Finally Centered

After several trial runs, I found a combination of thread and stitches that gives the feel of those lush, fluffy, dusty stamens that surround the center of poppies.  The black yarn is a silk and angora blend.  The deep navy is DMC perle cotton.  I couldn't make French knots with the fuzzy yarn but filling them in between with the embroidery floss worked very well.  Next step: layering the whole piece with the batting and backing fabric and starting the machine stitching.

January Bloom

I started a new piece today that seems to be a response to the rain and gray of our January weather. What could be further from winter weather than the warm colors of a poppy flower's silken petals? I decided to use silks rather than the usual choice of cotton. The petals are silk dupionni, the black base of each petal is silk organza and the black center is silk noil. The only cotton used are the little bits under the black poppy center. Those two pieces are hand-dyed cotton that have a slight gold glitter to the surface of the fabric. I'm still mulling how to make the individual stamens that surround a poppy seed pod while it's still in the flowering stage. It may need an application of hand embroidery using black yarn. Does it need beads, too? Stay tuned.

One of the machine accessories that I own is a needle felting attachment, which is shown above. It holds 5 barbed needles that, as they pierce through two fabrics, cause the fibers of each to blend with the other. It works best with wool, but many other fibers can be used as well. Silk seems to take to this process almost as well as wool. I thought that the needle felting process might give a realistic look to the black spotting that occurs in the center of many poppies. I do like the effect now that it is started. So back to the machine to make more petals and keep myself warm looking at this yummy, hot color of summer.