Poppyprint Embroidery Sampler

After my recent embroidery course, I wanted to get busy and practice some of the new stitches I'd learned before they were forgotten. Suzanne requested a hoop featuring some of my poppy-printed fabric for our private swap. It's not complete yet, but here is where things stand at the moment.

I picked up this oval hoop at a charity shop last spring and have been wanting to use it for a swap. The fabric is a natural linen printed with red ink and I used Presencia perle 8 cotton for the embroidery. My idea was to embellish the prints, using their symmetry to guide my stitching, without entirely concealing the printed forms. Check it out: I learned how to do Shisha!

It's more fun saying Shisha! than it is stitching those little mirrors on, trust me. I need more practice to get my stitched frame more symmetrical (obviously). Please don't ask for a tutorial, because this is a technique you've got to see done right in front of you. Possibly 10 times over before you will 'get it'. Ahem. I may need a trip to India.

Next is an old stitch with a new look. How adorable are these sets of three nested lazy daisies?

Something else I learned is the wrapped spider web. Perfect for the season!

I have a bit more work to do and hope to show this in it's final form in a day or two. I have a thought about finishing the edges of the hoop that may or may not work....

I'll be mailing the hoop inside this embroidery project pouch that I made before our summer holidays.

Made with 'twofers' leftover from this project's flying geese blocks.

Here's the flipside, with some stitched dragonflies.

My to-do list is dwindling now that I am almost done with swap commitments. I'm not taking on any new ones so I can free up some creative time for Christmas gifts and a bed quilt for us that I want to have pieced before the holidays. Here's to a productive week ahead!