We’ve been following along with the gorgeous cross stitch by Susan Ache for years. She has a remarkable eye for color and makes those tiny little stitches seem effortless in their perfection. She details her process on her well-loved Instagram account, with over twenty thousand followers looking for beauty and inspiration. We were lucky enough to meet her years ago and were beyond thrilled when she expressed interest in working with us to help inspire stitchers around the world to embrace the practice that she so adores.
Susan’s debut collection features 10 small spools of Aurifil’s 6-strand 100% Cotton floss in a lovely range of holiday colors. She charted up a gorgeous Christmas sampler, available to all who purchase her threads via a QR code on the label. We are so excited to see these samplers pop up here and there as we draw closer to this new holiday season and are so grateful to have such a fine floss champion in Susan!
THREAD COLLECTION DETAILS
Little Quaker Christmas
100% Aurifil Cotton, 10 Large Spools, Aurifloss (18yds/spool)
Colors included:
1231 – 2886 – 1147 – 5016 – 2140
2420 – 5002 – 2255 – 2270 – 2250
To view this info on our website, click here. For purchasing, please contact your local Aurifil Dealer.
THE INTERVIEW
What first drew you to to the world of sewing and quilting?
My very first quilt was a Christmas gift to my mother, I didn’t have a pattern, I knew I wanted red and white and I knew I wanted embroidery. I spent months embroidering red fruits and pies onto white muslin and then went to my local quilt shop to see if they could reach in my brain for the rest of what I wanted this quilt to look like. I had the vision, but, just didn’t have the knowledge to go about getting to the end. Low and behold, my mother still uses the quilt on her kitchen table just like I pictured it in my mind. Not perfect by any stretch, but, it is exactly what I wanted it to be!
Who or what has been your greatest creative inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everywhere for me. I have often said that my best vacations are on islands and I am sure it’s because I am drawn to those washed out soft vintage colors. I collect coffee table books of places and things I love and often refer to them when coming up with color plans for anything I do. I have been known to take fabric in for color matches at my local paint store. I love to collect paint chips, and give me a couple of hours at the hardware store and I have bundles of “future” color projects all stacked up.
One of my favorite places to go is the farmers market, the colors of fruits and vegetables get me every single time. I know the most vendors don’t plan their color placement of cartons of fruits and vegetables, but sometime the colors side by side will stop me in my tracks. I also take random pictures just of a color and what it is next to so that I can remember that it was a cool combination that I probably would not have thought of had I not been in that spot. And, never underestimate the power of social media. Just one picture can stop me in my tracks and it doesn’t even have to be fabric or stitching related. Pretty pictures of anything can be inspirations for everything.
What first drew you to the practice of cross stitch?
Cross Stitch has been a part of my life for about a million years. I started when it Aida cloth was just about the only fabric offered……that lasted for years. At some point, cross stitch just took a back seat and then years ago I was re-introduced to it using linen, over dyed floss and not using a hoop. Since it had been so long between, it was like learning a craft from the very beginning. Not using a hoop allows me to actually stitch faster since I am using more of a sewing technique.
My very first Quaker Sampler was “Mary Wigham” I feel in love with those motifs and couldn’t stop thinking of them and how I would love to make one to match my house. I think that was the first time I went off the grid for changing colors in all things cross stitch. My thinking was, I spend so much time stitching these, I certainly want to be able to use them in my personal space. From that moment on, I was hooked on Quaker Samplers and going rebel with my color choices.
When did you first discover Aurifil threads and what do you love most about them?
I remember the exact moment I saw Aurifil threads, it was for sewing. My friend said that I would use this and never go back to anything else, that was a ton of years ago and I haven’t ever gone back to anything else. And, then one day, I saw for the first time, embroidery floss on a spool, say what??!?!?! Are you kidding me, it was the greatest invention EVER. No more big wadded pile of floss to have to dig through and I hadn’t at that time even tried the floss. I just was hooked on the idea of the spools. So, I found a great little online shop right out of Georgia, her name is Jean and it is Pumpkinvine Corner. She carries all of the colors and I went through and made a $50.00 order and got a personal thank you and she shipped just as fast as I hit the pay button. She is my forever go to floss enabler….not only for service but for having all of the colors….one stop shopping! The moment I tried my new colors, I was hooked, there wasn’t any shredding, pilling, or that weird tangling that usually happens with floss. I have never looked back, the only supplements I add now are silk threads and if Aurifil made those, I would never buy another brand again.
Then, there was the Alex touring Florida. Oh man, that was like going to meet a Rock Star. I looked to see what the closest speaking engagement to my house was and it happened to be in the town my aunt lived, so I grabbed my mother for the long drive, so she could visit and I could meet Alex. If there is one thing that every needleworker should do is go and see Alex and his presentation. I learned more about threads in one day than I have ever known in my lifetime. And, the samples he had were tremendous….to see how the different threads worked on different textures of fabric was just incredible to me. I noticed right then and there that there wasn’t one sample with cross stitch. I felt at that moment that cross stitchers were being cheated out of how cool it is to work with these threads. By this time I had used exclusively Aurifil in all of my projects and was posting on Instagram and getting questions about them all the time. I made a little project bag of all of the threads suitable for cross stitch and sent it to Alex to be used in his presentations. To this day, I still don’t think people realize how many colors and flosses are available to use in cross stitch projects. I could go on and on about the flosses and how wonderful they are, but the most important advice I could give is for people to buy some of their favorite colors either in the wool, 12 wt or the embroidery and just start stitching.
Have you worked with other techniques of which you’re particularly fond?
I consider cross stitch my nighttime sport, and quilting is my daytime sport, and when I really feel like doing something different, I will pull out the light box and trace some embroidery. I need to concentrate more on that tho, and it isn’t as relaxing to me while watching tv as cross stitch only because I have to be more aware of my stitching lines. And, even with embroidery, I love a fun sampler, it’s the whole idea of changing patterns.
What excites you most about this collection?
This collection is what I think of when I think of Christmas and stitching. I love having ranges of colors while I stitch so that I can make choices. All of these colors are so very pretty by themselves but, as a group they certainly give you a holiday feeling. Auditioning colors was the best part and in the end, I do what I love to do and that is go to my fabrics and start a matching process of colors. Narrowing down the colors was the hardest and I think that the end result does say Merry Christmas and that’s really what I wanted this collection to say and make people happy with one box for any kind of holiday stitching.
GIVEAWAY
To enter-to-win the Little Quaker Christmas Collection, including free Little Quaker Christmas Sampler, click here to head to the Rafflecopter entry page. You do not have to complete all the options to be entered but the more options you choose, the more entries you have! The Giveaway will run from now until 11:59pm on Saturday, August 4 and we’ll select one random winner per week for a total of 4 winners! Good luck!
ABOUT SUSAN
Instagram — Susan’s Book
A love of color, makes it is easy for Susan to grab inspiration from her native Florida surroundings. With no idea other than knowing she wanted embroidery and nine patches in her first quilt, a new world opened up to this mom of now five grown children. Self taught and many hours of reading about the makings of a quilt and quilt blocks has made this an a lifelong passion. Susan is always searching for new and fun ways to show off as many colors as she can in a quilt. Most of her quilts are a creative impulse from trips to the garden center, a photograph, or browsing through paint chip selections. “I really never see just the quilt, I seem to see the quilt in the room that it belongs in”. Working in a quilt store for years helped to pursue that passion of color and the fabric inspired life she enjoys while she constantly striving to make her next favorite quilt.
Clicked on the link for the Raffle Copter and it said the contest has not started yet.
So sorry about that! It is live now! Good luck and happy stitching 🙂
Says no longer accepting…
I love how relaxing hand stitching is.
I love watching my project slowly grow:)
This is just perfect — love the colors!
What wonderful work. I love the look of the floss on spools too. I haven’t done cross stitch in a long time, but this makes me want to again.
I love aurifil and those Quaker samplers.
These are beautiful. They remind of the Swedish embroidery we used to do on Huck toweling.
I love that hand stitching is portable and you can do a bit at a time. For longer stitching sessions, I love the meditative feeling with the needle in and out, in and out of the fabric.
Love Aurifi! I use it in quilting and would love to try it in my hand work! Love Susan’s designs also!
It is relaxing and I love to see more and more stitches as the project goes along.
What I enjoy about hand work is that it’s relaxing.
Love the Christmas cross stitch. Ordering it today
Would love to try the Aurifil threads for cross stitch and other projects. I’ve used another well known 6-ply thread for cross stitch and also for embroidered blocks in my quilting. The sampler would be perfect for my holiday decorating. Thank you for a wonderful giveaway and the introduction to Susan and her artistry.
I am like Susan, hand stitching and cross stitching are t.v. time activities. I find hand stitching relaxing! The Christmas Sampler is beautiful and the colors are gorgeous! Thanks for the chance to win.
Hand stitching has such lovely details, and the pace is relaxing. Great post – enjoyed reading about Susan’s journey.
gorgeous collection for a grogeous sampler. Think I’m in love!
It’s like a very slow paint brush on canvas to me. It is very enjoyable to create a picture with threads.
Her work is beautiful
Beautiful work! And wonderful colors of floss. Thank you for the giveaway.
I find hand stitching very relaxing and sometimes we need that .
I love Aurifil threads for piecing! The hand embroidery thread is new to me. I would love to try it out. Thanks for this opportunity.
I follow Susan on Instagram (yardgirl60) and love her pictures! I’m interested in learning more about using Aurifil for cross stitch. I need to find pictures of those samples that she made to check them out
Wow! I just LOVE the design and the fabulous colors in this piece. Keeping my fingers crossed!
I find hand stitching a great way to relax.
Wow, I absolutely love the Quaker Christmas Sampler! Beautiful job! Definitely want that pattern!
I cross stitch all the time, and I have a massive thread collection. Does Aurifil have a conversion chart? I like the idea of spools, and trying it out with this kit would be great!
Hi I love how relaxing hand stitching is and the preciseness of the stitches. Thanks for the giveaway!
I mostly embroider and hand quilt for embellishment. I love that I can take a project with me and work on it anywhere. I get lots of complements as well as my share of questioning & blank stares! It is so relaxing & enjoyable.
I tried Aurifil floss for big stitch quilting and it’s fabulous. Not having to untangle a mess of floss is a big plus!
I enjoy watching the project grow and become something! 🙂
I love creating a beautiful picture from empty fabric! It’s very relaxing and I’d love to win this collection.
I love the colors you chose.
I enjoy hand stitching because it’s literally hands on. I spend so much time touching nothing but keys and screens, it simply feels more real to have fabric and thread in my fingers than plastic and glass.
Love this. I have been cross stitching for about 30 years. I haven’t tried this Floss, so I’m going to have to get some.
have loved handstitching (ie cross stitch & embroidery, NOT hand quilting!) since childhood. since I had a long train commute for many years, it provided an easily portable hobby I could do anywhere.
Wonderful! I love how relaxing & portable hand stitching is! I too have been cross stitching for a long time & now it is my daughter’s favorite craft!
I just realized that I have Susan’s Strips book! And it would be fun to try out the Aurifloss thread with this kit: I love the designs that she has in this project!
Susan’s work is beautiful!!! I would love to make her Christmas sampler. I enjoy doing handwork because I find it relaxing. Thanks for the fun giveaway!
I have a chronic illness which leaves me stuck in bed or in the hospital away from my sewing studio way more than I like, hand stitching, cross stitch, any sewing I can do there is not only fun but relaxing and takes some of the anxiety away. I have done it since I was a girl. I began cross stitching, my grandma taught me and I loved it. It’s more than necessary to have something positive and meaningful to get you through those periods and I look forward to working on those projects when I can not quilt.
I love that hand-stitching is portable. I can do it in places where I can’t access my sewing machine – in the car, at the lake, at a soccer game, etc. And it always relaxes me.
The thing I enjoy most about handwork is how relaxing it is.
I love that it is portable and it just helps me to slow down.
I have tried to find the floss box, but I am unable to locate it. Would you please let me know where I can purchase it. I love the colors and the pattern is wonderful.
The design is very nice and makes me want to do some stitching again as it is so relaxing and easy to do anywhere.
Thank you for the opportunity to win a pattern of the Christmas sampler, it is beautiful.
BEautifulhandwork and the floss is just gorgeous !
I love hand stitching because it’s so relaxing. It’s like meditation for me.
This sampler got me excited to try cross stitching again. I haven’t since college. My Grandparents were both super creative and spent so much time teaching all of their grandchildren to sew, etc. I learned to cross stitch from them. After reading about Aurifil floss I am so eager to try it! I love all my other Aurifil threads and embroidery floss on a spool? Yes, please!!
I love hand sewing because it is so portable and relaxing!
I love hand stitching because I can take my project wherever I go and it is so relaxing.
I love how relaxing the stitching is and how a picture slowly emerges.
Hand stitching is so relaxing and there is so much freedom!!! Thank you!!
I love that you can take the project with you.
Just like making a quilt, when I do cross stitch I begin with fabric, thread and a design, and after alot of work, I end with a beautiful handmade object. In between, there are moments when I’m sure it’s all wrong.
I did cross stitch ages ago but held on to all my floss and patterns.
I love to embroider because it is so portable… I can stitch while hanging out with my family as opposed to hiding in my sewing room.
This stitching is impressive. I love doing hand work at night, or while waiting anywhere. You never know who will ask, or the conversations that will happen, when stitching.
I enjoy the reflective time that handstitching gives me. It also allows me time spent with my husband while he watches sports shows and we actually talk with one another! Handstitching is my favorite form of quilting.
I like having hand stitching projects for those down times. My work isn’t as good as it used to be but it’s acceptable.
Susan’s work is beautiful. I use Aurifl thread for sewing and quilting.
Thanks for introducing me to Susan’s beautiful work!
I like having some hand stitching to take with me while I wait or sitting in the car. Love Susan’s samplers
I find hand stitching very relaxing.
I love to see my project emerging from nothing.
Thanks for introducing me to an amazing artist!
I love how relaxing handwork is and how portable.
I love it’s portability! Always have something with me…even doing it while waiting in line for events, etc.
I love small cross-stitch projects, and I love Aurifil threads. Like Susan I tend to do my cross-stitch in the evening and my quilting during the day.
As a cross-stitcher, I love how I can combine orderliness with creativity and end up with something to give or display.
I love the quietness of mind that hand stitching gives me, plus the portability and a result of quiet time thinking.
Beautiful Sampler! I used to cross stitch a long time ago. Would love to start again!
Thank you for introducing her to us! I love cross stitch and would love to try aurifil thread on a x stitch project. I cross stitch in the evenings and quilt in the daytime.
I love cross stitch even if I have not embroidered since years now…..
Love the sampler and learning more about the thread. I enjoy the finished product when hand stitching more than the actual stitching:)
The best part about any handwork is the portability. Even for around the house, it all fits in a basket. I then put the whole basket into a tote to take along.
I love the feel of the Aurifloss, sturdy yet soft, and the way it pulls itself so gently thru my fabric.
Cross stitch pleases the eye while soothing the ADD! It’s my active meditation.
I love stitching away in the car on vacation – very restful!
I love that sampler. And I would particularly like to try all of the (or at least some) wool colors. I love stitching with wool and the textures it produces. Ever since we lost our local needlework store, I don’t have a ready local source of wool threads. Having colors I can trust would be great — trying to shop color by computer is a challenge. I do have lots of leftovers — I agree about the spools, since mine are in the form of several wads.
Such a lovely sampler! I love being able to stitch of an evening as it is the perfect way to end a busy day.
Love this! Susan really has an amazing eye for colour. I really want to try the floss now, as I am using a different kind and noticing that it is shredding and getting kind of yucky. My favourite thing about cross-stitch is that it does not require much preparation and is very portable! Great for bees.
The color choices are gorgeous.
Beautiful work Susan, as always.
I’ve admired Susan’s work for a looooong time!
I love the slowness and relaxation of hand sewing!
This is gorgeous! I’ve never seen these threads before, I’ll be hunting some out. I love the creativity that springs from stitching, & the way I feel refreshed with such simple things to hand.
Hand stitching is so relaxing–especially after hours spent free-motion quilting!
I loved embroidery before I knew how to sew & quilt! Such a fun way to create!
Love it! Susan always inspires me. Would love to make this sample of Susan’s large projects that are amazing.