My only thought about the pincushion is that you might not want it too deep. I have had needles disappear in my "tomato" pincushions.

Most 'Needle Cushions' are flat. So it could be anything around a 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick or like Lois said, you will lose your needles since they do not have a head to stop them. I keep my needles in a needle case as I do not use them quite as often as someone doing embroidery. I would google 'Needle Cushion' and look at the images.

I have a Needle Nest. They are available at lots of places, including Amazon.

I also have a chicken pincushion and I stick unthreaded needles horizontally through the tail. :) You can find many patterns for them online.

Donna

I have been thinking that the design for needles needs to be quite different from a design for pins. To not lose them. I hunted through Etsy yesterday but didn't see the right thing. And ideally, I'd like to make it myself.

I have a bunch of pin cushions. My favorite is fairly shallow in height and I find I put needles and pins both in it. I do applique with very short pins as well as embroidery with all different size needles.