Cute Animal Valentine’s Day Cross Stitch

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!

I feel like I’ve written about TeaJeigh Designs before but I think maybe it’s just because I have shared this shop’s patterns a few times before that it feels familiar. But it’s worth a look so let’s take a peek at their offerings!

This shop based in Canada has a variety of designs, but many of them are what she calls “mix and match” designs. These all feature a quote or saying that takes up on half of the design, while the other half includes an associated image, such as the person who said it, a mandala design, half a butterfly or a tree or what have you.

The biggest category in the mix and match section is mandalas, so that’s why I picked one of them to share. They aren’t all strictly mandalas, and most of them have a feminist or positive thinking vibe to them. The one shown does actually include a floral mandala design, and you can change the three colors used to suit your decor or your favorites if you like.

This one uses four colors total and measures 183 by 214 stitches. On 14 count fabric that would make the finished design 13.2 by 15.25 inches, or 33.5 by 38.7 cm. There are other counts given in the pattern notes if you want to make a smaller version.

The thing that’s cool about these designs and why they are called mix and match is that you can swap in other text if you like this mandala but a different saying, for example.

The mix and match designs also include butterflies, fantasy and nature, baby and kids, Halloween and fall and winter and Christmas designs, so there are a lot of options if you like this style.

In addition to these designs you’ll find other Christmas and winter patterns, often still with a lot of text, as well as spring and summer, fall and Halloween and Valentines Day designs.

Not feeling seasonal? Check out the Lord of the Rings projects, or other fandom designs, humorous and nerdy projects, Pride and feminist designs, projects for teachers and nurses, full mandalas and nature themed projects.

Check it all out at TeaJeigh Designs on Etsy.

[Photo: TeaJeigh Designs]

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