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I have been downloading files for the last hour and the printer is going to be running hot as soon as I finish writing.

An 1886 catalogue of embroidery designs from the New Sample Book of Our Artistic Perforated Parchment Stamping Patterns , has been put online. The catalogue is from J. F. Ingalls of Lynn, Massachusetts who established a mail order business. The patterns are in the public domain so stitchers are free to use them. Although they are large files don’t miss them if you are interested in vintage embroidery design, crazy quilting, or redwork. They are large scans but it makes them all the more useful to stitchers!

For anyone who has looked at American antique crazy quilts many of the motifs are instantly recognisable. So much so, we really could play “hunt for the missing classic” in this collection. If you are a crazy quilter and collect motifs to embroider download them and see if you can find any “classic” missing. Motifs include all the traditional motifs used in crazy quilting embroidery such as lettering, flowers, fruit, vegetables, wheat, birds, including storks and owls. Kate greenway motifs also feature along side other nursery rhyme figures. Also you will find oriental and art Nouveau motifs and a number of different types of peacock feathers. Motifs of knives, forks, spoons, crockery, vases of flowers, baskets of flowers, fans, hands, musical instruments, cats and kittens, dogs, horses, boots, anchors, horseshoes, mice, roosters, spiders, spider webs, butterflies, bugs, dragonflies, and bees. There are even a page or so of stitch diagrams used on crazy quilts. There was not a “classic” I could not find.

I thought I had found two motifs not represented until I realised that there are three links to listed graphics. Just the make it clear (and so no body misses out) there are 254 pages of motifs in the pattern book. Each page consists of between 10 and 20 motifs per page, so it is a huge collection Part 1 is here and part 2 , followed by Part 3 . If you are stitcher of course you will find these free patterns useful. If you are interested in the history of crazy quilting and the motifs or antique needlework, and the history of embroidery patterns you will find this resource invaluable.

If you are a crazy quilter please spread the word about this resource on blogs and discussion lists as this really is a fabulous resource. While you are at it is there anyone who can think of a traditional crazy quilt motif that is not represented in this collection? I think there are few hats but that is all I can think of. Leave a comment if you notice any missing classics.

Thanks goes to Exceedingly Curious for hosting the patterns and thanks for the link goes to Dawn of On the banks of Bay Creek who dropped me an email to give me the heads up on this.