Stitch All Kinds of Samplers from Long Dog Sampler

I keep picking cross stitch designers to feature at random from a list that I found online a while ago (with a few Etsy shops that I like thrown in) and it seems like most of them make lots of sampler cross stitch patterns.

This is really interesting to me because I’ve never stitched a sampler and I don’t think I would ever want to, but I guess a lot of people must be or there wouldn’t be so many people selling samplers, right? If you stitch samplers, by the way, I’d love to hear about it!

Samplers of all sorts of styles are on offer from this week’s featured designer, Long Dog Sampler. They have organized their patterns in the following categories:

traditional
Dutch
Quaker
geometric
monochromatic
generic
band

I do not know what all the differences are, through traditional looks to be traditional British styles. I don’t know where the classification “generic” comes from or why any of these would be labeled that. There are a lot of patterns featuring animals, and the thumbnail photo for the category is Opus Magnusson, shown above, which certainly doesn’t look like anything I would call generic. (It says it is inspired by Celtic and Icelandic traditions, so maybe generic just means it doesn’t fall into one of those other categories?)

If smaller projects are more your speed, peruse the peccadilloes section, which features mostly monochromatic samplers and bands. The squares and bands respectively are all the same size, so you can stitch one individually or combine patterns to make a sampler all your own. They also have a handful of non-sampler patterns, including Santa Quill, a pattern where Santa is played by a crow, riding a sleigh pulled by rabbits. You truly need to see it to believe it (and to read the new rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” included in the pattern description).

[Photo: Long Dog Sampler]

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Cross Stitch Patterns for National Puppy Day

There are so many fun ways you can go when stitching Halloween cross stitch patterns or giving your place a slightly spooky or witchy vibe any time of year. I love the look of little potion bottles, whether they’re real bottles lined up on the mantle or shelf or cross stitched versions like these.

The gorgeous Elixir of Life cross stitch pattern from Makaronka Stitch is decidedly not Halloween in its vibes, so it would be fun to stitch and display any time of year. This is also definitely not a pattern for beginners, as it uses 37 colors and 34 blends to make the beautiful colors. It also uses full and half cross stitches, back stitch and French knots. The design measures 82 by 115 stitches, which comes out to 5.8 by 8.2 inches or 14.88 by 20.86 cm on 14 count fabric.

If you’re looking for something a little smaller but still a lot of fun, check out this set of six potion bottles from MIYA Stitch. I love how each bottle seems to have its own personality, from one with a pumpkin and witch hat to one with crystals, mushrooms, or a butterfly and flower. The patterns are 60 by 88 stitches each. That’s 4.3 by 6.3 inches or 11 by 16 cm on 14 count fabric. The full set uses 26 colors and blends.

Or try this set of five mini potion bottles from Plenty of Strings. I love the colors on these and they’d look great as a set on one piece of fabric or individually stitches as shown. Each one fits in a 3-inch hoop.

These minis from Giselles Cross Stitch are really cute, too, though they are meant to be worked together as one piece. The whole pattern uses 26 colors and measures 93 by 107 stitches, which comes out to 6.6 by 7.6 inches or 16.8 by 19.4 cm on 14 count fabric. They’re perfect on black or a dark blue fabric.

I also like this bigger set of potion bottles from SamXstitch, which is meant to be stitched as a set but you could also work individual bottles in their own frames if you’d rather. The full design uses 10 colors and is 123 by 173 stitches. Taht comes out to 8.78 by 12.36 inches/22.31 by 31.39 cm on 14 count fabric.

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