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

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A field of red poppies

swaying in the breeze, always catches my eye.............however, I have never seen a field of poppies like this.............not in my area.................only on video or posters. Do you have fields of poppies where you live?  The only poppy I have ever seen growing in a garden here........was years ago , while I was visiting a dear friend Bell. She never allowed grass to grow in her yard...........only flowers. Her yard was hard packed where one walked, but where her flowers grew...........the ground was soft and rich and held a bounty of beautiful blooms. In one corner of her yard,  a tall and proud poppy grew.............swaying in the Texas spring breeze. I fell in love with it!  Bell gave me seed to plant my own..............and after all of these years, I still have not been able to get a poppy to sprout.

Whenever this kind of disaster strikes in my garden............I turn to my needle and thread............and create the blossoms on linen,.........that I cannot grow in the ground.

After seeing the brilliance of the color of the poppy in Bell's garden............I started appreciating the color of reds in my embroidery. I never used to like red...........I always chose pink or yellow for my stitched posies.............but this poppy made me realize how red draws the eye in to see the real beauty.

This week, I am stitching quite a few poppy designs for towels for my booth and for my Etsy. I really like this vintage design...........I think if placed in clusters on the corners and in the middle of a large white linen piece, this design would look lovely as a tablecloth in the middle of a French/ country kitchen................what do you think?
Do you like poppies as well?
 I would love to hear!

11 comments:

Cindy said...

I love the embroidered poppies. Such an old fashioned pattern, but those are the best! Very nice stitching too!

Anonymous said...

Oh, those stitched red poppies are lovely! Out here in California, I see mostly the orange poppies that are our state flower and thus illegal to pick in the wild, resulting in swaths and swaths of them along the roadside in the correct season. I think you are right that that design, in those colors, would make an utterly charming tablecloth....

Now I just must find the time to make a tablecloth like that!

lil red hen said...

I do have a few oriental poppies which are an orange-red. They make millions of seeds but are very difficult to start. Once I had a little red poppy which re-seeded itself every year but I have lost it. Your friend's garden sounds just like I wish I had, with one of everything.

Your stitched poppies are beautiful!! They would look very nice on a tablecloth. I surely wish I could do wonderful work like yours.

GardenOfDaisies said...

I do love poppies! I've seen them growing in local gardens here. But the most magnificent display of poppies I've ever seen was at Lake Louise, in Canada. (near Banff) There were masses of them growing between the Hotel and the lake, and a bagpiper walked the path, playing his soulful instrument. A memory forever engraved in my mind.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

I'm guessing you would have to travel to Europe to see a field of poppies. :) I love a yard that is filled with all varieties of flowers. In Michigan where my aunt lives, there is one pretty white cottage with a picket fence and a brilliant display of flowers that covers the entire yard. It has an untamed look but must have been planned out for it to do so well throughout the seasons.

Your embroidery work is always fabulous! I love red! Wishing you a beautiful day. Tammy

Unknown said...

I love poppies -- reminds me of growing up in California! Your embroidered poppies are as lovely as can be ;)

Blessings!
Gail

Karen said...

I love poppies! And we are fortunate that they reseed themselves and multiply every year in our flower bed. I absolutely love your red poppies embroidery, it's beautiful!

Gina E. said...

My father always planted "Iceland Poppy" seeds in our garden, and every year we had a gorgeous multicolored display of poppies. I think they are different from the Red poppies in USA and Europe, but they are still poppies! Your embroidered poppies are exquisite.

Tink's Tinkerings said...

absolutly love it, I must learn to draw patterns in th eold fashion way. thanks for sharing and have a really great week. Tink

Solstitches said...

Those poppies are just beautiful although I never see them here in Spain where I live now.
Your stitching is beautiful. I am a new follower :)

Margaret

A Colorful World said...

Love the poppy embroideries! They are gorgeous! When I worked at the Festival-Institute in TX the gardens there were amazing, and one of my favorite blooms were the very tall red poppies. I too took some seed, but haven't had success either. Just moved around too much. At any rate, perhaps we will have better luck later! I hope so!

Thanks for your encouragement on posting! We have finally gotten back online and I should be posting more often! All my best!
Marie