Poppy Cross Stitch Patterns for Anzac Day

Anzac Day is marked each year on April 25 as a reminder of the battle of Gallipoli, a conflict against the Ottoman Turks in 1915 that resulted in the deaths of more than 8,000 Australian soldiers. Anzac is a nickname for the Australia and New Zealand Army Corps, and the day serves as a memorial for all Australians killed in military operations (similar to Memorial Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world).

As is traditional in some other countries, poppies are used as a symbol of remembrance, and there are many lovely poppy cross stitch patterns, whether specific to Anzac Day or otherwise, that would be meaningful to stitch for this day.

This Anzac Day cross stitch pattern from String Theory by McG features poppies, a kangaroo and a kiwi.

Stitch the Anzac Ode with a bugle player in a field of poppies with this design from Paddock Lane Designs. It measures 251 by 350 stitches, which comes out to 15.7 by 21.4 inches/39.8 by 54.4 cm on 16 count fabric.

More generally, PDFSTGStitchUK has a Lest we Forget design with a soldier in front of a cross with poppies. It measures 140 by 138 stitches so it’s almost 10 inches/25.5 cm square when stitched on 14 count fabric.

There’s also a Lest we Forget bookmark with a similar design from Purple Pansy XS. It comes out to 1.7 by 7 inches/4.3 by 17.8 cm on 16 count fabric. It uses full and three-quarter stitches as well as backstitching details.

This pretty poppy would be another good one to stitch for Anzac Day or Remembrance Day. It’s from Honeyeater Crafts and measures 119 by 220 stitches and uses 18 colors. Using 14 count fabric it comes out to 8.5 by 15.7 inches, or 21.6 by 39.9 cm.

If you’re looking for more poppies, I’ve collected some poppy cross stitch patterns before, and this one was shared by itself but it’s still really pretty, with a bit of a watercolor feel, and worth sharing again.

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Scandinavian Heart Cross Stitch Pattern

The post over at The Crafty Mummy has the click-baity title of “Is there a right or wrong way to cross stitch?” Of course the answer is no. As with any other craft, as long as you are happy with the results you’re doing it right and no one should try to convince you otherwise.

That said, there are things that you can do to make your cross stitch a little better if you aren’t totally happy with the way your projects are looking. They might not be considered the “right way,” but they are important things to think about and if you want to deviate from these “rules” at least you’ll know that you’re doing it.

You can head over there to read all the tips, but it’s things like making sure your stitches are all going in the same direction (meaning you stitch the bottom legs of a row all in the same direction, then work back and stitch all the top legs in the same direction). You wouldn’t think something like that would make a huge difference until you don’t do it and then you can’t unsee it.

Most of things things aren’t rules so much as they are reminders to be consistent in what you are doing as you work a project. So however you start doing things like stitch direction or the number of strands of floss (I might even add using a hoop versus not, since the hoop can stretch the fabric and change the tension of the stitches a bit) you should continue in that way throughout the project in order for it to look its best.

Head over to The Crafty Mummy to read the rest of her list, then come back here if you have something to add. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: The Crafty Mummy]

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