Bluebells Cross Stitch Pattern

About this bluebell cross stitch pattern

Each of the three bells is shaded in a slightly different blue, so they read as separate flowers rather than a repeated shape, and a bold black outline holds the whole design together. The tall layout leaves open fabric on either side, which looks deliberate once it’s framed.

Bluebells feel woodland and unfussy next to a garden rose, so this suits a reading nook, a bathroom or a bedroom, and it’s calm enough to sit in a gallery wall without competing. The floral collection has more flowers and houseplants. It’s also in our spring patterns round-up.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 12“ x 13“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 15 DMC colors, about 15 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 310 Black (904 stitches), 909 Emerald Green – Very Dark (370) and 703 Chartreuse (306).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Intermediate. It’s short, roughly 20 to 35 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour, but the blues that shade the bells are close in tone and easy to confuse under artificial light. The black outline alone is 904 stitches, almost half the design.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Stitch the whole outline first. With the 904 stitches of 310 Black in place, every blue and green fill has a hard edge to stop at, instead of you guessing where a petal ends.
• Sort the blues before you start. 797 Royal Blue, 996 Electric Blue – Medium, 3766 Peacock Blue – Light and 792 Cornflower Blue – Dark sit side by side in the bells. Label them on a floss card.
• Add the white highlights last. The 22 stitches of B5200 Snow White are the light catching inside the bells. Placed last, you can see exactly where they belong against the finished blue.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 5.4“ x 6.4“ (13.7 x 16.3 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 4.7“ x 5.6“, and on 18-count at 4.2“ x 5.0“. For the 14-count version, an 8“ x 10“ frame leaves room for a mat.

It also fits a 7-inch hoop, which suits the light, woodland feel better than a heavy frame.

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