Assisi Peacock Sampler

This design has an old fashioned look and is a tribute to various Italian stitches.
The middle band, stitched in blue, is a floral band of Assisi work.

Assisi work is characterized by stylized flowers and animals created by void spaces within a background worked in cross stitch.
The peacock, worked with a medallion on the left top, signifies eternal life.
Translated from the Italian, the verse reads “Old Stitches of Italian Embroidery.”

This piece also encloses many other typical Italian needlework stitches: bands of Holbein stitch, drawn work alternating knotted clusters and alternating knotted clusters, and Gigliuccio (lily) stitch, a typical drawn stitch of Florentine embroidery.

Drawn thread work: alternating crossed clusters, alternating knotted clusters.

Fabric	11x18 in (28x46 cm) 35 ct handwoven unbleached linen from The Scarlet Letter.
Threads	The Thread Gatherer Silk'n Colors: 001 Royalty, 087 Midnight Cobalt, 979 Summer Tan; Au Ver A Soie or Soie d’Alger: 1715 Antique Blue Dk.
Stitches	Cross Stitch, Horizontal Satin Stitch, Back Stitch, Algerian-Eye Stitch over four, Four Sided Stitch over four, Hemstitch, Double running Stitch (Holbein Stitch)