Free Pattern Alert – Interesting Cross Stitch to Adapt

Denise over at Craft Gossip is the most wonderful source of alerts for free patterns for all kinds of needlework. Over the weekend she posted lots of great free cross stitch patterns. There were three I want to single out for you to give you some ideas of new things to look for when looking for needlepoint.

I was really struck by the peacefulness of the seascape pictured above from French site, Les grilles de Thiarlou. Just using whole stitches and a variety of colors, you get a real sense of movement in the sea. That’s an idea you could bring to other needlepoint easily. Think how cool a background or sky could be if you used a similar method.

Piet Mondrian’s graphic design is so iconic, it’s inspired all kinds of things. But it’s also an amazing basis for a cool needlepoint. Those large areas of bright colors are a perfect place to try new stitches. This pattern is from Cross Me Not. It’s small, but stitch the black lines and then fill in the blocks with different stitches.

You could also use the outline as the basis for trying different color schemes. While this wouldn’t be like Mondrian’s paintings, the simplicity of the design would be a simply wonderful way to try different colors combinations.

Last we have this little cat in silhouette from Blog di Gloria. Silhouettes are popular subjects for free cross stitches charts and are also often found in filet crochet charts. The make wonderful needlepoint, both when stitched in color on white canvas or in white on colored canvas. I like to keep the background on these unstitched and then add color or glitz by using bright or metallic paper or fabric behind the canvas. That gives the background some depth and adds another color.