By now, you all know that we have a special place in our hearts for Aurifil Designers Susan Ache & Wendy Sheppard. We’ve been working with them both independently for years, but did you know how much they love working together? They met years ago and have been chatting with each other about cross stitch ever since. They consult, they inspire, they encourage… it’s really quite spectacular.
Of course we hopped right on board when they presented a fabulous new Stitch Club idea… we’re going to call it Stitch Buddies! It’s nothing official… nothing that requires deadlines or any kind of stress. It’s just all fun and ALL encouragement. Susan and Wendy simply want to inspire and engage you in something they both feel particularly passionate about. We’ll let them fill you in and we’ll just look forward to cheering you all on from here on out.
Huge thanks to these wildly talented women, as always. We’re feeling a little more inspired already!
*Note: in all of the gallery images below that showcase two versions of the same chart, Susan’s stitching will always be on the left & Wendy’s on the right!
Susan: I always love to start out by sharing some gratitude to Aurifil for playing along and being so welcoming to me and embracing the ideas that have come up throughout the years. Hi again to those that know me and my time spent on this blog talking all things stitching… and a fresh new hello to those just joining! I am Susan Ache and if you are on Instagram I am @yardgrl60. Years ago, I started cross stitching using Aurifil exclusively and I never looked back. You can read all about those different color journeys in past postings but this time I am so excited to talk with you along with my stitching buddy, Wendy Sheppard (@ivory_spring on Instagram).
Years ago, Wendy and I met on Instagram through our love of cross stitch. We started out instant messaging each other, which then turned into texting, which led to an actual meet and greet at Quilt Market on year… Throughout all of this, our combined love of all things cross stitch and our shared love of the same charts led us to making our own hashtag on Instagram: #wendyandsusansal. It was created in an effort to show people that while we may not stitch on the same fabric nor use the same colors, we still love the same stitching, just done our own unique ways.
Now, to fully understand how much Wendy and I love to stitch and how alike our stitching tastes are– we will actually end up sharing the same charts with each other, not even knowing that we both have purchased them. That’s what truly made this collaboration so fun and has continued to be fun this entire time. I have said it a million time before, but I only stitch at night and on what I call ‘slug Sundays’ (the best kind of lazy days) so my stitching speed and Wendy’s may never be aligned, but in the end, we each still end up with a stitched piece that we adore.
That’s what has led to all of this and a blog about stitching today. We reached out to Aurifil with the goal of starting a stitching club of sorts. Short of inviting you all over to sandwiches and to stitch an afternoon away, we thought it would be fun to share what we are stitching and what we would like to stitch next. We’re inviting everybody and anybody to stitch along with us. That doesn’t mean you have to stop everything and jump on this as one single project… it’s just a fun cheerleading group of like minded stitchers who are in it for the enjoyment of stitching.
Narrowing our list down has been crazy to say the least. We have a huge, extensive list of stitching that we want to do within our lifetime and meeting with you will certainly keep us accountable for the stitching. So, if Wendy is good with this, how about we do a blog check about every three months to show our progress and you do the same, but on Instagram if you have it. We can use the same hashtag — #wendyandsusansal — so you can add it to your stitching progress. Also, make sure you are tagging me, Wendy, and Aurifil to maximize the amount of cheerleading headed your way.
Wendy and I actually talked on the phone this morning and had a really fun time figuring out our first stitch project for you. We thought it would be fun to start out with a rather small-ish school girl sampler: Elizabeth Hall 1809 Weston School Sampler. The stitch count is a manageable 138 x 164 stitches and it requires only one color of floss.
Now that the hard part is settled… I know I will stitch my sampler on a 36ct antique white Edinburgh Linen and of course I am going to choose a shade of red that will play with my red sampler stitched wall. I wonder what Wendy will choose?
Wendy: I am going to stitch my samples on a 40ct linen since it is a manageable piece. I always overthink on the color, but somehow I always end up choosing something close to the original. So, I will be going for a shade of gray/black. I am curious to see all the different colors stitchers will choose!
Susan: Do you want to see what’s in our laps right now? I found this reproduction Mexican Sampler called “The Colors of Mexico” and couldn’t resist. What a fun stitch this is and I adore that it has so many color changes and different types of motifs throughout. So, I am going to keep both stitch projects by my stitching chair and have them ready to pick up and go when I sit down. Remember it’s never a race, it’s always how much you enjoy the process!
Wendy: At the moment, I have Ann Ogden on my radar screen. It is nice to stitch with colors! I haven’t quite seen a sampler quite like it. This sampler has a girl, a tiny red house, animals, flowers, birds and trees! It just has an incredibly idyllic feel to it.
Susan: We would both love to hear from you, to learn what type of stitching you love to do and what really inspires you to reach for a new or continuing project. Who knows, maybe we will need to include your favorite chart as a fun group project down the road! In the meantime, see you on the “gram” and can’t wait to cheer you all on!!
Can’t wait to follow along with you all and HUGE thanks to Susan & Wendy for shining a light on the magic of cross stitch and inviting us all to play along!
Susan and Wendy are two on my favorite quilting buddies. I love that they are Stitching Buddies. Hoping to follow along with them as they stitch.
What’s in my lap right now is Christmas Garden by Blackbird Designs.
This is a humble question since it’s been years since I’ve cross stitched. What does stitch over on (or two) mean? I really like the Elizabeth Hall 1809 sampler and am aiming to give it a try. Thank you for the help in advance.
How does one sign up for this