Designer Spotlight: Wombat Stitching

I usually have a couple of rules when it comes to the shops that I share for these spotlights. Generally I like them to be at least a couple of years old, because brand new pages with hundreds of patterns are a good sign of AI (which is not the best for quality patterns).

But I do like there to be a good number of patterns because it gives me more to write about.

Wombat Stitching is, in fact, a couple of years old, but has just over 50 patterns, which would usually cause me to pass it up.

But these pretty samplers with an old-fashioned flair are cute and I wanted to share them because bigger isn’t always better.

The designs here lean heavily on sampler style, with little images making up a bigger piece, sometimes with text and sometimes not. There are also a lot of Christmas cross stitch patterns if that’s a thing you’re into.

As I’m writing this I’m longing for spring, though, so I wanted to share one of the springier projects. This spring flowers cross stitch sampler has a great quilty vibe that I love and lots of soft colors to get you through the winter if you happen to be in winter as you read this.

The design is 117 by 117 stitches, which comes out to 8.3 inches or 21.2 cm square on 14 count fabric. The pattern notes let you know what sizes you’ll get at other stitch counts. It uses 7 colors and is all full cross stitches.

There are summer, fall and winter versions of the same kind of project if you want to make a four seasons display, and there’s also one in Christmas colors.

In addition to these and the Christmas projects, you’ll find a few Easter and patriotic (American) designs. And there are more traditional samplers with pastoral scenes, alphabets and the like. There’s also a touch of whimsy with a sampler featuring unicorns and another about the Wellerman, complete with sailors, a whale and a bottle of rum.

Check out all the patterns at Wombat Stitching on Etsy.

[Photo: Wombat Stitching]

I was recently approached by Alyssa, the cross stitcher behind the Etsy shop Stitchonomy, to take a look at her cross stitch pattern subscription club, known as The Pattern Club.

I took a look around and there’s a lot of cute stuff and fun options you’ll want to check out, especially if you love themed patterns that are small, easy to stitch and fun to combine.

The Pattern Club combines cross stitching with a social network. When you open the site you’ll see a news feed and have the ability to share updates much like you would on Facebook. You can see who is online, have buddies and post your own updates and photos. The community aspect is a little sparse right now but that should only grow.

The stitch along hub is the place to find the most recent patterns and information on the current stitchalong. As of this writing the Book Lover’s stitchalong was happening, with little designs like Peter Rabbit, a skull for Hamlet and keys for Jane Eyre as well as authors including Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen.

Other pattern collections include European designs, Halloween, ocean life, an allotment garden and more. Alyssa tells me there’s a new theme every month that either she picks or members in the community suggest. You can stitch just the patterns you want or put them together to make a larger collage.

The Stitchanomini vault gives you access to all of the previous patterns, and new patterns are released daily through the stitchalong. You can download individual patterns (most of them are 19 by 19 stitches) as PDFs or Pattern Keeper files. The PDFs include a color and black and white chart as well as a floss list.

Another cool thing you can do is build your own pattern collages from all of the squares that have been released. The collage configurator allows you to add patterns of your choosing to a grid ranging from 2×2 patterns up to 4×4. You can scroll through all the current patterns or search by theme and size to make a project that suits your needs. (Above is an example I made kind of at random but you get the idea.)

If you want to check it out, you can grab a three-day free trial and see all the pattern options. Membership is $7.99 a month, or if you pay for a year at a time you’ll get two months free. In addition to the patterns in the club, members receive discounts on patterns and supplies purchased through the shop within the club. Annual members get access to three paid/retired stitchalongs and lifetime members receive all retired patterns.

If you check it out I’d love to hear what you think!

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