This is a buttonholed square, which also has a dove’s eye in the centre. Alternative stitches could be used in the centre.
In this motif, buttonhole stitches are worked around the outside edge of the square. I have seen this worked where there is a stitch between every single thread around the edge of the square. This leads to the corners filling up way too quickly and it becomes difficult to have the stitches in the corner sit nicely. I made some changes to the way the stitch is done so that it is much easier to create a good result.
We’re part way through a series exploring the stitches that are featured in my forthcoming book, Hardanger Filling Stitches. If this is the first post you’ve seen in the series, have a look for the others.
Hardanger Filling Stitches by Yvette Stanton, will be arriving in Australia in December 2023, New Zealand shortly after that, UK in February 2024, and the US in March. You can order it from your favourite needlework store, worldwide. If they don’t know where to get it from, you can ask them to contact me, and I will direct them accordingly.
Vetty Creations have supplies packs for the Hardanger Filling Stitch sampler featured in the book.

White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.

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