Designer Spotlight: Patterns by Anna11

I’ve mentioned before that sometimes when I pick designers to write about for this spotlight feature I leave myself notes about what I want to talk about. For Patterns by Anna11, I wrote “grumpy cat birthday.”

What I meant was that I wanted to talk about this cat cross stitch pattern of a pretty grumpy looking cat in a party hat and holding a balloon. This is pretty much how I feel about birthdays, so it caught my eye.

The project is 114 by 120 stitches, and it uses 21 colors. The pattern notes suggest the size for a few different sizes of fabric, but at 14 count it comes out to 8.2 by 8.6 inches, or 20.7 by 21.8 cm. The pattern uses only full stitches.

This project, while it delights me, isn’t actually that representative of what’s going on in this shop. There’s a lot of Disney and Harry Potter inspired projects, including a cool “magic letters” alphabet (there’s also at least part of a floral alphabet, a baby animal alphabet, as well as those using Stitch and Moana).

There are a bunch of pretty mushroom patterns, a variety of floral wreaths and other designs for wedding announcements, a super cute reading dragon, a set of Pokemon designs and more.

I don’t know that there’s a common thread that ties it all together. Lots of characters you’ll know in designs inspired by their looks in movies, but also other cute stuff, floral designs, nature and of course some Christmas designs as well.

You’ll have to go check it out at Patterns by Anna11 on Etsy to see if anything strikes your fancy.

And if there’s a cross stitch designer you love I haven’t featured yet, drop a note in the comments or send me their info through the form at the “submit a DIY” link up at the top of the page.

[Photo: Patterns by Anna11]

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Designer Spotlight: Mamida Pattern

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year celebration, and it’s a time full of special symbols and meaningful happenings that are perfect for stitching. Anything with a bee or honeycomb, apple, pomegranate or challah on it would be a great choice for stitching this time of year.

Or how about a towel to cover your challah that includes all those other symbols? This pattern from Sew Perfectly Designed has bees, honeycomb, an apple and a pomegranate, as well as stars of David. (This is really a hand towel but you could also stitch the design on a tea towel to use on the table.) The original design includes some partial stitches but the designer says you can make them all full stitches and backstitch to get the proper effect on the lettering if you’d rather. It uses 15 colors and measures 178 by 24 stitches and is good for intermediate stitchers.

Speaking a challah covers, there’s also this design from Sew Marie Studio, worked in a single color. The pattern is 197 by 301 stitches, which comes out to 14 by 21.5 inches, or 35.7 by 55 cm, on 14 count fabric (sizes for other counts are given as well if you don’t need a cover that big). The designer recommends adding a fabric border as shown and includes instructions for how to do that.

This kit to make an apple and honey coaster would be a great project to make for the holiday. It comes from Siman Kriaa and the kit includes perforated paperboard for stitching, thread, a needle, the chart and instructions in English and Hebrew.

And because I love a good(?) pun, I couldn’t resist sharing this Shofar Sho Good pattern from The Kosher Stitcher. (The shofar is the ram’s horn that is blown through at Rosh Hashanah.) The deisgn uses five colors and measures 60 by 37 stitches, which comes out to 4.3 by 2.6 inches, or 10.9 by 6.7 cm on 14 count fabric.

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