Cross-Stitch

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Designer Spotlight: Little Dove Samplers

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When I was casting about Etsy to find a designer to spotlight this week, I landed on Little Dove Samplers and felt like this might have been a designer that I showcased before. It turns out that I shares a summer sampler of theirs a couple of years ago, but I remembered the bright and cheerful designs, which once again drew me into their world.

This UK based designer does a lot of colorful sampler patterns, with a focus on seasons and holidays. In fact, speaking of that summer design, you can actually purchase a set of all four seasons, which have coordinating designs so they could be displayed together, or change out the season when appropriate throughout the year. There’s also a more rustic design that has all four seasons in one piece if you prefer that look.

Of course it’s not all seasons and holidays at Little Dove Samplers, though that is a lot of it. Another pattern that caught my eye is The Sewing Room, shown above. This colorful design features buttons, threads, a quilt top, a sewing machine and a black cat lounging on a pile of fabric. There’s even a basket of yarn under the chair. It’s like she was peeking in my craft room when she designed this (I knit, sew and have a black cat who loves to hang out under the sewing table).

The design is 114 by 133 stitches, or 8 by 9.5 inches (20.3 by 24.1 cm) on 14-count fabric. I am thinking hard about making this one for my crafty space!

Some of the patterns have kitted options like this pretty butterfly sampler. (I’m not seeing one for the sewing room pattern.)

They also have a couple of granny square crochet afghan patterns if you like doing other crafts, too.

Check out all the designs they have to offer at Little Dove Samplers on Etsy.

If you have a shop, or have a shop you love that you’d like to see featured here, let me know about it by clicking on the “suggest a DIY” link at the top of the page.

[Photo: Little Dove Samplers]

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Stardew Valley Cross Stitch Patterns

So many people love the game Stardew Valley, and lot of cross stitch patterns have been inspired by the villages, animals and other aspects of the game. Let’s take a look at some cute Stardew Valley cross stitch patterns.

Let’s start by getting the lay of the land with this Stardew Valley map cross stitch pattern from Not Another Stitcher. The pattern is 308 by 188 stitches. The pattern listing doesn’t indicate how many colors are used, but I’m guessing it’s a lot. It does say they are all whole stitches.

There are lots of cute characters in the game that you can stitch. If you want a little sampler of some of the villagers, check out this pattern from Pixel and Node Com. If I can count right it uses 35 colors and it measures 75 by 111 stitches, which comes out to 5.36 by 7.93 inches/13.6 by 20.1 cm.

Want more options? Pale Garden Store has a larger collection of Stardew Valley villagers to stitch, with 36 characters. Stitch the whole bunch or just choose your favorites to make a smaller project. 

Speaking of lots of options, this collection of Stardew Valley animals and symbols includes more than 100 designs for everything from ducks to cows, multiple positions for cats to be in and emotes to make them expressive. The patterns are from Vital Wonder.

Stitch up some rainbow colored Junimos along with leaves and a flower in this design from Okhami Studios. The design is 100 by 100 stitches and uses 30 colors. If worked on 14-count fabric it will fit in a 9-inch frame.

You can create scenes from Stardew Valley in every season with a set of designs from Fancy Foxglove. Each is sold separately but there’s one for each season featuring the world around your little house. Shown here is summer, with oranges and butterflies in the trees. You have the option of stitching a cat or a dog on the bench. The design is 128 by 127 stitches and uses 47 colors. On 18-count fabric it comes out to about 7 inches/18 cm square.