Guardian Angel Free Cross Stitch Pattern

Each and every night Bill and I pray with the kids before they go to sleep.  

We usually say a decade of the rosary, most of the time we deal with at least one behavior issue, very often Bernadette has to be reminded not to pray for inanimate objects, but we always, always pray the Guardian Angel prayer.  Always.

Gus learned the guardian angel prayer at preschool this year and when I heard him saying it in the car it was a total blast from the past for me.  

For some reason, I hadn’t said or heard that prayer for years and years, but it is now a part of the rhythm of my life and as a result, I often think of my guardian angel.

Isn’t it amazing that we each have a guardian angel?

It is my hope that my children will always think of their guardian angels and be like St. Padre Pio who said, “My Guardian Angel has been my friend since my infancy.”.

So, with all of this, I just HAD to make a guardian angel cross stitch pattern!  

And, here is it, for free!

First, the girl pattern:

There is also a boy pattern.  Click the links below to get the PDF of each pattern, ready to print and use!

You can find the materials for this project, and MANY other Catholic projects in the Catholic Family Digital Resource Library.

I thought I would take this opportunity to do a simple cross-stitch tutorial.  

I’ve heard from a few of you that have purchased the saint patterns…but don’t actually know how to cross-stitch.  

First of all, you are the sweetest.  

And secondly, cross-stitching is SUPER EASY!  There is a reason why little girls take up cross-stitching as their first craft.  

If you can count and thread a needle then you can cross-stitch.  Seriously.

So, in short, here is how to cross-stitch.

SUPPLIES

Cross stitch calls for just a few simple and cheap supplies.  

First, you need Aida cloth–a cloth with little holes spaced for stitching.  

I use 14 count, which is pretty standard.  

A child learning to stitch would likely do better with 12 counts because it is a little bit bigger.  

Aida cloth comes in a couple of different colors and can be found in the embroidery section of any craft store.

You also will need a needle and thread.  

DMC thread, also found at all craft stores, is numbered in a standard way.  

Refer to your pattern and purchase the numbers of threads the pattern calls for.

GETTING STARTED

Always wash your hands before you start stitching.  Trust me.

To locate where to start on the pattern, find the center of your pattern and the center of your cloth. Start there.

Generally, I use 3 threads at a time while stitching (6 threads are together, so you will have to separate them).  

Cut a length about 1/2 of your arm–longer and you will be dealing with knots.  

Thread your needle and tie a knot at the end.  

And, start stitching!

Each cross stitch should look identical.  

To achieve this look, think of each X-shaped stitch as a box.  

Bring your needle up through the bottom left corner and go down through the top right.  

Come up again through the top left hole and down through the bottom right.

Also, as you work your way through the pattern count and recount the stitches!  

One missed or extra stitch can throw everything off.  

For this reason, I suggest starting with the smaller, more detailed parts of the pattern and saving elements of the background (in this case, the wings) for the end.

Once you get more comfortable with stitching, there are a few tricks for making your stitching more uniform.  

As you can see in the picture below, I stitched one half of the stitch all the way across and then turned around and stitched the other half.  

Stitching like this makes the stitches look nice and also makes the stitching go faster.

And finally, adding the backstitch lettering.  This is super simple too!  Grab one back thread and put a knot at the end of the thread.  

Then, follow the pattern and stitch straight lines where indicated.  

The only tricky part can be those french knots to dot “i”, but there are lots of great video tutorials on Youtube.

Clear as mud?

But seriously, if you are looking for a nice, relaxing craft this summer, cross stitch is it.  

It is easily portable, cheap, and once you get the hang of it, pretty mindless.  

Just a lot of counting.  

I love cross stitch and generally always have some sort of a project going.  

Got a BIG one going right now.

I can not wait for the day my kids are old enough to stitch.

I’m so excited to hang these little guardian angel stitchings in my kid’s rooms.  

If this is your first cross stitch project, feel free to ask any questions you might have–and happy stitching!

Once again, you can find the materials for this project, and MANY other Catholic projects in the Catholic Family Digital Resource Library.

Thanks, as always, for being here,

Nancy