A gift of plastic canvas sheets tested my craft creativity. I wanted to make useful things but found the material hard on my fingers so my first project – a cross stitch earring holder – is in the UFO (unfinished objects) pile. Pinterest searches yielded little until I found a fly swat idea.

An old stitch book provided patterns to cover the canvas quicker, so the handle in a Hungarian stitch variation and frame in Gobelin stitch made this a workable project. Finishing the edges with a simple wrap covers the plastic edges and provides a contrast.

Spurred on by this a pair of napkin holders made with 6 1/4” x 2” strips of plastic were soon completed in florentine stitch and used some scraps of tapestry wool left over from long completed kits.

The earring holder project is now sending me reproachful ‘looks’ so I will probably make progress on that through the year. A long way to go.