Designer Spotlight: SchilHaus

Normally when I decide to write about a cross stitch designer I like them to have a good number of patterns that I can talk about. It helps you to see a range of options if you’re looking for a new designer to follow, and it gives me more to write about, which is a win.

But I wanted to share SchilHaus with you even though they only have 11 patterns because they’re just so darn cheerful and I think we all need that.

All of their patterns are similar in color and tone. Some are lines or squares, there are a few quilt-block-style stars, a red and green snowflake that also looks like a star and is the only project of theirs to only use two colors.

There are abstract rainbow polka dots and a colorful set of Christmas bobbles.

The design of theirs that originally caught my eye was one full of multicolored lines, but the one I decided to write about when I was looking at their storefront most recently is the Rainbow Breeze Block.

The pattern has these fun petal-shaped cells surrounded by black to make them really pop. There are two color options in the pattern, but what struck me about this one is that you could do it as a temperature project if you just kept repeating it until the end of the year.

Decide on what colors you want to use for whatever it is you’re tracking and then do a petal a day. You’d need to do rows of 5 instead of 8 to make the rows even or you can leave it as 8 and have some blanks.

(Check out more temperature cross stitch projects.)

Despite the small number of patterns I think SchilHaus is definitely worth checking out if you’re a fan of color, abstract design or Christmas projects. Let me know what you think!

[Photo: SchilHaus]

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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