It’s been a few months since we’ve shouted our love and admiration for cross-stitch queen Susan Ache from the rooftops! If you’ve not yet met this stitchy magician (@yardgrl60 on Instagram), you are in for a TREAT. Susan shares her passion for needle and thread (always Aurifloss & always 2 strands stitched over 2!) with anyone who will listen and is on a self proclaimed quest to convert every single floss enthusiast into an Aurifloss-inspired maker.
To learn all about Susan and her background, take a peek at her very first interview with us right HERE. Little Quaker Christmas is where our stitchy love affair began and we’ve just been having one big cross-stitch party ever since. Her latest collection was Little Quaker ABC, released last Fall. Read more about that one right HERE.
Today, we’re delighted to share her latest, a chart that masquerades as a sweet little nautical ditty, but that packs a more powerful punch:
“She set her sails and turned into the wind.”
We absolutely love this… a celebration of strength and perseverance, the knowledge that we can weather the storm, and move forward with intention.
In Susan’s words:
“If all of this time with our families has taught us anything, it is to truly enjoy what we have in front of us… and with making in mind, to enjoy the projects we start. I stitch for my own enjoyment and will always hunt for the charts that make me happy. I challenge you to discover your own stitching style so that you enjoy the process as much as I do! Experiment with color… stitch outside… stitch while bingeing a favorite show… stitch with 3 strands instead of 2… find your happy place and don’t look back!”
To download this chart, simply click HERE or on the image below.
CHART DETAILS:
— Chart is 126 x 92
— Susan used a natural linen
— Sample 2 strands of Aurifloss
— Susan stitched over 2
— Aurifloss colors used for this sample: 1231, 2220, 5002, 2606, 2210, 6720, 2130, 2847, 2435, 2845
Looking for more color 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!
You know Susan is an excellent cheerleader, so make sure that you tag her at @yardgrl60 & #sethersails for this chart so that we (Aurifil and Susan) can cheer you on. Hashtags never go away and are always there for inspiration, so use them often on your hunt and with your work so it can be seen.
HUGE thanks to Susan for sharing her passion for the stitch with us, always!
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.
Spring Sampler 
Love Letter 
Little Quaker ABC 
A Blooming Bunch 
Joyeux Noel 
Jardin de Fleurs 
Little Stained Glass 
Little Band Sampler 
Sweet Land of Liberty 
Little Quaker Halloween 
Little Irish Blessing 
My Valentine 
Little Quaker Christmas
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.