Round Robin Band Sampler (Partial finish)

 

I got my band sampler back and am thrilled with it! 

I can't wait to design the border and/or footter and finish it. 

Some people from our discord group decided to do a round robin band sampler.  We each designed an 8" band between .5 and 1 inch tall.  Each person picked their own fabric and floss colors and types (although we did specify 32 ct.).  You could also include beads if you desired. We stitched our own band on the top, then sent the fabric and flosses to the next person on the mailing list who would stitch their band on the sampler.   We put our initials on the left side and the initials for our state on the right.  We eventually received the band back after it completed the mailing list.

You can find the specifics for the sampler previously in this blog. 

Heartstrings Samplery / Plum Street Samplers Collaboration piece (Finish)

 

I finished the long band of Lucy to Henry (Heartstrings) and Henry to Lucy (Plum Street) that I got at the Hobby House Retreat in April 2025.  Just in time for the April 2026 retreat!  

 

Fabric:  36 ct. Dames of the Needle, Southern Pecan.  Floss:  Called for provided by Hobby House

Discord Round-Robin Band Sampler (WIP)

 

 

This is one of the last round robin band samplers I will be stitching on for our discord group.  This has been really fun, and I've learned a lot.  Every single band has been absolutely beautiful!

Fabric and Floss:  chosen by the owner.  Each band is the stitcher's design.  They stitch the same band on every band sampler with the owner's fabric and floss so each one is different!

Fox & Rabbit 2026 Mystery SAL (WIP)

Today's stitch was the March installment of the Fox & Rabbit 2026 Mystery SAL.

Red Bunny from Pansy Patch Quilts & Stitchery (WIP)

 Discord Round Robin Band Sampler

I worked on one of the band samplers for one of my Discord groups today.  I had a tough time deciding which of the provided colors of floss I was going to use.  When I did start stitching, I changed two of the flosses.  So much for agonizing over which ones to pick.  LOL!  I think we only have 4 more to stitch.  The round robin has gone pretty quickly, and each one has been beautiful.

Red Bunny - Pansy Patch - DotDot Goose Discord SAL

The Red Bunny came out of the WIP basket today too.  I started on section 2 of our SAL and will most likely finish it tomorrow.  

Here's my progress.  

We are working down the right side border and then will stitch the numbers and the houses at the bottom.

Fabric:  36 ct. Platinum Linen

Floss:  Belle Soie, Tulip 1/2

Discord Band Sampler - Round 1 - BR

Today I worked on the first round of our Band Sampler Round Robin. See my earlier post about the Discord Band Sampler for more information.  Here is my addition to BR's band.  It took a long time to decide which of her colors I wanted to use, but the stitching went fast.

Band done, now for the header

 I wanted the sampler to say something about friends.  I looked for quotes I liked, then decided to look for cross stitch patterns about friends.  I lucked out.  I found a sampler called Friendship Sampler  by Lizzies Little Loops on Etsy and purchased a copy.  I used the charting of the text for my header.

I also wanted some stitching motifs on it so I looked through my charts stash to see if I could find some that were the correct scale. I had just finished stitching the Stitcher's Rules, Stitcher's Trio, and the special Grand Opening chart from Primrose cottage.  I incorporated some of the individual motifs (spool, scissors, & hearts) with some minor changes.  This is what I stitched... I will most likely run a border down the sides to a footer at the bottom with the date, but we will see when it comes back to me.

And... off it goes to Wanda in Montana!

My band for the band sampler

 I started doodling in MacStitch to create my band.  I wanted something repetitive and easy to stitch.  I had to come up with something the works for 8 inch and six inch bands and that would work on 14/28 or 16/32 ct. fabrics and still stay under the inch requirement.  

I picked the floss colors I wanted to use.  I chose multiple, saturated colors that are found in my home decor.  I plan to put the band sampler directly in front of my stitching spot in my sunroom so I can see it all the time. 

I chose a Red, Gold, Green, Blue, and a Purple.   I tried to pull deeper antiqued tones. I then added a lighter tone of the same color for others to use in their variations, if desired.  

After creating the repetitive pattern I decided I wanted to embellish it with some backstitching to provide another opportunity to use the multiple colors.  

I then needed to chart some letters to use for the initials.  I found a font just 5 stitches tall from the Lord Libidian free fonts website, then decided to have everyone stitch their initials vertically as shown below.

Band Sampler Round Robin for Discord

Our Discord group (Stitching N Friends 22) is doing a band sampler in round robin style.  A list is made of all participants and the round robin mailing route is established. 

Each person (the owner) picks out a fabric and floss colorway to use for their sampler.

The owner then designs a band either 6 or 8 inches wide by .50 up to 1.00 inch tall (maximum) and stitch it at the top of the fabric. 

(Note: Space for a header might have been left at the top above the owner's band if the material is long enough to fit all the bands. Headers/footers can be stitched after the sampler has made the whole circuit and is returned to the owner. This is optional.)

The owner stitches running sttitches at the beginning, center, and end of the band to the bottom of the fabric which delineates where the others should stitch their bands.

The owner stitches their initials in front of the band outside the starting running stitches and their state initials after the band outside the ending running stitches.  

The owner then mails the fabric, floss, and any stitching instructions to the the next person on the list.  (They always mail in the same order.)

The recipient stitches the band they have designed on the sender's fabric with the sender's floss starting 3 squares/t6 threads down from the owner's band.

The recipient then mails the band off to the next person on the list, continuing the sequence until a band has been stitched by every person on every band sampler and the sampler is returned to the owner by the last person on the list.

Here is a diagram of what the finished sampler will look like:

A Week of Hands On Design!

Hands on Design: Gather Pinecones, Gather Moments, & Winter Folk 

I'm so excited!  I spent the last week starting and finishing the last seasonal stitches in 3 different series from Hands on Design and they stitched up in a hurry.  Almost one a day!  Winter Folk obviously took more than that.  Yes, I know there is an error in the Gather Pinecones round but I decided not to frog it this time.  I just loved stitching every single one of these designs in all 3 series.  I can't wait to see what Cathy Habermann comes up with next!

Fabric:  32 ct. linen, Platinum - (much lighter in person than the photo)

Floss:  DMC

Exceptions:  I used two strands of 3362 for the long stitched pine needles instead of just one. 

 These will be FFO'd on the paddles and boards I used for the 3 series. (FFO image to come).

Summer Folk

 Hot off the Qsnap - Summer Folk

By Cathy Habermann - Hands on Design

Stitched on 32 ct. Belfast linen in platinum that was tea-dyed 

2 over 2 with suggested DMC flosses.

I'm loving all the specialty stitches.