My poppies are growing! This is a design by Faby Reilly, when it’s stitched together it makes a triangular humbug shape.This is where I was last time I showed you…
This is my borrowed time project, I usually have something little on the go I can do whilst I’m doing something else, 10 minutes whilst cooking tea, half an hour having a coffee in a cafe, ten minutes in the dentists waiting room. I keep it by my chair downstairs in a zip lock bag which I can pop in my handbag if I’m going out. It’s surprising what you can achieve in borrowed time!
It’s been interesting seeing this grow as when I saw the three shades of red they looked so different I really couldn’t see how they blend, DMC666 is an orange/red, 321 is what I would call a true red and 815 is like a dark burgandy, yet they all work together!
I like doing the back-stitch on Faby’s designs as they really come alive then, when it’s half done like now you can really see the difference it makes. I’ve still to find some beads for the poppy centres too, I’m sure I will find something in my bead box.
I’ve also started the gold stitching, now that bit I don’t enjoy, just because I don’t like the DMC gold thread, luckily there’s not too much, a couple more Algerian stars and some broken back-stitch lines. I’ve still three letters to do too – ‘ppy’ in tiny cross-stitch over one thread, I keep giving my eyes a break with that one!I made a small mistake on the letters on the right side, the u is one thread too high, so all the others above are also one thread out…which meant I had to really concentrate on the left hand side to make sure the letters there are also one thread out so they will join together when I stitch it up! Fingers crossed!
I’m going on an embroidery retreat tomorrow with the Embroiderers Guild, I’m pretty excited! Three days of embroidery up in Threshfield at the other end of Wharfedale. It’s organised by Grassington Embroiderers Guild and I’m doing a course with Nicola Jarvis, one of her embroideries was already on my to do list so I’m dead excited to be learning from her.
thecraftycreek 
I am always amazed at how the designers take threads that seem to be NOT good, and they turn out so well.😄 That’s why I’m the stitcher and not the colorist, I guess. The poppies are so realistic, the blend really is amazing! Have a grand time at your retreat!
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I agree Kathy, it’s a completely different skill to see how the colours will work together, I’m more of a stitcher too 🙂
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Well done!
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gorgeous
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Oh I just love California Poppies – they make me smile!
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I had never heard of Faby Reilly until you mentioned her in a previous post and now have her bookmarked. Lovely stuff. Also keen to hear about your embroidery retreat. Can you post about it? And by the way – why do they call these things humbugs?
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Their beautiful! You got talent with that needle.🙂
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This is really so lovely ❤ Have heaps of fun at your retreat
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I love this, poppies are one of my favourite flowers.
Borrowing times a brilliant idea 😄
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Beautiful!
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Ooh, three whole days of doing something you love, without distraction and with like minded people – heaven!
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Love reading your posts, Margaret, and looking at your beautiful pictures! This is really coming on a treat 🙂 You should try a different gold thread – there’s no point in stitching anything you don’t enjoy… DMC do 2 metallic ranges: Light Effects & Diamant. Depending on the version of the Poppy Humbug you have, it’s either charted with Light Effects, or (if it’s a more recent version) with DMC Diamant. The Light Effects is simply horrid to stitch. I used to use it before they brought in their Diamant collection. Now I won’t touch it with a barge pole. I find the Diamant is quite nice to stitch (it doesn’t disintegrate like the L.E. does) and I love it because it’s really shiny. But if you’re not keen on the Diamant either, try a Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid (it’s slightly less shiny than the Diamant thread, but it’s as soft and pleasant to stitch as normal stranded cotton), or a Kreinik.
Have a super time at your retreat 🙂 !! x
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Thanks Faby, I’ll have a look for the Diamant for the next one, I seem to have ended up with half a dozen of the gold skeins which I don’t like wasting, but I think I might donate them to the Embroiderers Guild sales table! I’ve got a silver Anchor thread which is lovely to stitch with, so I might see if they do it in gold as well. As you say, there’s no pint stitching in something I don’t like 🙂
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Love poppies so it was interesting to see how much shading was necessary to get this looking so beautiful.
Know you’re having a fabulous time and will look forward to reading all about it once you’re back home!
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Beautiful cross stitch!
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The poppies look so vibrant! Beautiful work.
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