Cross-Stitch Flowers is a classic and well-curated collection of historical floral cross-stitch by Gerda Bengtsson. The graphs were originally published in Danish in the 70s; this reformat and re-release is part of Dover's Heirloom Crafts series,. It's 64 pages and is available in paperback format.

This collection includes a number of whole-cross one page patterns mostly wildflowers (brambles, sloe, dandelion, etc), but also some nostalgic garden flowers (poppies, violets, and pansies). The charts include a color printed graph (just full color, there are no symbols included) along with a general color coded key with color names (and no specific brands/color numbers mentioned). They're easily recognizable and with a surprising amount of detail for smaller graphs (circa 70x70 stitches).

They would make nice hostess gifts, or for readers who want to learn how to do cross stitch, maybe as a gift bundled with a handful of floss and some evenweave cloth.

Like all of Dover's art and craft books, they're out there fighting the good fight to document and bring these important historical crafts to a new generation of readers.

Four stars. It would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, for home use, for gift giving, and for maker's groups and shared studio spaces.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This gave me some ideas to use in my herb "business." I was thinking that I could use my outdoor trellis (of rabbit wire and chicken wire) to 'cross-stitch' these into my garden. I'll update this review when I finish doing that.

I love this little book! It has everything needed for a novice cross stitcher. It describes a little of the history of cross stitching, lists and explains what supplies are needed, and teaches the stitches and what to do with your piece when it’s done. The flower motifs are small and simple. I think I’ll stitch them all on one piece of fabric and create a sampler. The perfect project for on the go, it would be easy and compact to drop in your bag!

I am so thankful I came across this book! The directions and patterns are very easy to read and it was just what I was looking for! I think I'm going to need to get this in hard copy as well!

An excellent resource of historical patterns from Denmark. With an introduction full of helpful information, this collection of patterns will give a lot of inspiration for future projects. The flowers are based on common wildflowers for the most part and each pattern includes the scientific name and a bit of information as well as a thread list, an area to write down any substitutions you make or notes you'd like to take. These patterns can be used for more than just cross stitch and would be lovely adorning a knitted sweater or needlepointed project. The back of the book allows for a personal message for any future generations who may inherit the book and continue the tradition. I read this book through Net Galley.

This is a very clear-cut, easy to follow cross stitch book with 26 beautiful Danish floral patterns. I love that the designs aren't overwhelming in types of stitches (it only uses full cross stitches!) and not too big to stitch overall, so they would be PERFECT for all levels of stitchers - including beginners! LOVE the fact that the physical copy has a section to take notes on each pattern too! My favorites were hawthorn, common milkwort, and sweet violet, but you really can't go wrong with ANY of them!