Rose Bouquet Cross Stitch Pattern

Whether for Valentine’s Day or any other holiday, wouldn’t it be great to give that special someone some roses that won’t wilt? Or stitch them for yourself as a reminder even in the depths of winter than things will bloom again someday soon?

This cross stitch pattern features a half dozen roses in various stages of bloom, complete with long stems and leaves, and maybe even a few thorns for even more reality.

The pattern is from DMC and measures about 9.25 by 7 inches when stitched (that’s 23.5 by 18.5 centimeters). It calls for 14 count fabric.

It uses 12 colors to make the different shades of the roses, leaves and stems. This would be so pretty stitched as a pillow, or just frame it and make it a wall hanging so you can always have flowers to look at when you need them.

Though this is a pretty detailed (and large) design, it is suitable for new stitchers who are ready for a larger project.

This free pattern can be downloaded (signing up for a free account is required) from LoveCrafts. Check out their beginner’s guide to cross stitch if you need help with any of the basics before you get started on this pattern.

If you need help keeping track of where you are in the pattern, since it is rather large and takes up two pages, You can use these hints from Stitched Modern. Knowing where the center of the pattern is when you start is super helpful, and using tools like highlighter tape or a magnet board to mark where you are can help you keep track and know where you need to start the next time you start stitching.

[Photo via LoveCrafts.]

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Winter Word Art Cross Stitch Patterns

I have never stitched a greeting card, but I kind of like the idea of it. It’s a card and a gift all in one, and hopefully one the recipient will hang onto for years to come.

This collection of easy and colorful greeting card cross stitch patterns from Susan Bates (via Gathered) are a great place to start if you want to stitch your own greeting cards.

These text-based designs cover a lot of card-sending events, such as:

get well soon
happy birthday
thank you
thinking of you
congratulations
anniversary
new home
good luck

The lettering is done in gradients and there are other details like hearts and stars, a house key and a gift, depending on the text. There are full cross stitches and back stitch on all of the cards, and they use 15 colors for the cross stitching and six for the back stitching (and just two colors are used for both, so it’s 19 colors total).

The designs vary a bit in size but the biggest one is 52 by 67 stitches, which comes out to 3.75 by 4.75 inches or 9.5 by 12 cm when worked on 14 count fabric or 28 count evenweave. The text suggests beads are also used in the patterns but there’s no note of them in the key, so go wild and add some beads if you like.

Designs are worked on a price of 6 by 8 inch/15 by 20 cm fabric and then mounted to a card with a colorful baking piece of card stock behind it. This is easy to assemble with whatever cardstock greeting cards you have on hand.

You can get the free charts as a PDF from Gathered.

Have you ever stitched your own greeting cards? I’d love to hear about it, or let me know if these inspire you to try.

[Photo: Susan Bates via Gathered]

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