Stitch Designs with a Classic Look from Kathy Barrick

Today’s designer spotlight is on Kathy Barrick, a designer based in Maryland who gives a classic look to her projects.

When I opened her Etsy shop one of the first designs I saw was this one all about different words for blue, which I thought was funny because my daughter’s school lets the teachers teach whatever they want for the last two weeks of school and one of the teachers last year taught a class on the history of blue. Which seemed kind of weird to me but apparently there’s a lot to know about blue, and this particular project was inspired by a book written by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1814 all about blue.

In addition to that you’ll find alphabet samplers, old-fashioned birds, classic holiday themed projects and more.

Another one that caught my eye was this autumn themed pin drum, which is apparently just a different size and shape of pincushion (I got excited for a second thinking it was for knitting needle storage, since knitting needles used to be called pins). It uses five colors and measures 170 by 78 stitches and has a cute little velvet pumpkin on top, so it’s useful and decorative.

Since I’m writing and sharing this around Halloween I also can’t resist pointing out the Halloween birthday sampler, which would be fun to make for anyone born in October or who loves spooky season. It features a witch in a graveyard with cats and bats and it would be fun to stitch that part even without the words around it. Or make it just as it is even if you don’t know someone born on Halloween! It uses 14 colors (she used silk but there’s a DMC conversion as well) and measures 106 by 82 stitches.

Check out all of her pretty, classic designs at her shop on Etsy.

[Photo: Kathy Barrick]

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Cross Stitch for Women's History Month

If you like seasonal samplers and cross stitch patterns with a primitive twist, you’ll enjoy the collection from Curious Carrie Designs.

You’ll find alphabet designs, biscornu, patriotic projects and more. The summer category is the largest on the storefront, with Americana and floral designs. There are also categories for the other seasons and more general designs.

One of my favorites is this pretty sunflower cross stitch pattern, which is shown styled as a biscornu but it wouldn’t have to be. The pattern features sunflowers and bees and a little beehive. It uses 12 colors of floss and each side of the pattern is 51 by 51 stitches, which comes out to 3.64 inches or 9.2 cm square.

I love the fabric she used for the sample, which she actually dyed purple herself, but it would also be pretty on a purchased light blue or other color if you don’t want to dye your own.

There’s also a whole set of themed biscornu with a four letter word on one side (crow, home, love and snow, to name a few) along with a seasonal pattern on the other side.

The shop has a rather small selection at around 90 patterns as of this writing, but it’s a nice collection of traditional looking designs heavy on samplers and biscornu designs, so if those are things you like you’ll want to be sure to check it out. Visit Curious Carrie Designs on Etsy to see all her pretty designs.

Are you a designer or do you have a favorite cross stitch designer who hasn’t made it into the spotlight yet? (You can see all the featured designers in the craft businesses category on the page.) Let me know in the comments, or you can submit more detailed information by clicking on “suggest a craft” at the center top of the page.

[Photo: Curious Carrie Designs]

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