Designer Spotlight: Durene J Cross Stitch

I feel like I have shared a lot of British designer Durene J Cross Stitch’s patterns before, so it seemed like high time to share their Etsy shop as a designer spotlight.

When I think of Durene’s designs, I think of holiday inspired patterns with a cute, cartoony feel. They are whimsical and fun and super cute.

And while it’s true that a lot of her designs do focus on holidays, plenty of them do not, and here you’ll find a lot of cute animals, flower fairies, projects with a beach theme and more.

She does a lot of these large hoop cross stitch projects like the one shown here. This modern tulip design has the feel of a mandala or like looking at flowers through a kaleidoscope. It has a max stitch count of 163 by 163 stitches, and comes out to 11.6 by 11.6 inches or 29.6 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric. The listing doesn’t indicate how many colors it uses but there are at least nine.

But if you like seasonal stitching you should definitely take a look at hear seasonal patterns, too. Most of them are for Christmas, including cross stitch stocking patterns, but there are a good number for Halloween as well.

Another thing that’s really cool in her pattern collection is three-dimensional projects such as ornaments, candle mats, pouches, and even a cute Halloween bowl made with cross stitch on the outside and fabric on the inside.

For these projects you not only get the cross stitch charts but all the instructions for finishing the project including any templates you need to complete it. These would be fun to get as gifts for a stitching friend and make your own kit for them to finish the project.

Check out all of their fun stuff (including hardanger and embroidery projects, too) at Durene J Cross Stitch on Etsy.

[Photo: Durene J Cross Stitch]

Next Pattern:

Beach Cross Stitch Patterns

I was directed to a cross stitch pattern from Silverberry Designs for a recent post I was working on, and I knew that I needed to share them with you for one reason: cross stitch Clue.

This re-creation of the Clue game board fits in a 10-inch frame, so it’s not really playable, but I still love it because I loved the game (and the movie) growing up. This pattern is 122 by 127 stitches, which comes out to 8.71 by 9.7 inches, or 22.1 by 23 cm, when worked on 14 count fabric. It uses 10 colors.

It turns out this store has a lot of game related cross stitch patterns. You’ll find playing cards, billiard balls, a roulette table and a classic Nintendo controller. There’s a ouija board, and board games for Sorry, Scrabble and Trouble. So fun for a game room or anywhere else.

The category that has the most patterns is holidays and religion, which is a hodgepodge of Christmas, July fourth and St. Patrick’s Day, with a Star of David, an Islamic crescent and star and some other things thrown in.

There are also a large number of LGBTQ+ patterns, from Pride flags to rainbow hearts and peace signs, and lots of other rainbow designs.

The “words & phrases” section includes bathroom rules, a blank monthly calendar, some snarky signs, teacher appreciation designs and more. You’ll also find a blank map of the United States you can stitch in as you travel, as well as more travel related designs, home and garden, holidays and celebrations, animals (hippo, owl, skunk, bald eagle, cat in leaves, etc.) and more.

The page also sells supplies including 14 count Aida fabric in 12 colors, needles, floss, hoops and more. And they have a subscription box that includes a pattern and all the supplies you need to make it. (The pattern is a surprise but you can contact them to ask if you really must know before you order.)

Check out all the fun stuff at Silverberry Designs.

[Photo: Silverberry Designs]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?