Travel & City Cushions
Hand-stitched needlepoint cushions built around places: city skylines, Mediterranean coastlines and island scenes. All 45cm square with velvet reverses and inner cushions included.
Before you buy
Travel & City Cushions buying guide
Why cities suit needlepoint
Needlepoint builds an image from a grid, stitch by stitch. Architecture is the natural fit, because straight lines, stacked blocks and hard edges are exactly what a grid renders crisply, which is why the London, New York and Tokyo designs have a definition that a printed cushion loses.
The coastal designs work differently. Sunsets and water need many closely related shades sitting side by side, and hand stitching places them without the bleed you get at the edges of a print. The Ibiza sunset is the clearest example.
The cities
London: skyline in bright colour on blue velvet. The easiest to place, because the blue does most of the work.
New York: skyline with geometric detailing, the most graphic of the group.
Paris: the Eiffel Tower in pink and orange rather than the expected monochrome, which is what stops it reading as a tourist-shop cushion.
Tokyo: a red sun motif with Japanese lettering. The most minimal design in the whole range, and the one to choose for a contemporary room.
Dubai: bold lettering with palm detailing, suited to warm metallics and dark wood.
Havana: retro tones on a red velvet reverse.
The coastal and holiday designs
Amalfi Lemon, Ibiza Sunset, Mykonos Evil Eye, St. Barts, St. Tropez, Tulum, Miami Art Deco and Aspen Ski.
Warmer and more painterly than the city designs, and generally easier to drop into a room that already has a scheme.
Grouping them
Pick a palette rather than a theme. Havana, Miami, Tulum and Ibiza share hot tones and sit together well. London, Mykonos and Aspen are the blues.
Mixing a city with a beach usually does not work. They pull a room in different directions.
Two or three together reads as a collection. Six reads as a souvenir shop.
Details and care
45cm x 45cm square, hand-stitched needlepoint front, velvet reverse, inner hollowfibre cushion included.
Spot clean only and blot rather than rub. Never machine wash, hand stitching does not survive it. Keep out of prolonged direct sunlight, particularly the brighter coastal designs.