Patriotic Cross Stitch Patterns

Summer is the time of patriotic holidays in the United States, so it’s a great time to stitch up some red, white and blue cross stitch projects for the Fourth of July or just for summer decor.

Curious Carrie Designs has this cute Americana pattern that would be great to have on display all summer long. It includes an American flag in a watering can full of flowers. The design measure 55 by 60 stitches, which comes out to 4 by 4.375 inches, or 10 by a little more than 11 cm, when worked on 14 count fabric. (The sample is shown on 32 count linen, which is more like 16.) It uses 16 colors.

This Fourth of July design from Lotus Lake Stitching is specific to the holiday, but it wouldn’t have to be if you didn’t stitch the words. The little buildings and fireworks are so cute, and I love that random red, white and blue bird. It uses nine colors and measures 247 by 83 stitches. That’s 17.3 by 5.9 inches, or about 44 by 15 cm on 14 count fabric.

The burlap colored fabric on this project from Needle Treasures Nook makes it look especially rustic, but it would have a different look with pure white or light blue fabric behind the stitches. This one uses nine colors and is 72 by 71 stitches, and was worked on tea-dyed 36 count linen fabric.

The Sub Rosa Design has this patriotic garden design full of geometric red, white and blue flowers. This is one of a series of their designs so if you like it you should check them all out. This one is 131 by 71 stitches and is about 7.8 by 4 inches/20 by 10 cm on 36 count linen.

Wombat Stitching offers this one that is fully Fourth of July (and a little Captain America for fun I guess). It uses nine colors and is 193 by 193 stitches. That comes out to about 13.8 inches or 35 cm square on 14 count fabric.

The cross stitcher behind the blog Sirious Stitches is quite into biscornu.

If you’re not, a quick primer: biscornu are three-dimensional cross-stitched objects with eight points, often with an indention in the middle that makes them look a bit like doughnuts without the hole. They can be just about any size and subject you can think of. They’re often used as pincushions but can also be seasonal decor or just decoration for any time of year.

I’ve got a collection of biscornu cross stitch patterns here.

Once you’ve stitched one or several (they are a little addicting) you might wonder what you can add to them to make them even more extra.

It very much depends on the design of your biscornu and the look you are going for, but Sirious Stitches has a great post all about some of the options you might consider.

I don’t want to give you the whole list because you need to go visit and see all of their great biscornu they’ve stitched, but one really easy thing that you can do with a lot of designs is take advantage of that center indent by adding a button, beads, silk flower or another embellishment.

This is great to do just with a basic button from your stash that coordinates with the design and colors of the cross stitching, but it’s extra fun if you have a button that’s on theme, such as a leaf for a fall biscornu or a flower shaped button for a floral design. Add a jingle bell to a Christmas pattern, or a charm if you don’t have a button that coordinates.

Just this one idea is sure to get you thinking about ways to embellish biscornu (not to mention other cross stitch projects) but head over to Sirious Stitches to see all of their ideas for embellishing biscornu to make these already fun projects even more fun.

Have you ever made biscornu? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sirious Stitches]

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