How to Work Quarter Stitches in Cross Stitch

January 16, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I have done a fair bit of smaller cross stitch pieces in my time (and I definitely have working something bigger as a goal for 2024!) but for the most part I’ve only worked projects with full cross stitches, backstitch and French knots. Of course I know other stitches aren’t necessarily harder, they just involve skills I haven’t actually tried yet.

Last year I wrote a piece sharing information about partial stitches in cross stitch, what they look like in a chart, and how to work them.

Then I found this post all about quarter stitch from Sirious Stitches, which is worth a read as a deep dive into how quarter stitches work and how to make them.

As you might guess from the name, a quarter stitch looks like you have stitched one quarter of a full cross stitch. So instead of working the full x, you’re only working half of one side of the x.

To do this you have to make your own hole in the center of the square and then work from there to whatever hole you need to finish the stitch.

The post linked above shows how to work a single quarter stitch, as well as a three-quarter stitch (one leg is normal and one is made like the quarter stitch), as well as the double quarter stitch and double three-quarter stitch. There’s also an option to combine a three-quarter stitch and a quarter stitch where the quarter is worked in a different color from the three-quarter part.

It’s all a little mind-boggling, but the post has good examples of what these different options look like in a chart and in your stitching, and why different methods might be preferred in different situations. This is pretty high-level stuff, but if you ever need to know how to do it you’ll be glad these terms are familiar to you.

Do you work projects with partial stitches or do you stick to whole stitches? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

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How to Make French Knots

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Cross Stitch Patterns with Christmas Ornaments

I was trying to think of some different Christmas cross stitch pattern themes that I could share with you and I came up with wanting to do a post of patterns with ornaments on them that aren’t necessarily ornaments themselves.

This is a really hard term to search for, so I’m sure there is more than what I was able to find. But I love the idea of stitching up some ornaments if you don’t have space for a tree or want to send a little holiday cheer from afar. Let’s take a look at these cross stitch patterns featuring Christmas ornaments.

The bold baubles sampler from xCounting the Starsx is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. This set of 16 little ornaments would be cute propped up on a mantle or bookshelf, and of course you could stitch them individually and turn them into ornaments, too, if you wanted. The full design is 165 by 186 stitches and uses 30 colors.

If you want even more baubles that you can mix and match into your own sampler project, check out this collection from Mason Art Maison. It includes a whopping 140 cross stitch Christmas ornaments that you can combine or use on individual projects. I love the hand drawn and painted look of these. There are seven pages or ornaments, each of which is around 300 by 300 stitches, with the individual ornaments running around 70 by 70 stitches.

Looking for something smaller? This little branch with three ball ornaments from Wild Bluebell Patterns is super cute and just 59 by 43 stitches. It comes out to 4.2 by 3.1 inches (or 10.7 by 7.8 cm).

Or try this little bundle of three baubles from Ecliptica Design. They’re shown in individual frames but you could also line them up into one project. Each is 34 by 38 stitches, or 2.4 by 2.7 inches/6.2 by 6.9 cm. They use five colors and two blends each.

Snail Fishes Stitches also has a cute Christmas ornament cross stitch pattern with a variety of little ornaments. This one uses just three colors and is 63 by 64 stitches. It’s perfect for a 5 or 6 inch hoop if you stitch it on 14 count fabric.

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