Otter in a Patchwork Quilt with a Mug Cross Stitch Pattern

About this otter cross stitch pattern

An otter sits on a wooden floor with a patchwork quilt pulled over its head and shoulders like a hood, holding a striped mug with steam curling up from it. The quilt is a patchwork of red, blue, green and cream squares, each with its own small print. A green lantern glows beside it, and a few pink and yellow flowers grow at the edges.

It’s a picture for cold evenings, warm and a little sleepy, and it works from autumn through winter without any holiday theme. Hang it beside the Otter in Pajamas with a Lantern for a matching pair, or with the Bear Cub with a Steaming Mug for a set of animals with hot drinks. Our winter round-up has more cozy designs.

What you need

• Fabric: 14-count Aida in white, cut to at least 19“ x 16“ (3“ around the design for hooping and framing).
• Thread: 24 DMC colors, about 24 skeins in total, stitched with two strands. The main colors are 310 Black (1,897 stitches), 739 Tan – Ultra Very Light (1,644) and 3064 Desert Sand (1,426).
• Needle: a size 24 tapestry needle.
• Stitches: full cross stitches only, with no backstitch.

Difficulty and stitching time

It’s rated Advanced because of the quilt. Every patch has its own small pattern, and the colors change every few stitches across the whole blanket. At 14,492 stitches it takes roughly 145 to 242 hours at a steady 60 to 100 stitches an hour; about 38% of the fabric stays bare.

Tips for stitching this pattern

• Stitch the quilt one patch at a time. Each square is outlined in 310 Black (1,897 stitches). Finish the outline of a patch, then fill it completely before moving on, so the small prints stay lined up.
• Keep the quilt reds and blues on a card. 21 Alizarin – Light (853 stitches), 3722 Shell Pink – Medium (714), 501 Blue Green – Dark (1,097) and 931 Antique Blue – Medium (870) repeat in many patches. Labeling them saves digging through the pile each time a patch changes.
• Stitch the otter’s face before the quilt edge around it. 3064 Desert Sand (1,426 stitches) and 437 Tan – Light (1,401) shape the face and paws. Getting the face right first means the quilt simply wraps around it.

Size, fabric and framing

On 14-count Aida the finished design measures 12.1“ x 9.9“ (30.7 x 25.1 cm). On 16-count it comes out at 10.6“ x 8.6“, and on 18-count at 9.4“ x 7.7“. A 12“ x 16“ frame hung landscape leaves room for a mat.

Because the quilt is so colorful, a plain cream mat lets it stand out.

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