Vlad wasn’t a huge fan of me sticking my needles in the couch while I was stitching, so he upgraded me to a very utilitarian piece of foam. I wanted something cuter. Here’s the thing, though. The traditional pin cushion is a tomato.
And I hate tomatoes.
I found this hedgehog one on Amazon – super cute. Unfortunately, completely impractical. It’s not heavy/flat enough to stay upright. So I stuck to the foam and put this guy on my desk to keep looking cute.
Then I got this book for Christmas: The Embroidered Garden by Kazuko Aoki. (Thanks Sarah!)
It has some really beautiful and inspiring projects. Many feel like thread-paintings of a garden. Most are a liiiiittle beyond my skill level, at least for now. But this bee pin cushion looked doable:
Unfortunately, not really.
Sad, sad little wings.
The wings are done in a weaving stitch, but for the life of me I could not get them to look full and plump like the photos/YouTube tutorials. So I changed course.
I wanted to keep that anatomical feel, like a preserved specimen from your elementary school science project. So I went to Etsy and found this pattern, which I adapted by changing the stitches. The outline and legs are in straight/back stitch, the stripes and head are filled in with satin stitch. The wing outline is split stitch, and the detail is the feather stitch.
Add a hexagonal succulent planter from, you guessed it, Amazon – and ta da! A cute AND functional pin cushion.