Scotch Harebells Cross Stitch Panel

So here it is - the fourth and final of the wild flower panels, designed by John Clayton for Heritage. This was probably the easiest to stitch panel because of my stitch by colors method - I highly recommend the method for these panels!

The last three stages of the stitch by colors experiment - adding the two major background colors and the backstitch:

Pattern: Scotch Harebells by John Clayton
Canvas: white Aida 14
Floss: Rosace and DMC

In my first posting about this flower panel I mentioned that I'll try a new brand of floss - Rosace. Oh, how I regret it, I should have stuck to the well known and time-proven brand. At first glance the new floss looks the same as DMC, but obviously the thread lacks the color saturation and silky shine of DMC and the stitched picture looks bland, mat and lustreless. Never again!

I enjoyed playing with the four panels today, rearranging them and wondering how to frame them - together in one big frame or separately. Still thinking ...

Scotch Harebells Cross Stitch Panel

No sooner said than done - I've started the fourth (and final) flower panel by John Clayton. When I saw the previous three flower panels together it dawn on me - each of them individually looked nice, but somehow unimpressive, but next to each other their colors worked together and combined into a beautiful picture, that only lacked purple-blue colors for completeness. So - here come the harebells.

I'm stitching them again on Aida 14, only I decided to try Rosace floss.

Similar to the poppies, I'm stitching the  harebells by colors. But while I stitched the poppies, dividing the colors into three groups - reds, greens and background and then stitching as I please within a group, now I had the whim to stitch strictly color by color and take a picture after completing a color - something like a dissection of the picture by colors. What's the point - none whatsoever, it's neither easier nor practical, I just want to see how this will come out. I've stitched enough cross stitch projects now, so I'm curious to try different approaches just for fun :)

So - here are the first five colors, that make the flower heads:

I couldn't find pictures of harebells within my photo archives (and I searched :), so I've illustrated the real flowers with pictures from the Internet. The only bell flowers I found were these cousins of the scotch harebells that grow in the Osogovo mountain:

Wild Poppies Cross Stitch Flower Panel

I just finished the third of the cross stitch flower panels - the wild poppies. It was almost done long ago, but I ran out of the winter white DMC floss and put it aside until a visit to the DMC shop downtown.

Pattern: Wild Poppies by John Clayton
Canvas: white Aida 14
Floss: DMC

With this  cross stitch project I used a more unconventional approach - I stitched it by colors. Because the panel is relatively small and it uses only 15 colors, this method worked OK.

While stitching this third panel I thought that I didn't want to stitch any other of these, but now, that I see my wild flower garden together, I think I might persuade myself to make the Scotch Harebells too - they are so-o-o beautiful and they will be a perfect addition to the bunch. I still haven't decided how to frame these, so for now I'm putting them aside.

Wild Poppies Stage Two

I'm very pleased with my experiment to embroider the poppies flower panel by colors. The second stage of the cross stitching - adding the greenery, is ready in no time, now I have to fill in the vast gaps with the background and then some back-stitching.

Pictures of the garden poppies from the garden in front of our building, taken in May. They are spectacular, but like their wild cousins, last only a couple of days.

Wild Poppies

I started the third wild flowers cross stitch panel - Wild Poppies by John Clayton.
This time I decided to shake things up by stitching first only the flowers, then the greenery and last the background. Since I always draw grade lines  on my canvass, stitching here and there is not difficult and made the whole project much more interesting. I'm done with the flowers in only a couple of days and I'm really enjoying it all so far ...

All pictures of live poppies were taken during our trips to Bosnek and Osogovo.

Buttercups Flower Panel

Pattern: Buttercups Flower Panel By John Clayton
Designer: John Clayton for Heritage
Floss: DMC
Canvass: Aida 14
Time to stitch: almost a year, from time to time

This flower panel took me quite a lot of time to finish, I lost most of my interest in it last summer. Not a very difficult pattern, though with a a lot of half stitches, as are most of Heritage patterns. I like it and I think it makes a nice combination with the Daisies. I'm not in a hurry to frame them, because in my enthusiasm last year I bought everything for a third flower panel of the same series - the Poppies. I think I'll start it this summer and finish it gradually when I feel like cross stitching. I found a pace this last month of combining cross stitching, knitting and sewing and so far I'm enjoying it. So while it lasts - I'll need a cross stitch project too :)

The pictures of buttercups were taken during our trip to Osogovo mountains. 

There I saw the most dense population of buttercups per meadow imaginable :)

Buttercups

For the past month I've been working occasionally on my second flower panel by John Clayton - Buttercups. I'm just past the messy and more difficult lower third of stems and leaves and from now on things should get easier and prettier as it's mostly flowers and grass in the remaining two thirds.

The photos of the live buttercups are from our trip to the Rila lakes - 

I wish I had taken more and better pictures ... :) 

The Daisies Are Done

Pattern: Daisy Flower Panel By John Clayton
Designer: John Clayton for Heritage
Floss: DMC
Canvass: Aida 14
Time to stitch: almost a month



It seems I've gotten back my passion for cross stitching this year. I've already started a second flower panel by the same designer, intending to make them a total of three (at least). I'm still pondering over the framing, might do it after all of the series of flower panels are done ...

Before and after back stitch

Daisies

"What are you doing?", asked me my husband the other day.
"I thought you were knitting a blue cardigan ...?"

Well, I was, and it was coming out very nicely. Until, I suddenly felt an urge to
do some cross stitching. I simply fell in love with the wild flower panels by John Clayton,
I want to have them all! But first - I've started with the daisies. Probably, because
I see them every day through my window in the garden in front of our building :)
Aren't they just beautiful after the short rain yesterday morning?