, I include a few symbols of important events in my life. The numbers 1-9 represent my nine children. The reversed number is the year in which the sampler was designed. For instance, if the 5 is backwards, that pattern was designed in 1995. 1998 poses a problem because I can't reverse the number, so I have to put a running stitch around the 8 for all the 1998 designs.
There is a box with Xs in it on all of my samplers- one x for each of my grandbabies. Lately there have been too many to put in a box so you might see them as a running border of X's. Just below the box are two hearts. These represent my husband and me, and the love we have for our grandchildren.
The largest heart on each sampler is for my husband, who lost his valiant 16-year battle with Lymphoma in February 1996. He is the person who first urged me to develop my talents and to start designing. Over my protests, he encouraged me and gave me the confidence I needed to make a go of my business. Before he passed away, we decided that he would be represented on my patterns with a long, skinny heart, because that is my favorite thing to stitch.
The box with a heart in it is for my grandmother Ruth. She was a sweet, loving woman who, through her hardworking, simple life, gave me the inspiration and hope for the future. I have always thought of Grandma Ruth as a valiant soul. She was an artist herself and taught her two daughters, one of whom is my mother, how to paint and draw. As long as I can remember, my mother has done sketches. Late in life, she began doing beautiful oil paintings and teaching oil painting classes. She is a very talented artist.
And finally, I always stitch "I Done My Best" because I did.