The Hungarian Ground Stitches are excellent filling and background stitches.
HUNGARIAN GROUND STITCH
Diagonal Variation
This is where the term "ground" comes into effect. Grounding stitches are used primarily for backgrounds and for filling large areas of canvas. There are two variations of the hungarian ground stitch. The first one is the straight stitch version. The second one is the diagonal hungarian ground stitch. The diagonal hungarian ground stitch is similar to the mosaic stitch. You may want to try working these stitches with alternating colors for a more interesting background. Three diagrams have been used to demonstrate each stitch. Clicking on the PRINTABLE VERSION icon, located at the end of the series of diagrams, will direct you to the page to print these instructions.