Designing Realistic Flowers for Projects

Daylily rug, by Annake

I love flowers! That is why my business is called Annake's Garden and my blog is called  “Cuttings from Annake's Garden”. More of my work involves flowers than any other single subject. I am a great admirer of Georgia O'Keeffe's giant flowers and her determination to get people to really look  at flowers. While my individual flowers don't approach the size of her paintings, I do like to work larger than life. Actually, this goes back to a time when I was teaching fifth graders about Georgia O’Keeffe. I made several oversized flower pictures in various media to show the students, along with samples of O’Keeffe's work, before I asked them to make their own large flower pictures. Their favorite sample was a study in pastels and crayon of an orange daylily. Several students asked me to make computer copies of the picture for them. I did that, filed the picture, and essentially forgot about it.

"Day-glo Daylily", needlepoint by Annake

After I retired, I cleaned out my files and came across the original drawing. I decided to make a rug, using the sketch as a basis for my design. It was the first rug I ever sold. Fortunately, J.D. had already been archiving photos of my work, so I can show you what that piece looked like (above).  I've also done a daylily as a large needlepoint (right). The colors came from my imagination; however, I see one in this year's catalogs that comes very close to my imaginary one.  Is art imitating life or is life imitating art?

Sample card

In both cases, I was working on a scale considerably larger than life. Doing this frees you to include as many details as you like — whether or not those details existed in an actual flower. There are many instances, however, when this is either not possible, or when it not desirable. Sometimes less is really more. Sometimes it is simply a matter of space. Suppose you are making a series of greeting cards.  The entire card may be smaller than the flower you are depicting. Instead of cropping the flower to fit, why not do a depiction of the flower that fits the card and eliminate unnecessary details?

Sunflower project materials

Once again the size of the finished project dictates what you can and cannot do.  Take, for example, a sunflower that I decided to do in needlepoint in a round frame that was only 9 inches in diameter. Now, I love sunflowers. They are large and complex. They are not dainty, shy blossoms. They are large, bright,  and kind of in-your-face. They never fail to cheer me.

Before I began working on the design, I collected pictures of sunflowers, fabric decorated with them, live flowers, all kinds of materials.

After tracing several examples of both the inside and outside edges of the frame, I worked to get a sunflower center that would be in correct proportion for the ring of petals. These proportions differ between sunflower species, as we discovered from planting Central and South American species. I found a combination that I liked and filled in details of the center. I didn't attempt to put in all the seeds, just suggested them. Then I determined how many outer petals I could arrange around the center, making them similar but not identical.  I shaded petals that were overlapped to indicate depth. At that point, I was ready to start on the actual project.

Finished sunflower needlepoint

I prepared my needlepoint canvas (#14 white mono) and ran colored threads horizontally and vertically through the center. Then I centered the canvas over the drawing and traced it onto the canvas with a fine-lined permanent marker. Once it was dry, I rubbed the lines vigorously on both sides with a paper towel to pick up any bits of ink that might discolor the yarn and I pulled out the centering threads. With the color areas of the picture completed, I filled in the background in a neutral color. Finally, I began back-stitching around certain segments with a single strand of yarn. (This is traditionally done on counted cross-stitch pictures, sometimes using a single color for all the back-stitching.)  When I use it on needlepoint, I prefer to use lighter, darker, or grayer yarns to emphasize the features I'm outlining. Purists won't do this sort of surface stitching on conventional tent stitch. I'm not a purist. I'll not only use back-stitching, but also any surface embroidery that will enhance the canvas work and make it match my mental vision of the piece.

When making a pillow in folk embroidery on gingham, I made a less realistic sunflower, concentrating more on texture. Backstitching here gives the center a different appearance.

Sunflower pillow with detail

Sunflower center

Incidentally, sunflowers should delight the readers who enjoyed our Roots, Leaves, and S.T.E.M. post (February 29, 2020), because they represent both Science and Mathematics.   A sunflower is not a single flower, but a composite of masses of two entirely different kinds of flowers. What we think of as petals are actually individual strap-shaped ray flowers whose bright colors attract pollinators. The central disc is made up of large numbers of disc flowers which, when pollinated, will produce seeds. These flowers are arranged in curved lines which follow the Fibonacci number sequence. The sequence is 1, 1,  2,  3,  5,  8, 13,  21, 34, 55, 89, and theoretically continues to infinity. Each number is the sum of the two previous numbers. The sequence is found many places in Nature — out to the structure and motion of spiral galaxies.

I do a lot more work from quick sketches and studies in pencil, watercolor, pastel. and marker and from handmade charts than I do from photos. However, I've done enough to offer some advice. If you are planning to sell your projects, be sure you have not used anyone's copyrighted material. I work from my own photos and those of J.D. and J.J. (with their permission, of course). If accuracy is important, take lots of photos from different angles, distances, and lighting effects. Be selective about the parts you use. Leave out anything that does not improve the composition. Let me show you what I mean.

Original photo

This photo of poppies has several things going for it. The lighting is interesting. The poppies show up well against the dark background. The red of the petals is complemented by the green stems. But look at the gray, dead leaves at the lower left. They do not help the composition at all. Now look at the picture after J. D. has modified it. Cropping and/or otherwise altering a photo can add a great deal to its appeal.

Poppy photo, edited

On the other hand, sometime a picture needs to be expanded. Look at these two pictures taken at the same time. See how much showing the full petals makes the picture more interesting? That is why taking multiple shots is valuable.

I do, however, want to show you how to modify an outline pattern so that it works more easily as a chart. The first thing to do is to transfer the pattern to quarter-inch graph paper. I use either dressmaker's carbon or a sheet of paper which I have colored heavily on the back with a graphite pencil. Aligning one major straight line in the design with a line on the graph paper, I transfer the design by going over the outline with a ball-point pen that has used up all its ink. Once the transfer is complete, I draw straight lines, square corners, and forward and backward diagonal lines to come as close as possible to the curved lines in the original design. The resulting new design, shown here in red, can then be enlarged or reduced to fit any size of graph paper. (It can also be simplified if you wish.)

Squaring off an outline

 
Before I use or store the pattern, I trace it once again with a permanent marker. Some uses for this type of pattern include:

    a counted cross-stitch design
    a panel of ceramic tiles
    a collage
    a felt applique with cut-out pieces glued or sewn to a background
    a wood carving
    a needlepoint or quickpoint   
    an embossed piece of copper foil
    tooled leather
    the center panel for a patchwork quilt
    a mosaic
    an afghan put together from "granny squares"

Simple iris pattern graphed two ways

Occasionally I enlarge a small or medium-sized design laid out on quarter-inch graph paper to a size suitable for making a latch-hook rug, a wall hanging, quilt blocks, etc. The easiest way to do this is to draw around a block of four squares of graph paper for each of the single squares in the smaller design. I tape a number of pages of quarter-inch graph paper together and lay them out on a large table. Beginning at the center of my design, I draw the 4-square block that represents the center square of the original design. I then work outward in all directions from that center square. I number or color the blocks as I go. The finished pattern will not match either #3.75 or #5 rug canvas exactly, but it will come very close. Count the number of horizontal and vertical squares on your pattern and mark the same number of squares on the canvas. Mark the center of the canvas and draw the outline of the entire design around it. When you cut the canvas, always allow an extra 4 or 5 squares of mesh on each side to turn under before you begin putting in the strands of rug yarn.

You can reverse the process, changing a graph to an outline drawing, but it is a bit more difficult. I suggest that you trace the squared outlines on another sheet of paper so that you don't damage the original. Then work very lightly in pencil, turning squared corners into curves. Stop often to review what you have done, erase where needed, and re-draw.  Be patient and persistent.

Click here to download

Finally, let me leave you with a downloadable outline pattern that you can use in any way you like as it is,  or modify it in any of the ways discussed here.  You can multiply it or reverse it horizontally (or both horizontally and vertically) to make larger, more complex designs.

No matter what your purpose is for capturing the images of flowers, please take time to explore and enjoy their remarkable shapes, colors, textures and fragrances.

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Sunflower Splendor

The Chinese poet Kao Ch'i (1336 – 1374) wrote of the sunflower:

 “Its radiance bursts forth in summer's bright light,

Its clusters nestling against the dark green shade.

Evenings, it droops like the common hibiscus,

But blazes at noon with the pomegranate flowers.

A subtle scent spreads across our mat,

A fresh splendor shines upon our feast,

When all the other flowers have bid us farewell...”

I've loved the sturdy sunflowers since, as a child, I gathered wild ones with goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace along the country roads around our farm. Turning their bright faces to the sun, they pointed my way to the one-room country school; then, magically, they turned around to brighten my journey home at the end of the day. I still admire them for their familiarity, even though J.D. grows much more exotic ones today. (I will share some of those with you at the end of this post.)

I have used the sunflower as a subject before (August 26, 2013) in an embroidery on checked gingham., using basic cross-stitch, long-armed cross-stitch, star stitch, French knots and plain chain stitch. Here's a picture of the finished and framed project, along with a close-up of the center of the flower.

Having decided to use the sunflower as the subject of the “Autumn” picture in a Four Seasons series of needlepoints (May 16, 2013 and July 18, 2013), I gathered together the photographs J. D. had taken of our sunflowers, photographs from other sources, a live specimen, even a scarf with a printed sunflower motif. I traced several circles, the size of the opening in the frame I planned to use, on plain paper and began to make sketches of the flowers.

This is the sketch I decided to use. I shaded the petals and suggested the surface stitches that I planned to add to the completed needlepoint.

I transferred the outlines onto #14 white mono needlepoint canvas, using a black fine-point permanent marker The very fine details were left out so that I could concentrate on the larger color areas when I started stitching. I rubbed the front and back surfaces of the canvas vigorously to remove any excess ink that might otherwise come off on the yarn.

Then I selected tapestry and Persian yarns to match the colors of the sunflower as closely as possible.

I prefer to work with natural sunlight whenever possible, so I put the materials away until the next morning. I worked one color area at a time, beginning with the lightest yellow and working toward the darker tones Wherever possible, I used the basketweave stitch; otherwise, I used continental stitch. Once the color areas were completed, I put in the solid-colored background. I consulted my pencil sketch again to determine the finer details. Then I used thinner strands of yarn to outline the individual outer petals with backstitch. Moving on to the center of the flower, I used French knots in two sizes and colors to show the raised area of reproductive flowers. Steam-ironing the completed canvas was the last step before framing the picture

Finished sunflower needlepoint

Sunflowers belong to a very large variety of flowers called Composites (Compositae). They are actually made of two different kinds of flowers. The large, showy petals are actually individual flowers that serve to attract the insects and birds that pollinate the flowers. The very tiny raised flowers at the center of the blossom are the ones that produce the seeds. If you look closely at other Composites, like coneflowers and black-eyed Susans, you can see the two kinds of flowers clearly. We save the seeds from the best flowers for replanting and add the rest to our winter birdseed.

Some exotic sunflowers in Annake's Garden

Have a wonderful season, whether it is Autumn or Spring where you are,

 This post by Annake's Garden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Easy Cross-stitch on Checked Gingham

(This post is the first of a series of tutorials about embroidery, starting with simple cross-stitch on checked gingham and working up through more complex techniques like blackwork and Holbein stitchery.)

A sunflower from the Garden, the model for today's cross-stitch

Cross-stitch is usually the first type of decorative needlework budding stitchers encounter; and, while it forms the foundation of other styles of stitchery that I find much more fun and interesting, many needleworkers find it satisfying enough that they never do anything else. I'm going to get you started with an easy technique of working on checked gingham, one of my favorite materials. Checked gingham is the perfect background for a beginner because the corners of its squares are so easy to see. You'll want to start with 1/4" check material, the most common gingham available. I'm going to make a sunflower freehand, but you'll probably want a pattern or a chart of some sort. I hope you'll download the FREE Rose Needle Arts Chart I introduced in an earlier blog post, but you can use simple patterns from other sources with this technique.

Rose Needle Arts Pattern, cross-stitched on checked gingham

The cross-stitch is made with a pair of diagonal stitches that cross in the middle to form an X.  Cross-stitch can be done by counting, as it is in the rose pattern and the center of my sunflower, or as a patterned filling stitch, as it is in the sunflower petals, where you only need an outlined shape to work inside.

Whether you work from my rose chart or one in a book, study your chart. If there are directions with it, read them carefully. Make a list of the colors you will need. Be sure you know which symbol or number represents each color. You will begin with simple, readily available embroidery floss. You will need a skein of floss for each color. If one color appears more often than the rest, buy two skeins of it. I prefer blunt needles for the stitching. These are usually labeled tapestry needles. Try to find a mixed package of numbers 18 through 22 and buy a couple of them so you will have a needle for each separate color. If you are more comfortable with crewel (sharp-pointed) needles, then use them.

Free Rose Needle Arts chart downloadable PDF

Count the longest line of squares, both horizontally and vertically, in your pattern. This will tell you how big the finished design will be, figuring an inch for every 4 squares. Allow at least 2 inches of background around the whole design. If you are using my rose pattern, you will need to buy a half yard of quarter-inch checked gingham. You will have enough left over to do another picture or to back a pillow. Be sure you buy gingham that has the checks woven in --- not printed on. Select your floss first and try the skeins on different colors of gingham to find the combination that pleases you the most.

Yellow checked gingham basted for cross-stitch

I baste interfacing, muslin, or a piece of an old white pillowcase to the back of the gingham and stitch through both layers. This helps keep an even tension and conceals the stitches you make on the back of your work. Press both pieces before you baste them together. Run a basting line of a contrasting color through the horizontal and vertical centers of the gingham. Match the center where they cross with the center of the chart and choose a color that crosses the center for your first stitches.

I use all the strands of the floss on 1/4-inch check, but split them in two when I work on 1/8-inch “baby check”. Never use a piece of floss that is more than 18 inches long. I start my first line of stitches with a waste knot well off to one side of the center on the front of the work. I end the first line by securing at least 2 inches of the floss on the back of the work, under my finished stitches. Then I cut off the knot, pull the rest of the waste floss to the back, thread it in the needle and run it under finished stitches. No other knots are needed, since I start the next piece of floss by running it under finished stitches on the back before bringing it to the front. Work progressively outward from the center to the edges of the pattern.

Sample diagonal, cross, star and back stitching

I start my first stitch in the lower left-hand corner of the check square and end it in the upper right-hand corner. This is the same as the basic tent stitch in needlepoint. The second half of the X starts in the lower right-hand corner and ends in the upper left-hand corner. You can reverse the two halves and do the left-leaning part of the stitch first. This may be easier for left-handed people. The important thing is to be consistent. Whichever way you cross the stitch, be sure you do all of them the same way. Don't switch back and forth. It will be noticeable and detract from your work. The star stitch is made by stitching a + over a completed X, and like the basic cross-stitch, should be done the same way each time. Another useful device is to back-stitch the outline of the square around a completed X. These are useful for texture and shading.

Once you are comfortable with the stitch, you can do rows or whole sections in the right-leaning stitch, then come back later to do the left-leaning ones. You may work lines of stitches right to left as I do, since that is how I also do needlepoint, or left to right. If you're a beginner, however, I suggest you do one complete X at a time. I also suggest you make a small pencil mark on the corresponding square of your chart. You can erase them later and they will keep you from losing your place in the pattern if you are interrupted. (Unless you smell smoke, hear gunfire, or see blood, take the time to finish the stitch you are on and secure your needle with the tip pointing in the direction of your next stitch before you put your work down.)

Sunflower center, filled in with cross, star, and back stitches

Tension is important in cross-stitch. Your stitch should just fill the line between the two corners. If it is loose and floppy, it will snag. If it is too tight, it will pull the square out of shape. A little practice on a scrap or edge of the material will help you to sense when your stitch is just right. If you use the proper tension, your finished work may not need blocking --- just pressing with a steam iron. The ends of stitches in adjacent squares should touch when they meet, with no background showing between them. This also assures that all your X's are the same size. Background should show behind your stitches and anywhere there is a blank square on your chart.

Cross-stitch sunflower showing back stitching

Back-stitching the finished rose is optional. If you do a dark-colored rose, I recommend back-stitching it with shades 1, 2, or 3; if a light-colored one, shades 5, 6, or 7; if a medium-colored one, shades 3, 4, or 5. If you are doing a project from a book, back-stitch according to the directions on the chart. I did a lot of back-stitching on the sunflower to get it to really stand out from its background.

Now get out there and start X-ing! Happy stitching!

Annake

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