Autumn (Loretta Spears Designs)

Photo courtesy of Lacunada

Autumn is a small square ornament meant to be hung on point to form a diamond shape.  It was published under the Loretta Spears Designs name in October, 1996.

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Close Up Courtesy of eBay Seller smritter50

Materials List:
7x7 square of 18 count mono canvas
Needle Necessities overdyed floss #189 "Kismet" (substitute ThreadworX TX1148)
Neon Rays #N29 "Rust"
Kreink #8 fine braid in #013 "Beige"

Mystery Chart Cover Pages UPDATED

Many eBay buyers are looking for some way to authenticate the charts they are about to bid on.  No one wants to pay $200 for a xerox copy, and a lot of folks also have ethical objections to buying a copy because the copyright still rests with Loretta's family.

An obvious place to look is the cover page.  You've already seen cover pages for a few of her self published Needle Adventure and Loretta Spears Designs charts here.  Through the courtesy of GE and her husband, I have a set of mystery cover pages for you to enjoy.  Please note that these have been marked Sample so that these images cannot be used as templates for selling xeroxed copies of Loretta's designs on eBay or elsewhere.

The presence or absence of a cover page is no guarantee of authenticity.  These things get lost over the years.  I think it likely that the original printing of the mystery charts had pink covers, but I have seen pastel blue and pastel violet covers on eBay sales.  Is that a fake or just Loretta running out of pink paper?  There is no way to tell. GE's covers are all white and she bought directly from Loretta in two batches.

GE says the mysteries started appearing in 1993 but she bought her first group of charts in 1996 and bought the others (except for the limited edition Mystery #7 which was sold out) later.  She has misplaced Mystery #11 but the others (minus #7 which she was unable to purchase as it was a limited edition) are shown here.  Please note that Mystery #1 was flipped in printing.  Through the magic of Photoshop, I have a corrected version for you to see as well.  Note Loretta wrote the mystery number on the cover for #1 and that the alien space ship design is the same for all the mysteries, but the charts differ in various ways.  A white cover is probably the sign that someone bought a group of mystery charts from Loretta, in my opinion.  But this is just an opinion.

I have heard some folks have mystery charts with a stick-on label that says "Mystery number" and "class number."  Did Loretta run cyber classes on these pieces?  Or was this some sort of way to track what she sold?  Any ideas? I'd like to hear from folks who bought their mystery charts as each was released.  Do you have stick-on labels that sound like these?

When it comes to eBay sales, the most reliable way to know if you have an actual chart that Loretta sold is to look at the photos carefully for clues and check the feedback on the seller as well as their selling history.  Even an ethical seller may think they have an original Loretta when it is a xerox, so these methods may fail you, but I can't come up with any way to really authenticate the mystery charts.  The small ornament charts are much easier because the covers are harder to replicate but when it comes to the mystery charts, buyer beware.

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Here are the Mystery Covers, all in white, with #7 and #11 missing and with two versions of #1.  GE was sold a version with the cover flipped, but PhotoShop magic fixed that.  I would like to thank GE and her husband for all their work in providing scans and adding the Sample message (in my favorite color-Pink!).  Mystery #11's cover was furnished by Miss Kitty.

This is GE's original cover, which was obviously flipped when reproduced by Loretta.  She probably missed that the cover was reversed and sent it out in the group of mystery designs GE ordered.  This seems to be unique, but if you also have a flipped cover page, please let me know.

Mystery #1 (Photoshopped to reverse)

Mystery #2

Mystery #3

Mystery #4

Mystery #5

Mystery #6

There is no photograph of the cover of Mystery #7.  It was a limited edition chart and sold out by the time GE purchased her second set of Loretta Spears mystery designs.  One person with a copy of Mystery #7 didn't get a cover page, so there may have not been one.  I'd like to hear from anyone with a copy of Mystery #7 to hear if you have a cover page or not.

Mystery #8

Mystery #9

Mystery #10

Mystery #11, Courtesy of Miss Kitty

Mystery #12

Mystery #13

Mystery #14

Many thanks again to GE and her husband for all their work in getting the cover pages of the mystery charts ready for the Loretta blog!  Special thanks to Miss Kitty for sending a copy of Mystery #11.

A Lesson in Couching Ornament (Loretta Spears Designs)

A Lesson in Couching, Courtesy of Needleartnut

A Lesson in Couching is a two and a quarter inch square ornament meant to be hung by a point as a diamond shape.  This was a Loretta Spears Designs chart published in June 1996.

A Lesson in Couching Cover Page

The cover page is usually pink but as you see in the photo above, some are yellow.  Loretta must have run out of the pink copy paper.


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Cover Page, Threads and Canvas Courtesy of Needleartnut

Closer Look at Materials for Original Colorway

Materials List:

5x8 white Congress cloth (large enough to do two such ornaments)
Waterlilies silk floss #023 Parfait (pinks, blues and cream)
Kreinik #8 fine braid #032 (opalescent white)

Finished Lesson in Couching, Courtesy of Needleart Nut

Needleartnut is blog-stitching this piece.  Here's the first step.
http://needleartnut.blogspot.com/2012/03/lesson-in-couching.html

Here is the second.
http://needleartnut.blogspot.com/2012/03/lesson-in-couching-2.html

And here is the finished piece.
http://needleartnut.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-lesson-in-couching.html

Original Model in Closeup from Cover Page

Here is a closeup of the cover page photo of the design.

Sunset (Needle Adventures)

Sunset Cover Page, Courtesy of Knightsbball10

Sunset is a small square ornament on lavender canvas using Waterlilies (sunset colors) and Kreinik metallics.   It was published in May 1994 under the Needle Adventures name.

Closeup of Cover Photo, Courtesy of Knightsbball10

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The photograph below is courtesy of Jo who stitched it and Lara Hartley, and was originally published on Lara's blog.  The materials list has a silhouette of a setting sun next to it.
http://diet-pepsi-and-xanax.blogspot.com/2012/03/speaking-of-stickers-labels.html

This photograph is also used in the article about labels and stickers on The Loretta Spears Blog.  Here's the direct link.
http://lorettaspears.blogspot.com/2012/02/mystery-chart-stickers.html

Sunset

Materials List:
6x6 piece of Lavendula canvas (probably 18 count)
Waterlilies silk floss "Sunset" (#014?)
Balger 1/16" ribbon #017HL
Sparkles and Dangles brand seed beads Opal Gold #SB 080

Antique Thread Winder Sampler (Needle Adventures)

Antique Thread Winder Sampler

Published under the Needle Adventures name in 1992, Antique Thread Winder Sampler is a medium sized band sampler.   The photograph above is courtesy of Lara Hartley.
http://diet-pepsi-and-xanax.blogspot.com/2012/02/antique-heart-loretta-spears.html

The Needleart Nut is stitching this publicly on her blog as well.
https://lorettaspears.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-antique-thread-winder-sampler-being.html

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Thread Winder with Threads and Chart, Courtesy of *Ndlpt*

Materials list:
10 x 12 inch white (it looks tan or pale pink in the photos) Congress cloth
Caron's Waterlilies silk floss in Flamingo #095
Au Ver a Soie's Soie d'Alger silk floss Violet Antique #2911
Au Ver a Soie's Soie Perlee silk perle (may substitute DMC #8 ecru) - 2 spools

Mother of Pearl Thread Winder

A thread winder is needed to complete the design.  The photo above appears to be the type that Loretta sold with her kit for this design.

Apparently some charts were sold by Loretta with a mother of pearl thread winder.  You can just see one in the plastic envelope in the photo above, thanks to *ndlpt* who allowed me to reuse her eBay sale photograph of the threads, chart and thread winder.  This Fireside Stitchery sale includes the thread winder that Loretta sold with the kit.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/236754407428?itmmeta=01KQMXNY1F6Q404Y5TSS6P2YKJ&hash=item371fa99004:g:JtwAAeSwcVtp3Q48&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAAwGfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xAB04lFsBKxex8Btj1w018xMnDqWwLmESy%2B8ubQrxrUNYKB6%2BaLgUzzzuOvRzli96kV0ZXH2BBu7NM8QkWgLc7qBsbFo%2B9aY7P%2BcPq1CIvLlTcZ5tC8lVP95mrLsPD6g0CEzuyg8D9YfJ3c%2BtDIGMbqyG5inpSzV3q%2B9XQyfDjThJ86NN7vgBwFiRqN2YIp76TkEPiTxvCscYH5FEiK2ZBm7xG3f8Zxh60l4I%2FNK46ucw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_bg1529Zw

Lara has started stitching the sampler.  Here is the description of her beginning with a photograph of some of the threads the design calls for. Lara is using DMC #8 perle instead of Soie Perlee. (Sorry, Lara has deleted her blog so I think these items are not longer available.)
http://diet-pepsi-and-xanax.blogspot.com/2012/03/antique-thread-win

http://diet-pepsi-and-xanax.blogspot.com/2012/03/antique-thread-winder-sampler.html

http://diet-pepsi-and-xanax.blogspot.com/2012/03/antique-thread-winder-sampler-coming.html

http://diet-pepsi-and-xanax.blogspot.com/2012/03/antique-thread-winder-sampler-almost.html

http://diet-pepsi-and-xanax.blogspot.com/2012/03/maltese-crosses.html

Here is a photograph of the sampler as far as Lara has gotten.  She says the Maltese Crosses along the bottom and right side are still lacking at this point.  I believe an antique thread winder is supposed to go where the quarter is placed,

Unfinished Antique Thread Winder Sampler, All Photos Courtesy of Lara Hartley

Close Up of Bands Along Top

I've also seen a version of this on eBay with a totally different cover page but with the original supplies including the thread winder.  See photo above.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-WINDER-SAMPLER-by-Loretta-Spears-Kit-w-st-guide-threads-/231704863990?hash=item35f2afa4f6&nma=true&si=Hw8W6W4GrxWId511XfGa%252BhIst0E%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557


UPDATE: Since an antique thread winder is supposed to be attached to this sampler when it is finished, I thought I would find examples of various reproductions so you can see what Loretta intended to be placed on the empty spot.  Thread winders are the 19th Century version of those white cards you wind your floss around to store it.  The only real antique thread winder I've seen in person was made from bone in this shape.
http://www.houseofstitches.com/detail.cfm?ID=15848

At the bottom of this page you can see horn versions that are rectangular.
http://www.scarletscarab.com/horn.htm

If the thought of bone or horn thread winders creeps you out, there are some lovely wooden ones available.  These are flower-shaped and very pretty.
http://www.lumenaris.com/wool_threadwinders.html

These are more traditional in shape, but made from woods just as lovely.
http://www.spanishpeacock.com/catalog/thread_winders.htm

Kelmscott Designs has some beautiful ones in many shapes, from birds to rabbits to fish and butterflies.  They appear to be mother of pearl.
http://www.kelmscottdesigns.com/thread-winders.htm#twind

You can also find Victorian metal reproductions.
http://shop.madamesmercantile.com/Vintage-Reproduction-Thread-Winder-Vintage-Repro-Thread-Winder.htm

When you win the lottery, you can indulge in antiques.
http://search.rubylane.com/search/,c=Sewing_Thread_Winders,id=96.15.html

The Silk Mill in England has some lovely mother of pearl thread winders made in China.
http://www.thesilkmill.com/category-s/1838.htm