Thank goodness for scrap bits of fabric...

My next cushion (in parallel with finishing the 32-year-old abandoned one) is probably going to be based on the stepped pattern from the 1970s pattern book...



in colours from my favourite 'sludge' colour of Kaffe Fassett's paperweight fabric....



But first I have to work out suitable dimensions of the step. I decided on the number of stitches for the steps with the idea of boxes a little bigger than the ones in the pattern book, and to use five rows for the steps themselves. and launched straight into a practice piece on some scrap fabric, using colours I'd got plenty of.



Glad I did that instead of starting on the cushion, as it turns out I've miscalculated. Not sure whether this has anything to do with the book using double-thread canvas or is purely down to me not thinking it through properly.

The squares haven't all ended up the sizes I wanted (or as squares come to that!). I'll continue with this scrap anyway to get the feel for how the steps fit together but think I'll also have to get the graph paper out to work out where I went wrong!