Bluebird Cross Stitch Pattern

Small birds are a classic needlework subject because a few well-placed colors are enough to suggest feathers, a bright eye and a round, alert posture. This bluebird cross stitch pattern shows an original songbird perched on a twig, looking to the right: blue head and back, a darker folded wing and tail, a rust orange breast and a pale belly. The design is 28 x 21 stitches, with 292 full crosses in 7 colors and no backstitch at all.

There are more color changes here than in a one- or two-color motif, so it suits a stitcher who has already finished a small project and wants something with a little shading.

About the Design

The bird is drawn in profile with the head high on the right and the tail sloping down to the left, which gives the whole motif a gentle diagonal. Each color has a single job:

• Bright blue covers the head, the back and the rump.
• Deep blue forms the folded wing across the middle of the body and the long tail feathers.
• Rust orange starts under the beak as a narrow throat and widens into the breast.
• Pale apricot fills the belly, curving under the orange.
• Charcoal is used sparingly for the eye, the short beak, the two thin legs and the toes that grip the twig.
• Twig brown and leaf green make the perch: a twig two rows thick that steps down toward the left, one leaf on a short stalk at the right-hand end and a second leaf hanging below on the left.

The eye is a single dark stitch. On a bird this small, one stitch surrounded by blue reads as bright and lively; anything larger starts to look heavy.

What You Need

• 14-count cream Aida, cut with 3 in (8 cm) of spare fabric on every side of the design
• A size 24 tapestry needle
• Stranded cotton floss in bright blue, deep blue, rust orange, pale apricot, charcoal, twig brown and leaf green
• Small sharp scissors
• An embroidery hoop, if you like to use one

Two strands of floss give good coverage on 14-count fabric. With seven colors on the go, it helps to cut a length of each before you start and keep them in order; a working length of about 18 in (45 cm) is long enough to be useful and short enough not to tangle.

The Chart

Each square is one cross stitch. The arrows at the edges point to the center lines, and the heavier lines every ten squares help you count across the wider rows. If charts are new to you, how to read a cross stitch chart walks through symbols, keys and center marks.

Symbol	Color	Stitches
●	Bright blue	101
×	Deep blue	65
▲	Rust orange	31
◆	Pale apricot	30
■	Charcoal	12
+	Twig brown	38
○	Leaf green	15

Choose your floss by eye. The two blues need to be far enough apart that the wing shows against the back: lay the skeins side by side and squint, and if they blur into one color, pick a darker shade for the wing. The pale apricot should be clearly lighter than the rust orange but still darker than the fabric.

Finished Size

On 14-count Aida the finished bird and twig measure 2 x 1.5 in (5.1 x 3.8 cm).

Aida	Finished design	Fabric to cut (3 in spare per side)
11-count	2.5 x 1.9 in (6.4 x 4.8 cm)	8.5 x 8 in (21.6 x 20.3 cm)
14-count	2 x 1.5 in (5.1 x 3.8 cm)	8 x 7.5 in (20.3 x 19.1 cm)
16-count	1.8 x 1.3 in (4.6 x 3.3 cm)	8 x 7.5 in (20.3 x 19.1 cm)
18-count	1.6 x 1.2 in (4.1 x 3 cm)	8 x 7.5 in (20.3 x 19.1 cm)

Stitching Order

Mark the center of the fabric by folding it in half both ways. On this chart the center falls inside the deep blue wing, which is the best place to start: the wing is a solid block and every other color touches it or sits close by.

1. Wing. Stitch the deep blue wing in horizontal rows, working from the center outward. Each row shifts one square to the left as the wing slopes down toward the tail.
2. Back and head. Change to bright blue and work upward from the top of the wing. The rows shorten in steps as they climb to the rounded crown. Leave the single eye square empty.
3. Breast. Stitch the rust orange, beginning with the narrow throat beside the beak and working down. The right-hand edge of the breast is almost vertical for several rows, which gives the bird its puffed-out chest.
4. Belly. Fill in the pale apricot beneath the orange. The bottom rows get shorter from both ends to round off the underside.
5. Tail and rump. Add the deep blue tail feathers at the far left and the bright blue stitches that connect them to the body.
6. Charcoal details. Stitch the eye, the beak, then the two legs. The toes are worked as part of the top row of the twig.
7. Twig and leaves. Work the two brown rows, the short stalk and both leaves.

Counting across the gap

The legs are the only link between the bird and the twig, and they are just one stitch wide. Count them down from the belly row above instead of estimating by eye, then count the twig from the legs outward in both directions. The same applies to the right-hand leaf, which floats on its own to the side of the belly until the stalk joins it to the twig. A miscount here is the most likely mistake in the whole design, and the guide to counting across empty fabric has several ways to prevent it.

Changing the Bird

The same outline can become a different garden bird with a change of floss.

Bird	Head and back	Wing and tail	Breast	Belly
Robin-style	Warm brown	Dark brown	Red orange	Off-white
Finch-style	Golden yellow	Charcoal	Golden yellow	Pale yellow
Winter bird	Soft gray	Dark gray	Dusty rose	Pale pink

These are color suggestions for a stylized motif, not accurate portraits of particular species. Whatever you choose, keep the eye and beak dark and the belly light.

Finishing and Display

The design is wider than it is tall, so it sits well in an oval hoop or a small rectangular frame. Leave more empty fabric above the bird than below the twig; the open space above the head makes the bird look as if it has sky around it.

For a spring piece, stitch a flower beneath the twig. The single tulip works well centered under the bird, and a ring of leaves from the floral wreath chart can frame it if you have enough fabric. Press the finished work face down on a towel so the stitches are not flattened.