Susan Ache (@yardgrl60) has long reigned as our beloved cross-stitch queen, and for good reason! Over the past six years, she has shared her creativity and expertise with boundless generosity, offering free patterns and a treasure trove of tips & tricks right here on Auribuzz. Every post she creates and every curated set she unveils is a fresh wellspring of inspiration, and our collaboration with her remains a true joy. If you’re new to Susan’s incredible work, we highly recommend starting with her introductory interview HERE, exploring her past posts HERE, and diving into her stunning collection of FREE patterns HERE.
We all know how generous Susan is with her time AND with her stitching and today, we’re pretty excited to host her here on Auribuzz with a new holiday gift. You’ll have to read on to understand the why and then let your imagination run wild! It may or may not have something to do with alphabets, so you’ll see we’ve taken this opportunity to highlight some of our favorite Susan-stitched alphabets!
You know I get giddy with joy when I get asked to come to Aurifil to talk and play. For those of you new to me, I am Susan Ache and on instagram I am @yardgrl60. Let’s not even count the number of times I have been over here to ramble away with thoughts and ideas but… it’s a blast every single time!
Today, I have something you all might like– something you may or may not have ever thought about, but it’s certainly one to have fun with. Naming your home!
For those of you familiar with my journey over the last few months, you know I have moved. We were in our other house for what felt like about a million years, and clearing out, packing, and selling the house in 4 days was quite the undertaking. I told my husband that I would love just one day without having to look at boxes. Well, we ended up living in temporary housing for almost two months (aka my mom’s house) after which we finally we made the move to our new home. I am still unpacking a few months later! I know, I know… it’s all more information than you may have wanted or asked for, but you’ll have to trust the process… it’s helping set the stage for what I’m here to chat with you about today.
Don’t you just love it when ranches have names? Or even those homes on islands or mountains… and they always seem like lavish estates. We spent summers throughout my entire childhood, including family reunions, at “Mush Bluff”. I have no idea where the name came from I do know it is on the St. Mary’s river and has a bluff, but I never even asked where the ‘mush’ came from.
All of this leads me to today– Our new address is in St. Augustine, Florida, which is really only 20 minutes from my old house in Jacksonville, but suddenly I’m feeling all the feels about living in a historic landmark. As a little sidebar… I was also married here in this town so it really does feel like coming home. So… our new address is on Pinzon Place. We all know that St. Augustine has rich Spanish roots and influence so I just knew that Pinzon was a Spanish word. Good ol’ google translate told me it meant “finch”, like the bird. Inspired, I decided to name my house Finch House, which means now I need to get cracking on the all the cute stuff that I can make with this new name.
Of course, the very first thing I thought about was a framed cross stitch sign… which brings us to today. I’ve created a new cross stitch alphabet intended to inspire you to name your own home. I’ve made simple letters to stitch and have given you numbers and a few little borders so that you can get creative with your own sign. If you’re not up for naming your entire house, how about your sewing roomer maybe your children’s rooms. The possibilities are truly endless for playing with a new alphabet.
Let’s kick it all off with the thread that I’ve chosen to use. Aurifil was kind enough to send the new Minick and Simpson Grand Haven box of colors in cotton 12wt which happens to match my new living room perfectly. I am stitching on a 28ct linen over 2 which always seems right with 12wt. Now remember if you don’t want to use linen, a great alternative would be a 14ct Aida cloth. The coverage is perfect for me with this thread and fabric.
*note: the colors listed on the charts are the ones Susan has chosen to create her sign for Finch House. Your colors are your own!! Do what makes you happy!
Or, go crazy and try some of Aurifil’s new cotton 8wt 2ply thread. I am sure there is a link here on Auribuzz for my unsolicited review of how it worked on all sizes of linens and Aida cloth I owned.
Whatever you end up creating, I want to hear about it! I would love to see some of the creative names of places in your life that you end up stitching. Please tag me (@yardgrl60) and Aurifil (@aurifilthread) on Instagram, and have the BEST time with your new alphabet. Once again, thank you for playing along with another fun idea!
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