Designer Spotlight: Needle Treasures Nook

If you like your cross stitch with a bit of a rustic look, you’ll want to check out the Etsy shop Needle Treasures Nook. This shop is based in Bulgaria and does a lot of projects shown as pillows, though of course you could frame them if you like that look better.

Because of the season at the time of this writing I was drawn first to the St. Patrick’s Day section, which has a couple of handfuls of projects for you to choose from. I like this lucky heart design, which includes shamrocks in a heart shape and a couple of ladybugs (or ladybirds, depending on where you live). Yes, they are supposed to be good luck, especially if one lands on you!

The design is 52 by 49 stitches and its shown on 32 count ecru linen that was dyed with green tea, which is kind of fun. Instructions for how to dye fabric with botanicals are included in the pattern. And of course you don’t have to make yours heart shaped but it is pretty that way.

In addition there are lots of other holiday themed cross stitch patterns. In particular there are a lot of Thanksgiving patterns, more even than Christmas, though only by a couple. Cute animals are on heavy rotation here, including turkeys, foxes, squirrels and rabbits. There are also plenty of leaves and pumpkins, of course.

How about those Christmas patterns? Here you’ll find sweet trees, rustic Santas, snow-themed projects and, of course, more adorable animals. You’ll also find projects for Valentine’s Day, Easter, spring and summer and an array of American patriotic patterns. (Do we Americans stitch so much red, white and blue stuff that designers from other countries need to make more for us? It’s a mystery.)

They also have a few fonts, Quaker style patterns, bees, flowers, fruits and more. Check out all the goodies at Needle Treasures Nook on Etsy.

[Photo: Needle Treasures Nook]

Most of the cross stitch projects I make are pretty small and not something I would consider heirloom quality (though I am working on a big project for my daughter that I hope to have done for her high school graduation in two years that I hope is something she’ll want to keep forever, but that’s another story).

But it is definitely possible to cross stitch projects that will stay around for generations, and one prime example of that is a cross-stitched linen tablecloth.

Linen tablecloths are classic, while stitching one can be a big project, depending on the size of your table, it doesn’t have to be really complicated.

Koekoek has a good, detailed post about figuring out how much linen you would need to make a tablecloth that you can cross stitch and/or embroider on (they also sell tablecloth linen in their shop if you don’t already have some or a linen tablecloth you already use). Of course for a project like this you’d want the best fabric you can find and afford, because you’ll be stitching it for a long time and hopefully using it for years.

The post walks through how to measure your table and determine how much fabric you’ll need including the drop you’ll want and hems. It includes the math for rectangular and square tables as well as circular tables, which helps take the guesswork out of buying fabric. It also talks about preparing the fabric and making mitered corners if you have a square or rectangular table, which will help the tablecloth sit nicely on your table.

The tutorial doesn’t include specific patterns to use for your tablecloth, but it does advise keeping it simple because this is a really big project. You can start with a motif in the center or doing borders, and this is a project you can add to through the years by, say, stitching a symbol for each family member or adding names, wedding dates, etc. and making it a real record of your family.

Would you ever cross stitch a tablecloth or have you done so? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Koekoek]

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