Designer Spotlight: Snail Fishes Stitches

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]

Charts and Stuff is a small but fun Etsy shop with a cartoony style to its designs. Let’s take a closer look.

This shop’s designs are mostly silly and full of color. The rainbow colored hair is a common feature of a lot of characters, from a dancing woman to a reindeer, dogs and chickens.

As you scroll back through their designs (there are no categories but they also have fewer than 100 designs as of this writing, so it doesn’t take too long to explore) you’ll also find a series of patchwork designs that use similar bright colors but in a very different way.

For instance, this patchwork teddy bear cross stitch pattern. The pattern notes are low on details but it says the pattern comes out about 7 by 7.5 inches (that’s 17.78 by 19.05 cm) I assume on 14 count fabric. There’s clearly a good bit of back stitch involved as well as regular cross stitching.

These colorful designs would be a great way to use a lot of thread left over from other projects, because they don’t have to be the exact colors called for in the pattern. I could see the teddy bear with a ribbon that is the favorite color of the person you are stitching it for, for instance, and you can use pastels or more saturated colors, or a mix depending on what you have on hand.

In addition to the patterns already mentioned, there are a few blackwork designs, a set of season themed quotes, some word art in the shape of a heart and a cat, and some Christmas themed designs with the rainbow characters wearing Santa hats. There’s also a few of Santa riding a motorcycle if that’s something you’re into.

These cross stitch patterns are a lot of fun and look like they’d be great to stitch, so check out the pattern shop at Charts and Stuff on Etsy to see more.

[Photo: Charts and Stuff]

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