Designer Spotlight: Pigeon Coop Designs

Whimsical animals with a folk art feel are what you’ll find at the Etsy shop Pigeon Coop Designs. Let’s take a closer look.

While animal projects dominate the listings on the front page, there are actually more projects categorized as landscapes, but plenty of them have animals in them, too.

I continue to be drawn to this pattern of a roseate spoonbill, because he’s such a funny little guy (don’t ask me why it’s a guy in my mind). The design is one of two (you can see the second in the background) celebrating the Everglades, as the spoonbill hangs out among the bald cypress trees.

The design is 71 by 71 stitches and uses 14 colors. The designer says it will fit in a six or seven inch hoop if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

In actual landscapes on this site, you’ll find plenty of mountains, Canada scenes, animals of the Arctic and more. (The designer is based in Canada, so a focus on the animals and places of the north makes sense.) There are other project pairs where there’s a landscape that goes with an animal, such as a mountain and a bear, or a prairie and a bison.

The other main category on the page is called nature cross stitch, and it includes birds, owls, creatures of the tide pools, a cougar in the desert and more. It’s hard to tell why the categories are divided the way they are, so check them both out if you’re interested in this style of cross stitch patterns.

There’s only one more category on the site as of this writing, and it is for holiday, and they are all birds (and one squirrel) in winter scenes, most involving holly berries.

If you like nature and animals as themes for your cross stitch patterns, check out all that Pigeon Coop Designs has to offer on Etsy.

[Photo: Pigeon Coop Designs]

Stitching Elf Store is a small Etsy shop based in Ukraine with patterns that tend toward the floral, with lots of Christmas patterns and a few cats along the way, too.

The largest category in the shop is “flowery pattern,” which includes floral designs, samplers and a few seasonal projects with text. I liked this Enchanted Poppies design because it reminds me of the colors of Ukraine.

The pattern is 68 by 145 stitches and uses 24 colors, thanks to the kind of watercolor effect of the petals and leaves. On 14 count fabric it comes out to 4.9 by 10.4 inches, or 12.3 by 26.3 cm.

Another large collection is Christmas patterns, which is heavy on sampler style designs, a couple of Christmas trees with different designs in the layers, some Christmas-themed biscornu patterns and a stocking with a chat and a bird on it.

Other pattern highlights include a scattering of Valentine’s Day, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter patterns. The simply flowers series includes large, graphic flowers in bold colors. There are two sampler projects with a bird and a cat along with traditional flowers, and the purr cats patterns include larger cats with big, fluffy tails and more big, bold flowers.

I particularly like the St. Patrick’s Day designs that feature shamrocks and thistles and Irish blessings. They’re traditional looking but also different enough to be interesting, if that makes sense.

You’ll also find a few more biscornu patterns (see more about biscornu here) and a couple of Ukrainian floral bookmarks.

The patterns are pretty, with a mix of traditional designs and more modern designs. Give them a look over at Stitching Elf Store on Etsy.

Do you have a favorite cross stitch designer (or design patterns yourself) who should be in the spotlight? Let me know by leaving a comment with their shop link and a little bit about why you love them.

[Photo: Stitching Elf Store]

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