Cupcake Needlepoint

This is my latest finished mini-project.  It’s needlepoint, not xstitch, so it finished very quickly.  I only worked on this for about 4 days, and only one or two hours at a time.  Even though it’s simpler than a cross-stitch pattern would be there are still a lot of details here if you’re looking for a quick mini-challenge.  It uses backstitching as well as french knots to finish the piece off as well as for the lettering of “life is sweet”.  As with most needlepoint projects where the pattern is printed on the cloth I find it easier to work by deciding which colors are which and then working from the cloth not the chart.

The fabric here is a very stiff aida cloth, but not quite stiff enough to be considered plastic, so it is still flexible.  I’m thinking about using it for a mouse pad although the raised french knots may make that difficult.  the project finished (minus the excess cloth) about 5×5 in. so it would make a good card if that’s what you’re thinking about using this for.  Plenty of thread left over for a side project as well.

Overall a pleasure to stitch and not time-consuming at all.  It won’t give you a stitching challenge but it is enjoyable.  If you’re not used to french knots you might try using beads for sprinkles instead.  If you want to try it yourself you can get it here for $9.75.  Although I’d advise you look around at craft stores first.  This turned up on clearance for cheaper at Michael’s.