Folk Motifs on a Linen Cloth

Counted cross stitch follows the weave of the cloth. Each little X covers the same small square of threads, which is why the flowers come out with stepped edges, a bit like pixels on an old screen. Red and black flowers spread across a natural linen tablecloth here, with a clay jug of daisies and a bowl of apples at one corner. Patterns like these were often handed down in families and copied from older cloths. The folk embroidery jigsaw puzzle is full of tiny repeating stitches.