I cannot count my day complete
'Til needle, thread and fabric meet.
~Author Unknown

Sharing a common thread with those who love the art of hand embroidery

Friday, January 25, 2013

I love the vibrant and petally Poppy flower..........

Yet it is the one flower I cannot seem to grow.
I know they grow in my climate, because a dear friend of mine once had them growing along her grounds. That is the first time I saw them and fell in love with them.
Have you ever grown these flowers before?

Whether they are growing in a garden,  dancing along in a field, or their beauty is captured on postcards or in books............
I think they hold a nostalgic and graceful look to them. They are what made me realize that the color red was really beautiful in embroidery.
Don't you think so?

I have several vintage designs of poppy flowers, so I decided to create a design using a tall poppy in the center, with a poppy bud on each side. I then filled in the area with small yellow daisies and grass.

I then placed a smaller poppy design on the right side along with more daisies and a few french knot flowers.............

and I then did the same on the left side.

(click on photo for a better view)
I then placed and embroidered this design onto a set of pillowcases. Now the stitch work is done, I still need to add a crocheted edge and perhaps a bottom floral edge.............
what do you think?
 How about you?
What was the one flower that caught your attention the last time you visited a garden?
If you have had luck growing poppies.............what is your advice on such?
I would love to hear!

16 comments:

papel1 said...

I have bought those pretty poppies at the nursery as young plants. They did well for me. We have nice spring weather but hot summers. The embroidery is lovely. I use to tole paint this particular poppy.
Judy

Paula said...

So beautiful, Kathleen!

Preeti said...

You have embroidered the flowers beautifully:) as for crocheted edge, I feel a very basic simple one will look nice otherwise it might dominate your delicate embroidery.

Laurie said...

How perfectly pretty, Kathleen, I love poppies. My mother grew them in her flower bed, and she never did anything special, she just planted them and they grew. I haven't tried to grow them myself, though I've always wanted to. I live in zone 5, I don't know if that has anything to do with it though!

Bev C said...

Hello Kathleen,

You captured the poppy perfectly. That is one flower that really has been easy to grow here. I just shake the seeds around the garden and one year we shredded all the plants and used as mulch as they were the taller ones and I didn't want to waste the plant.

Happy days.
Bev.oxox

Zova couture said...

so lovely!I never got a chance to see poppy flower or garden in real..ur post is inspiring..I can see how much ur nature is inspiring u..and ur blog post inspiring us..My next project will be one of embroidery design..which I saved two years before...thanks dear for the pattern..

Tammy said...

I just love your stitchwork. You captured the poppies and other flowers so beautifully! Nothing much grows around here. I still have coneflower seeds that a friend sent from Colorado. I need to plant them but the weather here has been so weird that I'm afraid nothing will happen. It's now or never though as the summer temps will return soon enough. Have a great day. Tammy

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I love poppies, in any medium and real. I finally put a few in the garden last year and they did well. I think they multiply so we'll see how they do this year.

Your poppies are VERY pretty.
xx, Carol

janice15 said...

You know I had gotten some seeds through a lady in the mail...but hadn't never planted them that was last year. But I was thinking the other day when cleaning up in the garden I needed to try to plant them..I'm in San Francisco ca...so will see what happens this year..I love your poppies and I specailly love the deep red color..very pretty as always .. Happy weekend with love Janice

lil red hen said...

Another beautiful piece of work! They really look like poppies.

I have a few red oriental poppies which I started from seed. They make lots of seeds, tiny as ground black pepper, and they germinate well, then die, either from too much rain or not enough rain. lol Once they have a good root system they can be transplanted, but the tap root is very long and deep. A few years ago I planted some little red poppies that re-seed themselves; they were so sweet. I ordered the seeds from a wildflower catalog. I think in places they are sown along highways. Hope you can get some started in your beds.

Karen said...

We were given some tiny poppy seedlings several years ago. I planted them and every year since they multiply and have taken over the flower beds. We don't do anything special, they just grow on their own. I love your poppy embroidery, it's beautiful!

twinpeakprimitives said...

Generally poppies are lovely!
Your poppies are just amazing!
Happy Sunday!

The Woodbury's said...

I have to say that of all of the beautiful things you have made, this one might just be my favorite. Well done!

Nicola said...

It is very hard for me to give a favourite flower I love my garden so much and all the flowers in it. I think it depends on the time of the year.

A remembrance poppy is a favourite though and some years ago we bought a kilo of seeds and scattered them in the wild meadow part of of garden and in the stone walls of the boundaries. We now get a beautiful display each year.

I will email you a photo of the show they give us.

Bev said...

Love your work!! Beautiful. We bought an old house..and those poppies were going everywhere!!...They were like a weed...but beautiful once they were all blooming!!

A Colorful World said...

This is one of my favorites! I love it! Yes, an embroidered edge would be gorgeous!

I plan to design some tea towels and pillow cases to embroider for Christmas presents this year. Getting back into embroidery with that panel I am working on has encouraged me (plus the expense of mailing all those jars of apple butter and carrot cake conserve this year made me want to send something much lighter! :-) )

There were extremely tall big red poppies at the Festival Institute gardens when I worked there (in Round Top, TX). I was given some seed but they didn't come up. I'd love to grow them!