The original Sampler Bear was made, not from an old sampler, but from an attempt to create a new sampler on my embroidery machine. I have cross-stitched samplers in the past for various occasions but now I find I don't have the same time for a project of that size. I still love samplers, so I attempted to get the look in less time using my embroidery machine. The result wasn't exactly what I wanted, I couldn't quite get the various sections to line up. But rather than waste it, I decided to treat it as material and make something from it. I thought if I cut up the sections then I would no longer be able to see where it didn't quite match up. The result was my first sampler bear. I loved the result so much that I started to embroider material with the sole purpose of making more sampler bears.