Badger Carrying a Peony Cross Stitch Pattern

About this badger cross stitch pattern

The badger leans back with its nose in the air, holding the long stem of a pink flower almost as big as its own body, as if it’s on its way to deliver it. Under its feet is a strip of grass, clover and bare earth; the rest of the background is left as fabric, about half of the area.

Unlike most woodland animals, it has nothing to do with autumn, so it can go up in spring and stay there. It’s a good gift for a gardener or anyone who grows peonies. The same animal appears in two other moods: Badger with Spiced Cider for fall and the Woodland Badger Wizard in a leafy hat. It’s one of our free spring cross stitch patterns.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 17“ x 19“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 14 DMC colors, about 15 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 939 Navy Blue – Very Dark (2,630 stitches), 535 Ash Gray – Very Light (1,809) and 367 Pistachio Green – Dark (1,541).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. There’s no tricky technique; the work is in the shading. The bloom alone is 2,546 stitches in four pinks (3354, 963, 223 and 315) laid in short curved runs, so you’ll change color often in that part of the chart. If you’ve finished a medium-sized piece before, it’s a comfortable next step.

Expect roughly 130 to 210 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Trust the number, not the color name, on 535. The thread list calls DMC 535 “Ash Gray – Very Light”, but it’s a deep charcoal and it’s the badger’s dark body. If the skein looks darker than its name, you have the right one.
• Stitch the petal lines first. The 433 stitches of 315 Antique Mauve – Medium Dark draw the spiral of the bloom. With them in, the lighter pinks are easy to fill between.
• Save the eye highlight for last. A single stitch of B5200 Snow White is the catchlight in the badger’s eye; stitched early, it’s easy to bury under a fill color.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 10.4“ x 12.3“ (26.4 x 31.2 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 9.1“ x 10.8“, and on 18-count at 8.1“ x 9.6“. For the 14-count version, a 14“ x 18“ frame leaves room for a mat.

The navy outlines and pink bloom look fresh against a white mat, which suits the spring feel of the design.

What’s in the free PDF

• A cover page and a one-page overview with a preview of the design
• The chart, split across as many printable pages as you choose, in color or black and white, with a symbol for every DMC color, center lines, a mini-map showing which part of the design each page covers and a color key on every page
• The thread list: DMC number, color name, number of stitches and skeins to buy for each color
• The finished size on 11-, 14-, 16-, 18- and 28-count Aida