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]

Stitchissimo is an Etsy shop based in Bulgaria that has a heavy focus on bookmarks and cards, often with a religious spin, as well as adorable animal cross stitch patterns. Let’s take a closer look.

The biggest category in the shop (though not by much) is baby animals, and there are lots of cute options, from a horse to butterflies, a capybara to sea creatures, farm animals and more.

Since this is a year when ducks are really popular, here’s their duck cross stitch pattern, which is pretty representative of the style of these projects. This mini cross stitch design is just 27 by 33 stitches and it uses four colors, making it a great option for someone new to cross stitch (which all of the animals would be).

On 14 count fabric the design comes out to almost 2 by 2.4 inches, or 4.9 by 6 cm, so it would fit in a three or four inch hoop.

Coming in a close second is the bookmark section (there’s also a separate kids’ bible bookmark category), which includes a wide variety of projects often featuring flowers, fruit or some other image along with a quote from the bible. The kids’ section is the same, only with cute animals decorating them instead of flowers.

There’s also a large collection of Christmas and winter themed projects. Many have a religious bent such as nativity scenes and angels, but there are also snowmen, Christmas foods and winter scenes with cute animals.

Other categories include sentiments to stitch for greeting cards, spring and Easter themed projects and “boy decor” (mini cross stitch patterns of vehicles). Smaller categories include summer, autumn and the Fourth of July.

These projects are cute and colorful, and a lot of them are small, which makes them great for beginners. It’s an especially great place if you like religious themed projects and bookmarks.

Check out all the designs at Stitchissimo.

[Photo: Stitchissimo]

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