Normally, I'd finish all the basketweave background on the "Think Spring!" canvas before stitching any of the details. But several people, myself included, were anxious to see the flowers come to life. So....time out for one lone crocus and its bud!
I frequently use a silk/wool blend thread to stitch natural elements: its inherentl sheen and loft make whatever I'm stitching stand out so nicely from the background. From my stash, I pulled some blueish-purple Silk & Ivory--"Pansy" for the darker shade and "Columbine" for the lighter one.
To simplify stitching the full-blown flower, I mentally divided it into its six petals. I began with the petal at top right, working it in satin stitch, then moved counter-clockwise to the top center petal. For the petal at top left, I turned my canvas 90 degrees to orient the satin stitches in the correct direction.
Then turning the canvas another 90 degrees so it was upside down, I worked the bottom left and center petals. Finally I gave the canvas one more 90-degree turn to finish the bottom right petal. Voila! A crocus!--minus its stamens, of course, which I'll save until last to stitch. I worked the bud in a combination of tent and satin stitches.
Now I promise to be a very good girl and finish the white background before I attack the fun parts!
5 comments:
It was worth the waiting.. beautiful! Crocuses are a favorite, I think because they're the first ones we see here.
Last year I devided most of the crocus clumps and spread them around a little so this year they did not flower as well as normal. That was to be expected and I'm hopeful that they will be turning their faces to the sun again next spring.
I love the colour you chose to stitch yours with.
Nice job Anne!
The crocus is very successful in satin stitch. This design is proving both cheerful and restful!
I am trying very hard to think "Spring" and I succeeded at one point when the temperature was high and it was such a joy being outside.
Now it seems that winter is back and all I can think is "Cold" which goes with "Winter".
Waiting for things to change back to "Spring", a good thing that we have resisted starting planting things in the garden.
Pierrette =^..^=
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