Spring 2024: Google ended its email subscription service in 2021. I believe I've found a replacement, but haven't had time to test it. I have been stitching a little bit here and there and have some posts ready for when the email subscription is active again. Fingers crossed, I'll have time to rouse this blog out of its dormancy sometime this year.

23 January 2020

My Flower Pots Overfloweth

After a good start on Lorna Bateman's scissors keeper I had to figure out how to fill the pots at the bottom. I wanted to balance whatever I put in the pots with the colours in the completed areas. I had no idea what I was going to do!

Embroidered front of Lorna Bateman scissors keeper in progress

I decided not to worry about creating actual flowers, and primarily focused on colour placement and texture. I also wasn't concerned about whether the flowers would be blooming at the same time or whether they would even grow in the same place. This is embroidery not gardening!

I started with some blue and purple flowers in front of the pots. I had notional ideas of what I thought the flowers might be. I think of these as forget-me-nots and alyssum.

Blue and purple flowers added to front of embroidered scissors keeper

Next I needed to figure out how to get some yellow at the bottom of the design in order to balance with the big bunch of yellow roses at the top.

In went some daisy-like flowers. Someone who saw these thought they were daffodils. That works, too.

Embroidered yellow daisies added to front of Lorna Bateman scissors keeper

I mulled quite a while over my next move. I knew I needed to bring in the pinks from the hollyhocks. I also wanted to use some of the lightest green of the three shades I had available. I hadn't used much of the lightest green because it has a tendency to disappear into the backing fabric.

I also wanted a different flower shape, something spiky. Red salvias popped into my brain. (I had a bit of feline supervision.)

Beginning to add pink flowers to the small pot on Lorna Bateman's embroidered scissors keeper

The pink flowers were created with closed fly stitch. They remind me a little bit of hyacinths, but they're really just 'pink flowers'. I like the way they turned out, but I did get a bit carried away. I had not intended to completely fill up the pot and wanted to leave some open space, but it didn't turn out that way!

Embroiderd pink flowers in small pot on Lorna Bateman's scissors keeper design

I filled the area between the yellow and pink flowers with dark purple somethings (also known as French knots).

Purple flowers added to front of Lorna Bateman's embroidered scissors keeper design

I was happy with how the colours were going in. However, I began to wonder just where the edge of the design was supposed to be. I had a feeling that I might be too close. I basted in the outline of the pattern template and sure enough, I was right on the edge of the pattern. That won't work. There has to be some space between the embroidery and the border of the pattern because there is an embroidered outline on the scissors keeper. I wish I had put the pattern outline in sooner! No matter, I'll just widen the pattern a little bit.

Border basted onto embroidered scissors keeper front

I embroidered the bees:

Embroidered bees on Lorna Bateman-designed scissors keeper

Then, I made myself stop stitching, well, that and the fact that I couldn't get anymore thread into many areas. At the end of the stitching I was using the flat side of a small wrench to push the needle through the fabric!

Here's the finished front and top of the inside back with the wisteria (click for more detail):

Completed embroidery for front and inside back on Lorna Bateman-designed scissors keeper

I went a little crazy adding flowers. It's very lush, though, and there is a lot of detail. I went through a period of not being sure if I liked it. I put it down for a while and when I came back I liked it better. It's growing on me.

Now, I'm off to adjust the pattern and start constructing the scissors keeper.

9 comments :

  1. Replies
    1. So nice of you to say so. Thank you!

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  2. Love hearing about your process and the results are stunning! Wish my garden bloomed as abundantly..

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    Replies
    1. 'Wish my garden bloomed as abundantly..'

      Me, too!

      (Thanks for the kind words.)

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  3. What a feast for the eyes! I love all the details you have stitched in.

    I like the cat's ear too. They're so funny the way they have to be at the centre of what you are working on.

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  4. Your garden grew beautifully!

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    Replies
    1. Grew is definitely the right word for it. It grew and grew and then grew some more!

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  5. I had to slightly enlarge the pattern as well!

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