Susan Ache (@yardgrl60) is always creating, charting, and sharing… thinking of new ways to turn the floss from our little wooden spools into mini masterpieces, and she has kept our year round holiday stitching hands happy thus far! Her first Valentine chart for Aurifil was released 2 years ago, on the heels of her debut thread collection release, Little Quaker Christmas. Her love-inspired mini pulled colors from the collection, sharing both the undeniable versatility and Susan’s love of color!
Susan’s latest cross stitch chart is particularly fitting because we often feel that her charts are her odes to Aurifloss. In her own words:
I’ve come to learn that my favorite linen to stitch on is an Antique White 36ct and I always stitch over 2 with 2 strands of floss. I never seem to follow the pattern recommendations because the linen that I choose and the floss I choose needs to match my lifestyle. Y’all, you don’t have to play with the colors that are suggested. This is for you or perhaps for a gift, so play with the colors you love. Right now I am working with a ton of reds… and the reason I have chosen to do that is because I envision a wall filled with red samplers from the top of the ceiling to the floor and any chart is a game for that goal!
We love that she creates according to her own preferences, and urges other makers to do the same… to change things up, make the charts their own, and experiment with color. Susan’s Love Letter Sampler was stitched using Aurifloss in #2265 on a 36ct linen. She always uses 2 strands of floss and for this particular sampler, used just over 1 full spool of floss. It is available for download today via the button below and directly on our website.
Susan’s words of wisdom for today’s share are:
You know you don’t ever need permission to change colors in your stitching to make it your own, right? Have fun, play with colors that fit your personality. Take a peek at the colors that I have been playing with — they happen to match some favorite fabrics in my stash.
Feeling inspired? We’re including all of the shown colors so you can easily grab a variety of colors to make Love Letter your own.
- Flowers for Freya: 1148, 2612, 2735, 2880, 5005, 5015, 6720
- Minick & Simpson: 1126, 2255, 2435, 2910, 2920, 5008, 6711, 6736
- Fig Tree: 1147, 2105, 2220, 2225, 5002
Looking for more inspiration? Our Aurifloss is available in all 270 of our Cotton Colors — take a peek at our product page and put your own palette together… or give one of Susan’s other collections a try!
Susan has so much passion for this craft and truly wants nothing more than to share that passion with anyone who has ever been curious about what might be possible with needle and thread. We hope you’re feeling as inspired as we are! When you start your chart, make sure you are posting photos and using the #lovelettersampler so we all can see your work and cheer you on!
SUSAN’s FREE CROSS STITCH CHARTS
Click here for access to download all PDFs. Click here for the Collecting Colors SAL and here for the Sanctuary SAL.
ABOUT SUSAN
Instagram — Susan’s Book
A love of color makes it easy for Susan to grab inspiration from her native Florida surroundings. With no grand 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. Being self taught with many hours of reading about the makings of a quilt and quilt blocks has made this 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 Susan to pursue that passion of color and the fabric inspired life she enjoys while constantly striving to make her next favorite quilt.