Queen of the Desert

A barn owl with a watchful gaze, perched on a clump of flowering prickly pears while the desert opens up behind it with saguaros and distant mountains. The kit holds everything needed to stitch the picture: the Zweigart Aida cut with generous margins, the cotton threads, the needles and the colour chart.

With 57 colours and the many shades of the plumage it is a project of moderate commitment, suited to stitchers who have already completed a few cross stitch pieces: the backstitch outlines are worked last, to define eyes, beak and spines. Frame, hoop and scissors are not included: a hoop or frame helps keep an even tension over such a large area. Once finished, the embroidery is ready to be framed as a picture.