Small Balloon Circles plus Circles, Diamond & Beads
Balloon stitches are cousins of Ming stitches. Small Balloon Circles makes a great background, especially in carefully laid silk. I particularly like this stitch for Asian-themed designs because it resembles Japanese paper lanterns. Work either in one color or closely related shades of one color.
If you want more texture, add beads in the empty spots as seen in the diagram. Note that the red shapes are slightly different than in Small Balloon Circles to cover empty spots.