2026 Mini-Pillow Stitch Along - Lisa's May mini-pillow
As I was selecting threads for the May mini pillow, I decided that I wanted to have some fun with colours. The May design is based on one of my all time favourite designs - Moroccan Mandela. If you like bargello, this is the pillow for you!
I wanted to use colours that fall outside of my "comfort zone" so I came up with two different colourways and I really like them both! One is “the safe one” and the other is “the fun one”. I am going to stitch them both and we will see which one I like better.
The center of the pillow is in!
The “fun” one (blue) - center is DMC Perle 5 - 747 (light) and 517 (dark)
The “safe” one (green) - center is stitched with DMC Perle 5 - 927 (light) and 501 (dark).
A comment on my mediocre photography skills (and how lighting can affect colours) - both of my May pillows are stitched on the same canvas - white with metallic silver. You'd never know it by just looking at the two photos below.
And now the metallic.
The fun one - Kreinik Metallic #18 - 021. The safe one - Kreinik Metallic #12 - 018
Continuing with the bargello.
I have added the medium shade to the design.
The safe one - DMC Perle 5 - 502 (medium)
The fun one - DMC Perle 5 - 518 (medium)
I really like the flower center of this mini pillow.
Back to metallics and the next couple of rows of bargello
The Norwich stitches are in. Love the sparkle!
The fun one (blue)- Kreinik Metallic #18 - 021
The safe one (green) - Kreinik Metallic #12 - 018
and the next two rows of bargello (a dark row, then a medium row).
And now for the last few rows of bargello to finish the square.
And now for the border - time to add some fun colours.
The safe one in greens - DMC Perle #5 - 501, 502 and 927, with Kreinik #12 braid - 018
The fun one in blues with splashy border! DMC Perle #5 - 517, 518 and 747 with Kreinik #8 braid - 021. Border in Caron Watercolours - 145 Carnival.
Although fun to try, I like the colours in the "safe" colourway better. It was fun to explore with colours outside of my "safe zone"!
