Review: Cross-Stitch Samplers

Samplers are the classic, quintessential cross-stitch project, probably what most people think of when they think of cross-stitch.

And while they are kind of old-fashioned, they’re a great way to build skills and to commit to working a larger project. You’ll definitely learn a lot if you choose to stitch a sampler!

Cross-Stitch Samplers is a booklet from Herrschners and Leisure Arts that includes five samplers.

The Pedigree of Honey features the alphabet and an Emily Dickinson poem, along with bee and flower motifs. The Joy of Stitching includes a variety of flowers and hearts, while A Giving Heart features the alphabet and a heart with the sentiment “My heart is yours.”

A Mother is Love includes those words, a heart-shaped wreath, butterflies and flowers, and Stitches of Love also includes lots of hearts and flowers.

The projects can be stitched as designed or you could pull out a motif or a section to use alone or on another project. For instance a row of flowers could be stitched on a bookmark, or a single heart used on a greeting cards.

The samplers themselves would also be fun to stitch (the first one is my favorite) and this booklet is great for people just starting out stitching samplers or for long-time sampler fans.

About the book: 24 pages, paperback, five patterns. Published April 1, 2016 by Leisure Arts. Retail price $9.99

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Bee Cross Stitch Patterns

I was trying to think of some different Christmas cross stitch pattern themes that I could share with you and I came up with wanting to do a post of patterns with ornaments on them that aren’t necessarily ornaments themselves.

This is a really hard term to search for, so I’m sure there is more than what I was able to find. But I love the idea of stitching up some ornaments if you don’t have space for a tree or want to send a little holiday cheer from afar. Let’s take a look at these cross stitch patterns featuring Christmas ornaments.

The bold baubles sampler from xCounting the Starsx is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. This set of 16 little ornaments would be cute propped up on a mantle or bookshelf, and of course you could stitch them individually and turn them into ornaments, too, if you wanted. The full design is 165 by 186 stitches and uses 30 colors.

If you want even more baubles that you can mix and match into your own sampler project, check out this collection from Mason Art Maison. It includes a whopping 140 cross stitch Christmas ornaments that you can combine or use on individual projects. I love the hand drawn and painted look of these. There are seven pages or ornaments, each of which is around 300 by 300 stitches, with the individual ornaments running around 70 by 70 stitches.

Looking for something smaller? This little branch with three ball ornaments from Wild Bluebell Patterns is super cute and just 59 by 43 stitches. It comes out to 4.2 by 3.1 inches (or 10.7 by 7.8 cm).

Or try this little bundle of three baubles from Ecliptica Design. They’re shown in individual frames but you could also line them up into one project. Each is 34 by 38 stitches, or 2.4 by 2.7 inches/6.2 by 6.9 cm. They use five colors and two blends each.

Snail Fishes Stitches also has a cute Christmas ornament cross stitch pattern with a variety of little ornaments. This one uses just three colors and is 63 by 64 stitches. It’s perfect for a 5 or 6 inch hoop if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

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