The Next Step Sampler

 

Hi ho people! While you're picking pears, I'm stitching a little. And I mean little! I want to stitch a few of these for gifts and the chart is an oldie from The Needle's Prayse called The Next Step Sampler. It uses a variety of stitches (instructions included) without getting involved in a large piece. The outside border is rice, first band is 4-sided, another is herringbone, then there's reversible, the dreaded Queen, a few eyelets and Smyrna cross.  A nice project for trying new stitches in very small sections.

Or substitute regular cross for most as I did.   I'm a lazy stitch wimp as we already know.  All I want to do is make little crosses on a simple marking sampler without fancy stuff and constant thread changes, so I stitched what I wanted and even left off the Queen band completely.
 

I think this one will stay with me.  I plan on using it as a pocket on the outside of my old jeans pocket and adding leather lacing for a hanging strap.  I always cut off my pockets as a memorial to a once smaller behind.  I use them for a variety of projects and even sew them to sweatshirts.  This one is larger than the standard jean pocket.

The finished size of this design on 30 count with my changes is 3 ¼" x 4" -  a perfect size to hang from a cupboard knob.  Hmm.  Maybe I'll ditch the denim.

I didn't get a reply from CalamityJr about her choice so I can't draw another name yet.  While looking for the next project, I found two other pears that I charted but never stitched.  Maybe I'll stitch them and offer the charts. 

 

Enjoy your hump day!

 

 

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