Designer Spotlight: Ecliptica Design

If your taste in cross stitch patterns tends toward tiny Christmas cross stitch projects, then you need to know about Ecliptica Design on Etsy. This cross stitch shop based in Hungary specializes in patterns that fit in 3-inch hoops, with 22 of their 64 designs as of this writing being Christmas themed.

Neither small nor Christmas is all that they do, but they do a lot of that, so let’s get into it.

The 3-inch Christmas section includes lots of charming little designs for everything from Christmas trees to elf feet, hot chocolate to bells, winter scenes and gingerbread men.

One of my favorites is this little snow globe with a Christmas tree inside. At 24 by 29 stitches, it uses 11 colors and comes out to 2 by 2.4 inches or 5 by 6 cm on 14 count fabric. It’s perfect to put in a little hoop and make into a ornament or use as a greeting card.

In addition to the Christmas patterns, there are 3-inch designs on topics such as animals and nature, dogs and butterflies, as well as patterns for Easter and Halloween. There are 2-inch minis of birds and butterflies, as well as 7-inch hoops of butterflies (as well as one Easter design).

There is one Christmas pattern meant to go in an 8-inch hoop, and a few patterns labeled medium size that I think would work in an 8-inch hoop, too (I love these rain boots with sunflowers!).

In addition to purchasing patterns one at a time, there are a handful of Christmas themed bundles you can buy. Or you can make your own bundle and get 30 percent off when you buy three or more patterns at the same time.

Check out all of the goodies at Ecliptica Design on Etsy.

Do you have a favorite cross stitch designer you’d like me to feature? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo: Ecliptica Design]

Inkspire Studio Shops offers cross stitch patterns as well as tons of different stitch minders, scissor charms and thread organization tools.

We’ll get to all that, but since we’re mostly here for the patterns, let’s start there.

All of the patterns are in one category (called Inkspire Originals if you’re following along). There are a lot of book-themed projects and more of the designs are bookmarks than anything else. You’ll find trope bookmarks, a Reading Rainbow themed design, flowers and a super cute watercolor set bookmark, to name a few.

And while the book themed projects are by far the most numerous, I wanted to share this super cute pile of vintage Pyrex style bowls. I love the colors on this one and it should be easy to stitch because so much of it is blocks (or bowls) of a single color. This one is only available as a printed pattern, but most of them are digital.

It calls for six colors and comes out 5.6 by 6.9 inches, or 14.2 by 17.5 cm when stitched on 14 count fabric.

In addition to the bookmarks and book themed projects you’ll find a few kitchen projects and some Halloween and Christmas designs as well.

But what this shop is really about is needle minders, and there are tons of them, with all kinds of themes ranging from introverted and snarky to animal themes, food and beverages, retro designs and religious and inspiring needle minders.

If you don’t know about needle minders, these are acrylic with magnets. You stick a magnet to the back of your work, add the needle minder to the front of the work, and then it holds your sewing needle when you’re not stitching. No need for piercing your fabric or losing your needle between stitching sessions.

She also makes charms you can attach to your scissors (or use as a stitch marker if you’re a knitter or crocheter), inventory and project trackers and bags large and small to hold works in progress and other supplies. She’s also got a great collection of vintage cross stitch patterns and kits, so check out all the fun goodies at Inkspired Studio Shops.

[Photo: Inkspire Studio Shops]

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