Cross-Stitch

Charts, patterns and everything needlepoint

Q- Snap Love

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My most used tool as a cross stitcher is my group of Q-Snap hoops. I use these more than any other tool or hoop I own.

The versatility of this set soamazing. The various sizes interchange, giving you almost unlimited size options.They require very little in the way of stabilization for your fabric and they leave minimal or no markings or stretching on your finished product. They are so lightweight that you can hold them for long periods without a stand. The company does offer a floor stand, however. I just have mine in my wooden floor-stand. The hoop vises in there fine!

There are sizes ranging from 6″ to 17″. The hoops are sold in squares or rectangles,that can be pulled apart and interchanged and use a ribbed pvc clamp.

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Comments

  1. Another good suggestion for Qsnaps is to use a piece of spongy shelf liner (rubbermaid??) which you can cut in strips as a liner for the grips. It holds my linen tight and when it wears out, cut another piece. One roll of shelf liner will last years.

Have you read?

Designer Spotlight: The Sub Rosa Design

Traditional cross stitch designs and samplers with a primitive twist are the specialty of The Sub Rosa Design, an Etsy shop based in Hungary.

The largest section in the store is the Halloween/Thanksgiving section, which includes plenty of witches, crows and pumpkins. One that caught my eye is called Pumpkin Angel, a primitive design that looks like a woman with a pumpkin head with wings standing by a gate with pots of sunflowers.

The design is 199 by 67 stitches, which comes out to about 6.8 by 4 inches/17.5 by 10 cm stitched on 32 count linen as shown.

There are also a lot of Christmas patterns, heavy on Santa and snowmen and reindeer. The Easter and spring section includes projects with birds, lambs and rabbits with an old-fashioned feel.

There’s also a large number of sampler cross stitch patterns, taken from historical designs with their original stitchers names and dates on them. I like Lily Hall’s floral design that was originally stitched in 1884. It’s so fun to look at these (or stitch them!) and think about the women (or more accurately probably children learning to stitch) who made the originals and what their lives were like all those years ago. And how cool it is that we’re still doing the exact same thing all these years later!

In addition to holiday and sampler themed projects, there are also patriotic (Americana) designs, a few projects with bees, and a couple of patterns called Sweet Rosie, which seems to be a character stitched in the projects.

You can check out all of their designs at The Sub Rosa Design. If you check them out I’d love to know what patterns you try and how it goes for you!

Have a cross stitch designer you love who should be in the spotlight? Let me know in the comments.

[Photo: The Sub Rosa Design]