Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Designer Spotlight: Ruby Red Thread Design

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Calling all lovers of geeky and gamer cross stitch! I’d like to introduce you to Ruby Red Thread Design, a Canadian Etsy shop full of projects you’ll love if you’re into Pokemon, Studio Ghibli, Final Fantasy and other geeky genres.

The first thing to catch my eye in this shop was the adorable hobbit hole cross stitch pattern, but since there’s a Ghibli category (which is a big love in our house; our cats are even named for Ghibli characters) I knew I needed to show one of those projects off.

I’m already working on a Baba Yaga house for my daughter, but I know she would also love this Howl’s Moving Castle project. Maybe her room needs to be all fictional houses? The hobbit hole would fit in that theme as well!

This big boy of a design is 258 by 300 stitches, and it uses 55 colors. It’s all full stitches and you’re not stitching the background, so choose a pretty color of cross stitch fabric. Worked on 14 count fabric this design would be 18.4 by 21.4 inches, or 46.7 by 53.4 cm. You can make it smaller by using a higher count fabric if you want.

You’ll also find some great stuff in the TV and movies section, with projects ranging from Luci in a bottle from Disenchanted to a Sailor Moon heart locket and several The Fifth Element themed projects. The Pokemon patterns are all super cute, and while I don’t know anything about Final Fantasy those projects look good, too.

There are even a few projects that aren’t linked to fandoms, though I’m not totally sure why you’d want such a thing.

Check out all the fun offerings at Ruby Red Thread Design on Etsy. As of this writing you can receive 20 percent off your order when you buy three patterns or more at once, so let’s get to geeky stitching!

[Photo: Ruby Red Thread Design]

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Cross Stitch Patterns Fit for a Pool Party

I don’t know why it still surprises me that there are cross stitch patterns available for almost anything you can think of. I wasn’t looking for pool themed cross stitch patterns, but in scrolling around Etsy looking more generally for summer cross stitch patterns, I found a lot of pool patterns so I figured I should share them.

I love the colors in these designs, almost as cool as sliding into the pool on a hot day.

The first one I found was Pool Party by Milky Stitch. It features someone lounging in the pool, someone lounging next to the pool, and some fun accessories you might need for a day at the pool. It uses 20 colors and was designed for 11 count fabric, which means it comes out to 12.2 by 8.2 inches, or 31 by 21 cm.

Pastel Pool from Stitch Me Good Designs looks like it would fit right in with Pool Party on a gallery wall. This one uses seven colors and 14 count fabric and fits in a 7-inch hoop. 

Speaking of gallery walls, if you want a room full of summer sun and pool themed cross stitch, check out this trifecta of pool designs from Craft Bundle Lab. There’s a women floating in a pool with a large hat, a float in a pool and several floats and pool toys in another pool with a fun checkerboard bottom. Each design uses 12 colors and they are about 14.6 inches/37 cm square worked on 14-count fabric.

This designs from Cross Stitchers United shows three people floating in a pool in different ways. This one has cross stitched water, or you can stitch it on blue fabric and save yourself some time. As shown it uses nine colors and is 94 by 94 stitches, which is 6.7 inches or 17 cm square on 14-count fabric.

The Swimmers in a Pool cross stitch pattern from Thread Nova Studios is delightful. It’s stitched with everyone wearing red suits, but you could change up some of them — or even just one of them — to change the look of the project. This one uses 14 colors and is 200 by 200 stitches. That’s about 14.3 inches/36.3 cm on 14 count fabric, though the pattern includes sizing for other stitch counts, too.

And finally the pool pattern from The Lady at Home just makes you wish you could jump right into it. The pool with floats looks super inviting, and it is stitched on 14-count fabric with a finished size of 5 by 7 inches/12.7 by 17.8 cm.