A New Spring Design

Last month I went looking for some red cyclamen to cheer up my house and when I couldn't find a nice enough plant to bring home, I decided to stitch one up instead! I pulled out an old illustration I did many years ago, and converted the pink flowers to red ones.  I was thinking that I'd like to turn the piece into a pillow for my sofa, so I wanted something easy to stitch up and not too elaborate.

I chose a cheerful ribbon border, then added a sweet inner border of a modified blackwork pattern - all done in #5 pearl cottons with some metallic Ribbon Floss for sparkly accents.  Inside, the basket of cyclamen is tent stitched with a handful DMC floss.  Here's how my RED CYCLAMEN design turned out:

It's a nice 9.5" x 9.5" size on eggshell 18 ct. canvas - perfect for a pillow inset!  My next task is to figure out what kind of fabric I want to use on the pillow....  And here's a closer look at the border elements:

If you're a cyclamen lover, as I am, you may want to stitch this sweet piece for your very own.  And, I've included thread suggestions to make a PINK or PURPLE version of the design, so you can stitch up your basket of cyclamen in your favorite color.

I've just added this new RED CYCLAMEN design to my website, so if you're interested, please skip on over and see all the ordering information!