Pretty Little London!

Still working on the elephant pincushion, but I thought I'd mention one of my favorite Satsuma Street patterns, Pretty Little London!

This modern cross stitch design of the London skyline features some of the city's most iconic landmarks, done in my colorful graphic way.  You have Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and St. Paul's cathedral, as well as more modern structures like the London Eye, the Shard, and the Gherkin building.  And of course because it's London, there's a happy little raincloud!

Like my other city patterns, this London design is inspired by Mary Blair and her designs for It's a Small World.  I love taking the features of a city and trying to make them graphic and stylish while still evoking the place.

This pattern is available in my etsy shop, and makes a great companion piece to my other city designs!

Elephants!

Just thought I'd share the latest pattern in progress...a cross stitch elephant pincushion!  This is actually going to be a biscornu, which I had never heard of until recently, but they are all the rage in needlework these days.  They're made with two squares of fabric that are offset, which gives them a funny shape.  I thought it would be fun to put my modern cross stitch spin on the biscornu, but I've never made one, so hopefully it turns out well.  If it works, the pattern should be in the shop next week!

New Patterns on Satsuma Street!

So much has been going on since launching the shop, it's been hard to keep up with blogging!  But there are lots of new, modern and hip cross stitch patterns available in my etsy shop!  This latest pattern is a new favorite of mine...it's Pretty Little Tokyo!

  Like my other city patterns, Pretty Little Tokyo channels the design sensibility of Mary Blair and It's a Small World, while bringing in modern elements such as Tokyo's Cocoon Tower and Skytree.  This pattern looks so lovely as a companion piece to my other travel themed patterns, Pretty Little Paris and Pretty Little London!  I'm so happy with how this one turned out, and I hope other modern cross stitchers agree!

In other news, I'm also blogging now on tumblr!  I'm using my tumblr page as a place to collect my favorite photos of colorful, hip embroidery and needlework; cheerful color palettes; and inspiring graphic design.  So check me out at satsumastreet.tumblr.com!