An old neighborhood watch community sign becomes new again in a bold, graphic cross-stitch pattern.

I made this design because I noticed these old community watch signs in a couple of places around my neighborhood. They’re from the 1970s and 1980s and while they look weathered, they’re still standing tall. I love the bold design and how they serve as a snapshot of an era when doorbell and porch cameras didn’t exist. If something fishy happened in your community, you had to ask your neighbors if they saw anything and you hoped they had their eyes open. Also, the “sketchy character” on this sign appears to be a man sporting a trench coat and holding a pistol. I’m not sure if that’s the archetype of a “criminal” nowadays.

The digital PDF file for my Ohio Neighborhood Watch Community Cross-Stitch Pattern can be purchased here. 

To create my cross-stitch pattern, I simplified the sign, making it specific to all of Ohio, not just a municipality. The circle gave me a hard time. Creating curved lines on a grid is not easy! In fact, I thought I was finished with the design and had stitched up “Neighborhood Watch Community” and did the top half-dozen lines of the red circle when I realized the circle wasn’t the right shape of round. So, I had to go back and fiddle with the pattern before I was satisfied. Then, I had to unpick a few rows of stitches.

That’s how my design process goes, though. I stitch all of my patterns before releasing them into the wild because I want to find any errors I can’t see on the computer. It also forces me to slow down and really be with the pattern. I have found places that aren’t quite right and I’ve gone back and enhanced them before completing the pattern.

The aida cloth of this design does a lot of heavy lifting. The original sign has a black background, although, on some of the sun-faded signs, it may look dark brown. Using a black aida cloth eliminates the need to stitch the entire background in black. That would be a lot, too, because on 14-count aida cloth, this design measures 7.43” x 9.5”

So, if you grew up in Ohio in the 1970s and 1980s or you have some of these signs still standing in your neighborhood, you can pay homage to the iconic design, with my digital pattern. While you’re stitching, you just may find yourself pondering how important it is to take care of our neighbors and community.

The PDF pattern can be purchased from my Etsy shop.