Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Designer Spotlight: Snail Fishes Stitches

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I usually try to come up with some kind of overarching statement about a cross stitch pattern shop to open these posts, but all I’ve got here is that Snail Fishes Stitches is just fun. If you don’t like fun, and color, and funny little frogs, this is probably not the place for you. 

Snail Fishes Stitches has as of this writing nearly 300 patterns, and the biggest category on the site is “miscellaneous.” And it really is that, with animals, word art, pattern bundles of things like holiday trucks and ocean animals, different animal faces, teapots, rainbows and this weird space milkshake. 

See? Fun. 

This one is 46 by 80 stitches, which comes out to 3.3 by 5.7 inches (or 8.4 by 14.5 cm) on 14 count fabric. It uses 15 colors and looks like it would be great fun to stitch. 

Another high-volume category is frogs. You’ll find them on mushrooms and in teacups, dressed up for holidays and seasons, and sitting on a log. 

There are also a lot of Christmas (heavy on snow globes) and Halloween patterns, and smaller numbers of projects for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and the seasons. 

In addition there are bookish patterns to show off your favorite genre in stitches, and patterns involving dragons, cats, snakes disguised as sweet treats (pumpkin python pie, anyone?) and gnomes. There are patterns as devoted to coffee as you are, as well as a series of vehicles (perfect for a construction equipment obsessed kiddo’s room) and a salad’s worth of fruit. 

Sound good? Check out all the designs over at Snail Fishes Stitches on Etsy. 

And let me know if you have a favorite designer I haven’t featured; I’d love to put them in the spotlight! Just leave a comment telling me all about them and I’ll check it out. 

[Photo: Snail Fishes Stitches]

Have you read?

Stitch a Banjo Playing Opossum Because Why Not?

I started writing this one as a designer spotlight kind of post, and then I realized when I was almost done with it that I had actually featured this designer before. It was in late 2024, so I’ll forgive myself for forgetting, but it’s worth taking another look at Mama Witch Cross Stitch. It looks like the shop has changed a bit since the last time I looked in, and you all just needed to see this amazing pattern anyway. 

In the listing this one is called “whimsical opossum,” because of course it is. This little creature is sporting a straw hat and playing a banjo next to a crock of moonshine and surrounded by a wreath of pumpkins, mushrooms and other fall icons. Clicking through the images, though, I see it’s also called Possum Song, which is also pretty great. 

Either way, the design is 144 by 130 stitches, which comes out to 10.29 by 9.29 inches, or about 26 by 23.5 cm on 14 count fabric.

This is not the only possum pattern offered by this shop, but you get the vibe from this one. 

And to quickly check in on the rest of the shop, there are a great number of Halloween themed cross stitch patterns here, too, many with a sort of dark whimsy like mermaid skeletons, cat witches and a pumpkin-headed rider on a skeleton unicorn, to name just a few. 

Another category worth noting, though it is much smaller, is “sad Victorian ghosts,” which features ghosts (sometimes in Victorian garb, sometimes not) going to the pub and the library, hanging laundry and taking a bath. 

There are also a lot of Christmas designs, some sweet and some snarky, and a few creepy ones, too. Other categories include the new for 2026 “sunny patterns” (similar style motifs just with brighter colors and lighter backgrounds), as well as bookmarks and mini cross stitch designs. 

[Photo: Mama Witch Cross Stitch]