Fresh As A Daisy

Morning All!

Did any of you get a chance to see any of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night? We watched almost all of it, although I admit, I dozed off during parts of the procession when teams were entering the arena. That bit is a little tedious, but I thought the opening was terrific. Such a grand scale!

Fresh as a daisy, I've always liked that saying. Daisy's are fresh, so simple and pretty. Easy peasy. Clean. 

I stitched some daisy's for a very nice lady for a Phat Quarter embroidery swap recently, the theme of the swap was "Spring" and my ever so patient partner, Sophie waited half way through summer for her piece. It's safely in her hands now in England, so I can share it with you guys. 

I tried and tried to make a different piece for her, and ultimately pitched it. That's a first! I've never given up on a project before, but this one was going nowhere. The more I stitched, the more I disliked it... so bizarre. Maybe someday I'll try again. Sophie is a very, very talented stitcher, I wanted to make her something really pretty and that first piece just wasn't cutting it.

 I'd had this pattern saved as a favorite for a long time, so when I realized that I was scrapping the other piece, I got to work on this one. Lots of satin stitch here!

I love the simplicity of this pattern, other than the leaves and centers of the flowers, this wee dragon fly is the only other color, I chose a soft lavender for his wings and a mossy green for his body, made with graduating French Knots.

 Here are some of the flowers & leaves close up.

 And some more leafy texture... I enjoyed making those leaves, each one was different.

I just happened to have some Shasta daisy's in the mixed bouquet on the kitchen table (sometimes I treat myself to a small bunch of flowers when I do my grocery shopping at Trader Joes, you can't beat fresh flowers for $3.99!), so I plucked them from the vase and borrowed them for a few photos outside with their stitchy counterparts.

I'm glad I had them, they're so pretty!

Even my little gnome got in on some photo action.

I love this pattern...  I might make another one for myself some day. Yeah, I'll just tack that on the bottom of an ever growing, long list. I better live to about 120 years, I've got a lot to do. Oh, and that pretty mat there on the table, I picked that up at the quilt show I went to with mom a few weeks back, only $5, what a bargain!

So any big plans this weekend, ladies? I think we're going to a concert at a local winery tonight, tomorrow we're headed to the mountains to visit my family, it's my nephews 10th birthday, a fact which I can hardly believe at all. Seems like he was just a baby yesterday.

Wishing you well!

oxo,

Lisa