Latest News: needlework patterns
| Sign up for our newsletter ! |
All the news, as published in Creative Poppy's newsletter
Racing around the cauldron
Mice and a friendly ghost race around a log fire playing peek-a-boo while swirls of steam emerge from a bubbling cauldron. Have fun adding all the details on the cross stitch base, including an intriguing specialty stitch, as Faby Reilly takes you by the hand with her excellent tutorials.
>> see all the latest News for Halloween
An early 19th century English sampler, and a early 20th century French one
Thanks to Meriem Chauvet, the collector and designer behind Couleur Tourterelle, here are two charming reproduction samplers, that will let you reproduce the work of stitchers of yesteryears, and restitute the samplers to their former glory.
The samplers could not be more different, like the people of each country. But what they both have in common is their irresistible charm.
More English reproduction samplers by Couleur Tourterelle
More French reproduction samplers by Couleur Tourterelle
>> see all Reproduction Samplers by Couleur Tourterelle
Sunny colors of late summer
As if somewhat faded by the summer heat, we love the soft colors of these 4 miniature motifs, the perfect size for cross stitching Greeting cards. Cross stitch chart brought to you by Lesley Teare.
>> see more Greeting cards to cross stitch (all designers)
More Birthday and generic Greeting Cards patterns
>> see all patterns with Greeting Card motifs (all designers)
Less than 4 months until Christmas!
Here are two beautiful Christmas samplers brought to you by Lesley Teare. Both are conveniently composed of separate images, so you can stitch and savor each little motif at a time, and resume your Christmas cross stitching whenever you feel in the mood for it and have time to spare.
>> see all Christmas patterns by Lesley Teare
More Christmas Advent Calendar patterns
>> see all patterns with Advent Calendars and more Xmas projects (all designers)
>> see all the recent Christmas News on Creative Poppy's website
Blue roses for a bride-to-be
What we love about stitchers is the amount of thought they can put into a project, and the way they can turn a design into something really unique. Whenever we can, we like to share these stories with fellow cross stitchers, as we know a creative idea tends to trigger more creative ideas.
We were puzzled recently to receive a very particular request. Could the roses of Perrette Samouiloff's Singing Bird Rose Heart be adapted so the roses would be blue?
Why on earth would you want blue roses when the pattern's colors are so pretty, with roses a gentle mix of pink and yellow, and a lime green singing bird and foliage? Helen A. explained: She was stitching for a bride-to-be and the young lady favorite color was blue: "I just knew pink wouldn’t work with this bride….she is more of a back-to-nature person… but I loved the pattern!" said Helen.
Now here at Creative Poppy we are very much appreciative of designer's work, and we admire the talent and expertise of our Designers. Perrette Samouiloff has a very special way of selecting colors you wouldn't expect to work in a pattern, but amazingly they work wonders when you see the stitched piece!
So we responded, certainly not encouragingly:
"It is very delicate to switch colors in a design with several color families. The careful balance of colors typical to Perrette's designs might be lost.
If you still intend to switch the 4 pinks:
- Pull out a skein for each color in the original design
- Using a DMC color card, select several ranges of 4 blues in the same intensities as the 4 pink.
- Check each range against remaining colors to see which range works best with remaining colors."
A couple of weeks later, surprise, we received a picture of the ... blue roses!
 | | Singing Bird Rose Heart | Counted cross stitch pattern by Perrette Samouiloff Original on the right, reinterpreted by Helen A. on the left |
| 
|
Well Helen made an amazing job of selecting the colors. I must admit I had serious doubts but Helen "took the gamble' it turned magnificient and the blues blend in beautifully with the yellows and greens.
We still wouldn't advise to change colors in a pattern, but thought this is quite an interesting story to share.
Congratulations to the Bride and Groom, and thanks so much Helen for sending the picture!
>> see all Wedding patterns by Perrette Samouiloff
More Wedding Patterns
>> see all Wedding patterns (all designers)
Cute little Christmas ornaments and Greeting cards to cross stitch
Perfect for making ornaments - such as these pretty Christmas stockings - or a greeting card for a Special One, these cheerful Christmas mini motifs are brought to you by Lesley Teare Designs.
More mini-motifs patterns for Christmas by Lesley Teare Designs
>> see all Christmas patterns by Lesley Teare Designs
Pretty hand-made ornaments for Christmas
Brought to you by Perrette Samouiloff and featuring a mix of characters, Christmas motifs and intricate geometric designs, here is a varied selection of ornaments to embellish your home for the festive season. Each set of designs comes with a detailed tutorial to help you complete the ornament up to the last detail. The 3 sets of ornaments all match and can be combined to form a full collection of hand-stitched Chrsitmas ornaments.
The joys of Christmas to come
Why not join these cheerful children and enjoy those precious times preparing the house for the festive season? Designer Perrette Samouiloff excels at both tenderly depicting children and rendering Christmas in ways intimately connected to nature.
More Christmas patterns by Perrette Samouiloff
>> see all Christmas patterns by Perrette Samouiloff
New Tiny Christmas House Ornaments by Marie-Anne Réthoret-Mélin
Given how popular her first Tiny House series have been, the designer has designed 3 new ones: the green shutter House, the Hearts House and the Potted Trees House. Match them with the original series and you can build a complete village. Or mix them with Marie-Anne Rethorets' other cute hanging ornaments you can now fill an entire Christmas tree with your own hand-stitched decorations, in varied shapes but matching colors!
We love the extra cute cross stitch designs, their unique shapes and crystal clear finishing tutorials. Great cross stitch ideas brought to you by the ever creative Marie-Anne Rethoret-Melin.
More Christmas patterns by Marie-Anne Rhétoret-Mélin
>> see all Christmas patterns by Marie-Anne Rhétoret-Mélin
Portrait of a Woodpecker, by Lesley Teare
While you may know Lesley Teare for her Cross stitch and Blackwork designs, she is also an expert birdwatcher - and it shows when she tackles the complex work of creating a portrait of a woodpecker, more often heard than seen, as it hammers a half rotten tree trunk, searching for food by chasing out surprised insects. Seen in profile, this is a wonderful portrait mixing cross stitch and a tiny touch of Blackwork.
More Birds patterns by Lesley Teare
>> see all Birds patterns by Lesley Teare Designs
A Summer House and Garden by Lesley Teare
Brought to you by Lesley Teare, here is the second in a series of classic cross stitch samplers featuring a typical georgian House in the English countryside. The Summer pattern features a potted apple tree heavy with fruit and rabbits leaping across the green lawn.
More Houses patterns by Lesley Teare
>> see all Samplers by Lesley Teare Designs
More Summer gardens
>> see all Gardens patterns (all designers)
Barbara Ana's Winged Dreams against a mountain sunset
We love it when we hear from a stitcher who comes up with a lovely personal interpretation of a design. It shows how stitchers really appropriate a pattern, coming up with the most brilliant ideas.
In this case, Nona J., having decided to stitch Barbara Ana's Winged Dreams came across a lovely Etsy shop selling printed Aida fabrics in a great variety of atmospheric backgrounds, including this colorful sunset.
"It had all the best colors and a oncoming night sky at the top which was perfect for tones chosen by Barbara Ana." Kindly Nona agreed to share it with us.
 | | Winged Dreams | Counted cross stitch pattern by Barbara Ana Designs Original on the right, reinterpreted by Nona J. on the left |
| 
|
Congratulations Nona on the awesome piece. We sent it to Barbara who approved "The fabric is stunning and it's perfect for Winged dreams, it's so creative and pretty"
Underwater worlds
Barbara Ana's latest dreaming girl is actually a mermaid. But look closer and you will discover several surprise landscapes among the luxurious underwater life. Like all her designs, this cross stitch pattern by Barbara Ana's is a lot of fun to complete, each new part filled with wonderful surprises, stitch after stitch.
More underwater patterns by Barbara Ana
More patterns with Mermaids (all designers)
>> see all patterns with Mermaids (all designers)
Tiny yet stylish William Morris style mini motifs
It's amazing how much Lesley Teare manages to incorporate into such tiny motifs. The expert designer has already tackled much larger design inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, but these tiny ones, involving full cross stitch only are proof of her talent.
More patterns suitable for Beginners
>> see all patterns for Beginners (all designers)
Nautical inspiration
Can you resist stitching these cute little sailors, practicing nautical knots in pairs, and getting seemingly a bit entangled on the way. A cross stitch pattern brought to you by Perrette Samouiloff.
Additionally, at the request of her fans, Perrette has created a matching Birth Sampler designed for either a Girl or a Boy.
 | 
Nautical birth Samplers
For Boy (on the left) or for Girl (on the right) | | Counted cross stitch pattern by Perrette Samouiloff |
|  |
>> see more Baby and Toddler patterns by Perrette Salouiloff
More nautical patterns by Perrette Samouiloff
>> see all Seaside patterns by Perrette Samouiloff
Summer garden joys
Summer days are here. Beans are ready for harvesting. Dahlias are in full bloom. Part of the vegetable patch is already empty - time to add some new compost. Designer Samantha Purdy captures the simple joys of life - in cross stitch - in a series of very personal contemporary-style patterns. These new summer garden designs are her latest addition to a wonderful collection of snapshots of life's happy moments.
More Summer patterns by Samantha Purdy Needlecrafts
>> see all Summer patterns by Samantha Purdy Needlecrafts
More patterns with Wheelbarrows (all designers)
Did you know Creative Poppy also offers chart packs?
Creative Poppy patterns are available as downloadable pattern files. However, if you would like to receive professionally printed charts, we can also deliver your charts directly to your mail box.
This is ideal if you don't want to bother with downloading and printing your files, or if you can't obtain best quality print-outs at home. Also it's nice to have a beautiful chart you can archive.
What you get:
- Professionally printed color charts on beautiful extra smooth paper. Each chart is packaged individually in a sleeve.
- Chart packs are shipped in a strong flat box so they reach you in perfect state.
>> find out about our Shipping by Mail service
By the way, you still get your downloadable chart. So you can source your supplies while you wait for the postman, you can print out working copies that can be used for highlighting while stitching.
That's not all! More news continued on next page...
>> more Creative Poppy News (continued...)
Creative Poppy Newsletter
| Sign up for our newsletter ! |
Samantha Purdy Textile
.jpg)
