A little commuter stitch that gave me more trouble than I expected, a basket that refused to behave, and a finishing adventure involving AI fabric choices, a very special Acufactum print, and some genuinely life-changing stuffing pellets.
I’ll be honest with you, this one had me a bit worried at the start.
When I’d stitched the flowers and leaves on the left-hand side, I really wasn’t sure about it. The colours looked so muted against the linen and I thought, have I made a mistake here? But then I started stitching the strawberry, and oh, everything changed. That gorgeous red just brought the whole thing to life and I stopped worrying immediately.
Design: The Strawberry Patch
Designer: October House Fiber Arts
Fabric: 28 Cnt Linen in colourway Tablet by WGLY
Started: 16 March 2026
Finished: 30 May 2026
FFO’d: 18 August 2026
Finish: Cross Stitch Pillow
The Strawberry Patch became my little commuter project — tucked into my bag for the train journey into London and back. It only called for ten threads, so it was small, manageable, and perfect for stitching on the move. That said, it did not behave itself entirely. The basket had to be frogged so many times. So. Many. Times. I lost count of how often I pulled it out and started again before it finally looked right.
I also had to make one thread substitution. One of the called-for colours was out of stock, so I swapped the WDW Cocoa for Maple Syrup instead. Close enough, and I think it worked out just fine.
Once the stitching was finished at the end of May, I then had the small matter of deciding what to do with it.
This is where I called in a bit of help from AI, much as I did with my last October House finish. I photographed the stitching alongside a selection of fabrics and basically said, right, what could work here? And I have to say, the fabric suggestions it came back with were genuinely lovely.
The one that really caught my eye was a beautiful houndstooth red fabric — it just complemented the red of the strawberry perfectly. And then for the back, I’d found this wonderful Strawberry Field fabric by Acufactum, which I’d ordered from Elmhirst Fabrics here in the UK. Strawberries on the front, strawberries on the back. It felt completely right.
Now, I also made a decision about the stuffing that I want to talk about, because I think it might genuinely change the way I finish small pieces from now on. I decided not to go with crushed walnut shells this time. Instead I ordered some Poli Plastic Pellets from Amazon, and I used those alongside the wadding.
Do you know what? They are a complete game changer. No dust, no mess, and they give the finished piece this really satisfying weight. I’ll absolutely be buying more! A bigger bag next time.
Looking at it all finished now, I’m really pleased with how it came together. The red houndstooth picks up the strawberry beautifully, the Acufactum fabric on the back makes me smile every time I turn it over, and all those frogged rows of basket are completely forgotten. The brown ric rac I cheated a little and glued it on using Elaines Tack Glue. Sewing it on was not an option so that I didn’t see the stitches through it, but it really did make it all come together beautifully.
It was a little project that quietly became one of my favourites.
