I’ve been having a tidy-up and sort out recently, and have been trying to deal with things as I got to them rather than the out of sight out of mind technique: a slow process.

One of the things that I have finished is the cushion stitch piece from last year. Last seen last November, and it was finished then (at least the stitching, “Move it on”), but I was not sure what to do with it.

I finally decided to frame it in a black Ikea frame, but wasn’t sure whether to mount it traditionally with cream board up to the edge. I then decided it would look better laced over card and put on a backing board. Somewhere along the line, it became a piece of black mount board. It is stitched through to anchor it. The orange cushions echo the colour of the wall behind where it’s going to live, and it looks as if it’s always been there!

The threads that have been left together have all been put away in the relevant places, in case I decide to make it bigger.

Another piece that has been around for a month or so was an encrusted letter that was started at Alex’s “In the stitch zone”. I went off piste having decided to do my initials DD one inside the other. The background is a beautiful piece of slubbed olive green silk. I tacked the outline of both Ds, then used stem stitch to work from one side to the other on the outer D. The vaguely leaf shapes were done in a lovely variegated thread that I had been rather frugal and precious with.

The inner D continued with finer perlé threads, but with no more photos taken until this week. After some discussion with Alex, we decided that I needed to echo the pinky reddish tone from the outer D. I got rather carried away with loose fly(ish) stitches going over the leaf shapes, adding more over the outer D as well, to give more definition up to the tacking outline.

Alex said it made her think of the brambles of Sleeping Beauty’s castle. It’s finished, apart from taking out the tacking threads.

This is it with the tacking taken out. I’ve missed a stitch in the middle at the bottom!

At Allsorts a couple of sessions ago we made tiny plastic canvas Easter baskets. I really dislike plastic canvas to work on, especially when it needs joining together, so I really messed around using scraps cut off other things and odds and ends of threads and ribbons in yellows and greens.

I continued it at home while chatting with friends, and much to my surprise some bits worked OK.

It even went together more easily than usual.

I ended up stitching it together and finishing it, apart from putting a lining in it: just shows it’s good to play and experiment!