Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Let Me Introduce Myself

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Hi! I am Connie Barwick and I will be taking over as the Cross Stitch editor here at Craft Gossip. I am really excited to be a “Gossip Girl” now – sorry for the lame joke, but that’s what I keep telling my friends.

You may also know me from my work at About.com Cross Stitch or my own site Connie Gee’s Designs. I am also the Social Media Director for Kooler Design Studio.

I have been cross-stitching since I could hold a needle. I started with stamped projects and moved into counted cross stitch as it gained popularity in the 1980’s. Cross stitch is a constant in my life, no matter the season or what’s trendy at the time. Over the years I have done all sorts of counted thread and canvas work.

I look forward to sharing my love of stitching with you and want you to help me out too! Send in your links today. Let me know about your favorite project, blog, etsy shop – whatever you think should be featured here.

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Comments

  8. I know you from About.com but didn’t know you did your own designs so I just went to have a look. Your dog is adorable! When I was 2 yrs old, my grandparents had a dog named Girlie. I don’t really remember her but I know she was a sweetheart and probably why I love dogs so much today.

  12. Craft Gossip already has cross stitch designs included in most of their daily e-mails, so , I guess this means that you, Connie, will be the new “manager” of the cross stitching portion of Craft Gossip. I hope you will take the necessary time to find the great charts available through a variety of websites.

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Have you read?

Designer Spotlight: Bella Rose Craft

The designs from Bella Rose Craft look like they would be good for beginner cross stitchers and others who like relatively simple and small designs that are quick to finish for gifts or decor.

I’ll mention up front that this Etsy shop based in Indiana has no organization whatsoever. There are two categories: kits and patterns. So it’s a bit of a treasure hunt to find what you might be interested in.

As mentioned there are lots of minis and small looking projects with simple lines and minimal colors. There are holiday projects, animals, summer motifs like palm trees and beach umbrellas, a bathtub with a rubber duck, some text based designs (like hoppy spring and merry and bright), some biblical and religious designs, flowers, bunting and more.

On a site like this its difficult to pick something representative of the whole page, but I liked this bees and beehive design, so it’s the one I picked to share. This one illustrates a lot of my general points about the patterns from this shop. It’s small (2.79 by 2.57 inches, or about 7 by 6.5 cm on 14 count fabric), it looks like it’s all whole cross stitches and probably uses only six colors, and a couple of colors are only used for a handful of stitches.

Of the 300 plus cross stitch patterns available as of this writing, 140 are also available as cross stitch kits. These would be great to give as gifts if you’re trying to get someone interested in cross stitching. The kits include the pattern, fabric and floss, and you can choose to have it include a needle or not. The hoop is not included but the patterns explain what kind of hoop is shown if you want to get one to match.

So if you’re looking for cute, beginner friendly patterns for yourself or you’re trying to be a crafty enabler for someone else, check out Bella Rose Craft on Etsy.

[Photo: Bella Rose Craft]