Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Cute Animal Valentine’s Day Cross Stitch

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This post needs to start with me asking you to help settle an argument going on in my mind: are gnomes animals? They’re not people, I guess mythical creatures? Maybe? I don’t know who to classify them.

It matters because I’m writing this post that I called “cute animal Valentine’s Day cross stitch” but I want to include this collection of Valentine’s gnomes.

Maybe it would more accurately be animals + gnomes. But either way, they are here (or actually here, on Etsy, in a design from 4StitchPattern) and we’re just going to go with it. This set of 12 Valentine’s Day gnomes definitely fulfills the cute part of the headline, anyway. These little guys all vary in size and details, but would be really cute in little frames around the house.

With that out of the way we’ll move on to things I’m definitely sure are animals. Like elephants. This cute little elephant would be darling in a kid’s room even when it’s not Valentine’s Day. It’s from Etsy designer Little Apple Stitchery and is 87 by 87 stitches, or 6.25 inches on 14 count fabric.

Or what about some sweet cats? You could change up the colors on these to better match real cats in your life if you want, or just leave them as they are. Laser Art Designs sells this one, which is 200 by 200 stitches. That comes out to 36.3 centimeters or 14.3 inches square on 14-count fabric. I’m not sure how many colors total it is, but their description says their patterns have no more than 20-25 colors and I’d say this one has no fewer than that.

On the other end of the skill spectrum are these simple and sweet hedgehogs from U-Create Crafts. This one uses five colors and should be pretty quick and easy even for a newer stitcher (it does involve some back stitching but that’s not too hard).

Speaking of sweet, these little blushing penguins in love are so cute and you can change the colors on the bow and balloons if you like. This pattern by Kits by SAstitch is 55 by 61 stitches and uses 19 colors and three blends, and uses whole, half and back stitches. This one’s probably not for a beginner but it would be a fun way to build your skills!

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Samplers to Cross Stitch for the Fourth of July

I already shared some cross stitch patterns specific to America 250, but if you want to cross stitch something more general for the Fourth of July, these patriotic sampler style patterns are a great place to start. 

Stitch up some classic July 4th symbols, from the Statue of Liberty to hot dogs, with this sampler from Voluur. At 197 by 197 stitches, it comes out to 12.31 inches or 31.27 cm on 16 count fabric. It uses 38 colors and one blend, and has full and half cross stitches as well as back stitching. 

This sampler from Wombat Stitching is a little more traditional, but it does still have fireworks, something that looks like an ice cream, birds in hats and a stack of sheep for some reason. This one uses nine colors and is 193 by 103 stitches. That makes it 13.8 inches or 35 cm on 14 count fabric. 

This smaller sampler from Wonder Stitch US has a rocket, fireworks, flag, star and other elements. It is 86 by 86 stitches and uses 11 colors. On 16 count fabric it comes out to 5.5 inches, or 14 cm square. (I also love their Liberty design, with a house, woman holding a flag, a big flowers stitched like classic star motifs from quilting. There’s also a cat.)

Or try this one from Aliton Embroidery, which features a women in stars, stripes and a festive hat, an eagle, stars, fireworks and a flag, with a fun red, white and blue border. At 98 by 67 stitches, I think it uses five colors or thereabouts. It measures 7 by 4.8 inches, or 17.78 by 12.16 cm, when stitched on 14 count fabric.

Get a totally classic sampler look with this patriotic design that’s not specific to the Fourth of July. Made by Happiness is Heart Made, it features a house, flowers, hearts, classic starts, an alphabet, bunting and more. It uses four colors and measures 129 by 213 stitches. On 14 count fabric it measures 9.21 by 15.21 inches, or 23.4 by 38.6 cm.