Designer Spotlight: Wild Bluebell Patterns

At the end of each month I made an editorial calendar for the next month, and by the time I get around to writing the posts I sometimes forget the particulars of a site or a pattern I wanted to share.

So it was when I opened the link for Wild Bluebell Patterns on Etsy and said (out loud, because I work alone) “ooh, I love these.”

It’s easy to see why I would say that when you take a peek at their detailed and colorful patterns, many of which have a witchy vibe. If I weren’t already in the depths of a big cross stitch project for my daughter, I would definitely be buying some of these patterns to stitch for her.

And since that’s what drew me in, let’s take a closer look at one of those dark and witchy patterns, in this case the Gothic moth. Worked in shades of purple and blue on dark fabric, it might be a little frustrating to stitch if you’re not under a bright light, but wouldn’t it be worth the work?

The design is 111 by 109 stitches, which comes out to 7.9 by 7.8 inches, or 20.1 by 19.8 cm, when stitched on 14 count fabric. It uses 13 colors.

If you like this vibe you’ll want to check out the full section of witchy cross stitch. And honestly that would be enough to keep me going for a while, but this shop also has holiday designs (mostly Halloween and autumn of course, but Christmas, too, including an adorable T. rex covered in Christmas lights). There are other animals, with an emphasis on cartoony frogs and floating whales. A few landscapes and some labeled humor, including this amazing ramen bowl based on the Great Wave of Kanagawa painting.

There may not be something for everyone in this shop, but if your tastes go to the gothic, moths and mushrooms with a side of role playing games and witches, you’re sure to find something you like. Check out Wild Bluebell Patterns on Etsy and let me know what you think!

[Photo: Wild Bluebell Patterns]

Siren Stitchworks has cross stitch patterns that feel like old samplers (and some of them are in fact historical reproductions) even when they are modern designs. They have patriotic patterns, biscornus, pop culture patterns and more so let’s take a look.

One of the projects that caught my eye was the Mexican menagerie, a set of five Mexican folk art inspired creatures. There’s a bird, horses, dragons, alligators and cats on these designs, which you can make into tiny pillow or ornaments.

The pattern notes don’t say how many colors are used but it doesn’t look like any of them have more than five colors. It does note the smallest pattern is 59 by 59 stitches, and the largest is 82 by 68 stitches. They also only use full cross stitches.

The category with the largest number of entries (which is still only 12 as of this writing; this is a small shop) is called ornaments and smalls. It includes this menagerie and another Mexican animal collection, as well as traditional looking patterns with a twist, such as a little pattern with Yule goats, a needlebook cover that looks like a tombstone and alphabet samplers that include Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

There are also a bunch of samplers, divided into monochrome, traditional and reproduction samplers. There are some fun ones in the monochrome department, including a Titanic sampler and an aloha design with a pineapple motif. Traditional samplers include some patriotic designs (and a gorgeous folk art resist fist), as well as a really fat cat.

And the reproduction samplers include fun fonts, florals and birds like you’d expect from old sampler designs.

In addition you’ll find a few pop culture designs (mostly Game of Thrones inspired samplers for different houses), biscornus include a couple Chinese zodiac designs, and a few needle minders for sale.

Check out all the fun designs at Siren Stitchworks on Etsy.

[Photo: Siren Stitchworks]

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