Rice
stitch is another stitch often seen on antique samplers. It is a variation on
the cross stitch where each leg of the cross stitch is "tied down" by
a slanted stitch. The underlying cross stitch can be over any even number of
threads, but is usually seen over four threads, as it is diagrammed here.
Other names for the rice stitch are William and Mary stitch and crossed corners. You'll find that people who do reproduction samplers frequently use these names.
Rice stitch is usually worked in one color or two colors, though you could get some interesting effects by doing the tie downs in 2 of one color and 2 of another or even four different colors. Pick colors with a fair amount of value contrast so that the pattern shows up. In my sample, I've used pearl cotton #5. There are two rows of solid, dark and light, then a row of dark with light tie downs and a row of light with dark tie downs. The difference is striking.
Try using rice stitch with overdyed threads. You really get a strong feel of motion from stitch to stitch as the color changes.
Rice stitch is good textured filler for small to medium areas. It works well in architectural elements. Match the thread size to the size of the canvas threads to get solid coverage.
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