Needlepoint

I must confess I have done only a few things in needlepoint over the years.

While we lived in London, I bought at auction two 18th Century Queen Ann armchairs for a song. Their seats were covered with two layers of silk . The cushions themselves were stuffed with padding and a fine straw. I've left it all intact since it speaks to the age of the chairs.

I decided to needlepoint new seats, but didn't like most of the patterns available. Then I hit on the idea of doing the crests for each of my parent's families.

This is the Manchester crest. Now, I don't know if this is exactly correct.

Some years previously, I was sent a gold pin with the crest design on it by one of my Newport, R.I. family research contacts. So I learned the language of the registry of arms to find out what colors should go on the crest and painted the canvas as a guide to doing the work.

The motto at the bottom is Disponendo me non mutandome.

Meaning roughly, "You're not going to be able to change me; you'll have to kill me." (Dispense of me; don't mutate me.)

I'm still looking for a Roper crest. It would have to be a lozenge shape, which will be difficult to fit onto the seat area. So far I've found two separate Roper designs, but haven't a clue whether the family even had one.

Meanwhile, the seat will just have to be covered with a sailboat print.