I don’t know if I know what the real definition of primitive cross stitch is, but to me it means patterns that look old-fashioned, like colonial American-era samplers stitched on muslin or Bible quotes stitched alongside flowers and animals.
So pretty much exactly the designs from Scattered Seed Samplers. This Etsy shop has more than 80 cross stitch patterns available for shipping, from historical samplers to birds, bunnies, flowers, patterns with words and those without.
Since it’s fall as I write this I wanted to highlight the Hannah’s Thankful Heart pattern, which features a turkey, flowers and the phrase “Give Thanks with a Joyful Heart.” The turkey’s wing has the year 1621 stitched on it, which is the year of the first “Thanksgiving,” but you could leave that off if you don’t think that particular date is worth remembering.
It is 133 by 72 stitches and shown worked on 35ct. Weeks Dye Works fabric. It uses 10 colors and the design comes out to 8.31 by 4.5 inches when stitched. The designer recommends a 9 by 5 inch piece of fabric to have space around the design when you display it or turn it into a pillow as shown.
A lot of the designs here are billed as pinkeepers, and you can see that this one is, too, because it has some pins in it in the photo, but you could just use it as a display pillow rather than a pincushion if you’d rather. Some of the designs make strawberry shaped pin cushions, which is a cute spin on the classic mass produced tomato pin cushion.
I also love the Miss Isabelle Black pattern, which is a black cat wearing a dress and cardigan, holding a candy pumpkin, and visiting with some of her crow and mouse friends. It’s a fun one for Halloween that doesn’t scream spooky season but still has a touch of Halloween spirit.
Scattered Seed Samplers patterns ship from Wisconsin.
[Photo: Scattered Seed Samplers.]