Blog / cross-stitch

(This is the second cross-stitch love post. Check out the first post here.)

After my involvement with the traveling exhibition Birth of Cool: California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury at the Blanton Museum of Art (I gave a gallery talk on midcentury pottery and ceramics), I've developed an appreciation for midcentury modern furniture; hence, my attraction to the amazing cross-stitch patterns of the tinymodernist that feature modern chairs, including these:

I also love these phone patterns (my family had a beige rotary phone, similar to the red one below, up through my high school years):

For more cross-stitch patterns (and super cute baby clothes featuring midcentury furniture silhouettes) check out the tinymodernist Etsy shop here and the tinymodernist blog here.

All images used with the permission of tinymodernist.

Since I started cross-stitching again a few months ago, I've found a lot of excellent cross-stitchers doing fun and unique work. Over the next few weeks, I'll share some of my favorites. 

First up are designs from andwabisabi. Grace is the gal behind andwabisabi and her Etsy shop features a variety of cute and quirky patterns (like glass beakers, hamburgers, and soy sauce bottles). What I especially love are Grace's simple text and heart designs...

...and her use of colored fabrics for backgrounds.

I'm also completely smitten with these covered button magnets: 

Spell out your love.

I love the idea of cross-stitching on small and unexpected surfaces. These designs would also be adorable on pin-back buttons.

All images used with the permission of andwabisabi.

At their wedding over two years ago, two of my friends handed out buttons to their guests which read "Por Vida." (A button which is impossible to photograph, by the way.)

So as a recent gift to them, I decided to cross-stitch their phrase and frame it.

The colors for the stitched phrase were loosely based on the colors of the original button, and the lettering was taken from my trusty booklet of cross-stitch alphabets. The frame is an inexpensive one from Ikea that I painted black.

I found the font online (rather than in my trusty cross-stitch alphabet booklet) and added a navy blue border of my own design around the phrase.