Strawberry Thieves Cross Stitch Pattern

Description

Strawberry Thieves cross stitch pattern was inspired by an 1883 textile by British painter and designer William Morris. The artwork is currently held at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London, UK.

The Project

Strawberry Thieves cross stitch is a large full coverage project that measures 52.3 x 54.4cm when stitched on 14 count Aida cloth.

It’s an attractive design and our pattern uses a fantastic range of DMC colours — Autumn Gold, Coral Red, Burnt Orange, Apricot, Khaki Green, Navy and a range of Antique Blues.

You’ll have so much fun stitching this, imagining the naughty thrushes whose brazen theft of strawberries inspired Mr Morris’ original artwork.

The Thieves

Here’s a bit more about the original artwork from the V&A website.

In 1883 Morris used the complex indigo-discharge print method to produce a design that, although expensive, was still one of the company’s most successful: ‘Strawberry Thief’. This pattern was inspired by the fruit-stealing thrushes in the kitchen garden of his country home, Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire. The crisp outlines offered by indigo-discharge printing then allowed Morris to create a series of exuberantly complex designs.

Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)

The Artist

William Morris was one of Britain’s top designers in the 19th century. He designed and produced a stunning range of textiles, wallpapers and tiles – even book designs. His designs are authentic Art Nouveau and have a real place in contemporary homes and commercial buildings.

Living in the industrial-era this artist was committed to creating “alternatives to the dehumanising industrial systems that produced poor-quality, ‘unnatural’ objects”. He is famous for telling people to have nothing in their homes that wasn’t either useful or beautiful.

We adore William Morris designs and you’ll find more to stitch in the shop.

Additional information