There’s something very satisfying about stitching a pair of tapestries. They can be cushions for two special chairs, or perhaps you picture them on either end of a sofa.

Over the years several of our popular designs have acquired a friend, and these are the designs we’ll be talking about today. We’ll start with Patchwork Cat and his partner design, Renaissance Cat, pictured below on a recent photo shoot with Georgina Woodhead at Hurds Hill in Langport.

Each of these cheerful cats has a patterned body and border, with a nice area of plain background behind the cats. Here at Jolly Red we like a balance of plain and patterned areas as it all helps with stitching satisfaction!

Our next pairing is Camelcade (below, right), a Jolly Red favourite, recently joined by the new Camel Trek, on the left.

Camelcade was immediately popular when we first designed it. We’d had calls from loyal stitchers asking for a design in more muted colours – and here it was! It took a while for us to realise that a partner design was the answer for everyone calling us up to request “something to go with Camelcade“, but we got there in the end with Camel Trek.

If you like to pace yourself while you stitch or are working to a deadline (wedding? big birthday?), a patchwork-style design is a great idea. You’ll see the design grow square by square and have a sense of accomplishment while you stitch.

We designed the original Hearts and Flowers in a palette of blues and creams. Summer Patchwork followed a while later, with changes to the original Hearts and Flowers design and in rainbow wool.

TOP TIP: With weddings and anniversaries in mind, there are spaces under the hearts (or inside some of them) for a happy couple’s initials.

With their bold patterns and retro feel, the stunning Ba-Ba-Bloom and Ba-Ba-Birds will sit happily in even the most minimalist of homes.

If you have a grey sofa or grey walls, these are your guys to stitch. A little bird tells us that more designs in this style will be joining Ba-Ba-Bloom and Ba-Ba-Birds very soon – so do remember to sign up for our newsletter to get an early peep of them.

On the subject of birds, we present Old English Cockerel and Old English Hen, with her little chick. You don’t need to live in the country or be a hen keeper to stitch these feathered friends. They look wonderful in any home and are extremely well behaved!

Old English Cockerel faces to the right, looking strong and majestic as he surveys his kingdom and watches over the Hen.

Old English Hen faces left, also on the alert as she guards the little chick. Both Old English Hen and Cockerel have stylised floral backgrounds, and very attractive borders – a pattern of eggs for the Cockerel, and berries and oak leaves for the Hen.

Incidentally, Old English Hen is seen here with one of her canvases on a 24″ clip frame (a CF249 to be precise).

TIPS ON CHOOSING A FRAME: We tend to recommend a 24″ frame for stitching any cushion sized design, even if the printed area is only 16″ wide. Why a 24″ frame? Well, you can see that there’s a fair bit of blank canvas down the left hand side of the printed area. On the right this is balanced by colour blocks showing the shades of wool used in the design.

With most designs you could probably manage with a 21″ frame, but please don’t try to squeeze your canvas onto an 18″ frame. It makes it harder for us (or you!) to stretch the canvas for making up into a cushion, and from our own stitching experience we think that it can’t be very relaxing to stitch when you’re working so close to the edge of the canvas.

Finally and continuing with the birds, we have the timeless Arts and Crafts Tiles and Arts and Crafts Owls, each with their red borders and ’tiles’ of fruit, flowers and animals.

As with all of our design pairings these two have many similarities which link them, rather than being identical images – it makes stitching much more enjoyable than making the same design twice!

We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing these perfect tapestry pairs. If you’re already stitching one of these designs, or have finished one – or any other tapestry – do give us a call or email us if you’d like to discuss fabric for your tapestry.

We’ll leave you with a happy scene from Hurds Hill – just to remind us all that we really have had some sunny days this year!

We look forward to hearing from you – and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already done so.

Happy stitching!

Kelly