Today, we’re honored to welcome back our dear friend and longtime Aurifil collaborator, Wendy Sheppard. Wendy has woven her magic through nearly every corner of our creative world—quilting, piecing, cross stitch, embroidery, and beyond—always with a level of professionalism, artistry, and care that continues to inspire us. Her work with Aurifil spans years of stunning thread collections, beloved stitch-along projects, thoughtful collaborations, and invaluable contributions as an Aurifilosopher.
A revered and trusted voice in our industry, Wendy approaches every design with an incomparable eye for color and detail. In today’s post, she shares peek at her history with Aurifil and invites us into her cross stitch practice, sharing her insights on color selection and conversion— an area where her expertise truly shines. We are endlessly grateful for her partnership and thrilled to showcase her brilliance once again.
Hello, my fellow Aurifil enthusiasts! Happy November to you! I am happy to be back to share with you a few thread thoughts! As I reflect on things, it’s quite amazing to think early next year will mark my 20th year using Aurifil’s threads for my quilts and needlework projects.
My two decades of Aurifil journey have also overlapped with the different seasons of my life, including motherhood! I will always be grateful how Aurifil was part of my daughter’s childhood. The Aurifil team came along and encouraged my daughter in her own needle and thread journey when she started stitching at 5.
I hand-smocked my daughter’s dresses until she outgrew the largest size of the smocked outfit patterns out there.
In the last few years (post-smocking), I have found my outlet of needing to stitch something for my daughter through stitching reproduction of antique samplers that were stitched by little girls in the past. Here are a few that I have stitched, all using my own Aurifloss choices of colors or conversions to match the colors recommended by the charts. Check out the one originally stitched by a 5 year old!
Here is the latest sampler I completed for my daughter in June 2025.
My choice of cotton floss is always Aurifloss for several reasons:
- I love that Aurifloss comes in spools. The spools are easy for me to store and organize.
- The colors of Aurifloss are consistent regardless of dye lots. That is really important especially for needlework projects that take many years to complete.
- Aurifloss also has the signature low lint feature that everybody likes about Aurifil’s sewing threads. What that means is my stitches are crisps in their formation on my needlework linen.
Here are a few thoughts I have regarding doing the conversions.
- First, an Aurifil Swatch Book is essential! If at all possible, get one that has the actual thread.
- The conversion process is truly a process I love! It takes a bit of time, to be sure. Selecting the matching colors (or closest) is like selecting the perfect piece of jewelry at a jewelry store.
- I usually start with finding out the colors of the called for floss in a needlework chart. Then off I go to find the Aurifloss colors that are close in shades based on the swatch card. I often include alternate shades. Here is my tray of possible colors I have found to match the called for colors in a sampler chart shown in the previous picture. You can see there are a few colors that are close in shades. Those are the alternates and my first choices.
- I find it helpful to keep a written list of the corresponding Aurifil color (and the alternates) for the called for colors. That way I will have a clear reference guide when I start stitching the sampler.
- After I gather all my possible Aurifloss, I will then audition the linen with which I will stitch. The linen will affect the general look of the sampler. I would do a “floss toss”— I toss the Aurifloss spools onto candidate linen pieces to see which linen compliments the floss colors the best. Sometimes floss colors that are similar to the linen color will cause “ghosting” of your stitches, for example your stitches will blend in so well with the linen color that the stitches end up not being seen.
Let’s take a look at the pictures below— Blush linen vs Gray linen. The color of linen actually affects how the floss colors look even though they are the same floss spools.
To make sure my colors would not ghost, I picked out the lightest two colors and laid the floss on the linen. You can see that these light colors tend to blend in with the blush linen compared to the light grayish brown linen. Since I want all my stitches to show in my sampler, my linen of choice is the light grayish brown linen.
- Once I finalize my colors, that’s when the stitching fun began! Don’t be surprised when sometimes you will end up resorting to using the alternate when a final choice of color just doesn’t work out.
I hope these steps will help you kit up your next stitching project! I had fun visiting with you, and Happy stitching, my friends!
ABOUT WENDY
Originally from Southeast Asia, Wendy came to the US for her tertiary education. After her degrees in Chemical Engineering, she worked in research in a wind tunnel for a spell. Nowadays, she is a stay/work-at-home Mom to a 16 year old. Wendy’s designs have been featured in major quilting publications, both home and abroad. She is also a published author, as well as an online quilting instructor. She is passionate about encouraging quilters to enjoy their quilting journey. During her free time, she loves to read history, and indulges in hand needlework.
Blog: ivoryspring.wordpress.com
Facebook: facebook.com/wendysheppardquilts
Instagram: instagram.com/ivory_spring
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ivoryspring
Wendy is so gosh darn talented and great with color. I love all her books, patterns and gorgeous quilts, as well as stunning stitchery. And I appreciate all the tips, tutorials and inspiration she shares with all of us, making our world of creativity so much fun!