Double Four Patch Free Needlepoint Ornament

In my Christmas ornament collection I have several porcelain ornaments that are quilts. These delicate pieces are version in another medium of quilts you’d find on a bed, borders and all.

This has inspired me to create several ornaments that I call “quilt portraits.” They are versions, done in needlepoint stitches, of actual quilts. This Amish Double Four Patch is one of these. It is based on a quilt made around 1920 in Eastern Pennsylvania.

The quilt has two alternating blocks. One is a large solid square, jade green here. The other is a Double Four Patch block. The basic Four Patch takes a square and divides it into quadrants. The double version of the same block takes two of the quadrantas and divides them into quadrants again.

Traditional Amish quilts use only solid colors and do not use yellow, orange, or white. My stitched version uses Silk & Ivory throughout. It can be stitched in any selection of solid threads you like.

Following the chart below, stitch your Double Four Patch. The quilt has eight blocks across and nine blocks up and down. Click for the full-size chart.

The large green patches are stitched in Scotch Stitch, below.

The light blue areas of the divided squares are stitched in Mosaic Stitch, below.

The light blue border surrounding the center is stitch in Diagonal Gobelin, below. The Amish do not use mitered corners. Therefore stitch all corners in Tent Stitch.

The outside border is stitched in Tent Stitch as well in the model. The wide borders and solid colors of Amish quilts are a perfect canvas for elaborate quilting. You can mimic this in your quilt portrait by using a textured stitch for the border. One possibility would be to use Byzantine #2, below.

Come back next week for an other great free project.