Here is my next Reward of Merit pincushion! I am not sure what the linen is, but I don't think that it is what is called for in the pattern.  When I kitted these projects, I ordered them from a shop and said that I was looking to have all of the Rewards of Merit pincushions kitted, and I think that sometimes the linen is not what is called for.  I ordered them quite a few years ago now, and so don't have the order information.  I do like the way it came out, but I don't really like the size.  I wish that it was smaller, so I think that I will look at my other kits and see what the count of linen is, and maybe will change it to a smaller count.  

For the finishing, I used some calico fabric I had on hand, and am really pleased with the color!  I love the way the brown looks with the pink.  I used a log-cabin type of quilt technique around it so that the fabric could be featured around the design.  

Blackbird Designs is one of my absolute favorite cross-stitch designers.  There is a series called the Reward of Merit.  They are all small pincushions.  I actually have all of them (I think) kitted and ready to go, with finishing fabric, trim, linen, and the called for threads.  I've had them kitted for a very long time, and have been wanting to get on to stitching them.  I have stitched a few over the past few years, but am always so hesitant to do the finishing for some reason.  I love to sew, but procrastinate because I am afraid of making a mistake.  

For this design, I made a little quilted piece with some calico fabric that I had on hand.  To sew these small pieces together, I used spray starch, which I found so helpful.  It made the fabric nice and crisp for the sewing.  For this small sewing, I used a really tight stitch on my machine with less than a quarter inch seam allowance so that it wouldn't be bulky.  I actually think I went a little too close to the stitching!  It is stuffed using crafter stuffing for doll making, which I find is really firm, and creates a nice finish.  

       

This was a lovely little stitch by Priscilla's Pocket!  I am a cat-lover, so whenever I saw this and how small and cute it was, I knew that I had to have it.  This was a little kit that came with the fabric, and was stitched using the called for thread 'black raspberry jam'.  The trim came with the kit.  For the backing fabric, this was in my stash from a quilt I made two summers ago- I believe it is Tula Pink, but don't quote me on that!  I used crushed walnut shells to stuff it because I wanted it to have some 'heft' being that it is so tiny. A few tips I have for this kind of finishing: 

1. If using crushed walnut shells, use a small kitchen funnel to fill the pillow. 
2. Where the opening is left for filling, make sure to use quite a bit of tight backstitching/tacking with your sewing machine so that threads don't unravel. 
3. Be careful with ironing trim, sometimes it is some kind of synthetic fiber and can melt with an iron even on the lowest setting.