Home sweet home sampler

About this design

Samplers like this have hung in homes for centuries. The word SWEET runs across the top and HOME across the bottom, both in DMC 3750 Antique Blue Very Dark capitals, so the sampler reads as “sweet home” around the picture. In the middle, a cottage with a 355 Terra Cotta roof, cream walls, two straw-yellow windows, a brown door and a chimney stands on a line of 3363 Pine Green grass, with dusty pink flowers on tall stems and two garnet hearts on either side. A solid 815 Garnet border with an inner dotted line frames everything.

How to work it

Stitch the outer border first; it is a long straight line, and getting it right means everything else will fit. Then centre the lettering using the chart’s centre arrows, and stitch the cottage and flowers last. If you want to personalise it, the editor’s text tool can replace the words, or you can add your family name or a date along the grass.

Finishing ideas

At 60 × 46 stitches the design is about 4.3 × 3.3 inches (10.9 × 8.3 cm) on 14-count Aida and 3.3 × 2.6 inches on 18-count. A housewarming, wedding or new-baby gift; mount it in a simple wooden frame with a cream mount.

Colour plan

DMC 815 Garnet Medium does the most work, 40% of the 714 stitches, followed by DMC 3750 Antique Blue Very Dk at 21%. DMC 3787 Brown Gray Dark (4) is used only a little: small details worth marking on the chart so you don't miss them. 74% of the grid is left empty.

Working notes

70 squares stand alone in their colour, with no same-coloured neighbour along a side; stitch those as you pass rather than starting a new thread for each. The busiest row changes colour 30 times.