Hand Embroidered Fleece Baby Blanket - part 2

To complete the right side of the "Sunset in the Teddies' Garden" design for the fleece baby blanket that I'm making, I had to add Hollyhocks, next. I really enjoyed making these. I love the three-dimensional look of these flowers. To make them, I used silk floss in two shades of pink, burgundy, and peach for each stalk. I used the variegated green for the stalks and leaves. I, first, drew the design on the fleece with the air-erasable marker and then stitched the stalks using the stem stitch. I used 2 threads of floss throughout this flower design. Next, I did the flowers on one stalk. These were formed by making an irregular circles of blanket stitches using the lighter shade of pink, bringing each stitch to the center of the circle. The flowers are spaced along the stalk, getting smaller as you get closer to the top of the stalk. A bud or two of partial circles are made to represent buds near the top of the stalk. The center of the flowers are made using the darker shade of pink. A smaller circle of blanket stitches is made on top of the other circle in the same manner. To give this part of the flower a dimensional look, you work a row of detached buttonhole stitches onto the edge of this darker circle. This center part of the flower is made on all of the flowers, except the buds. This process is repeated for each stalk, using a different combination of colors for each stalk. The leaves are added next. Those on the stalks are partial circles of buttonhole stitches, reducing the size as you go up the stalk. The leaves at the base of the stalks are irregular circles.

The next flower to be added are Shasta Daisies. These were made with #8 Pearl Cotton. The white petals were made with lazy daisy stitches. Golden yellow centers were made with a double wrapped french knot. The stems are back stitches with lazy daisy leaves.

Blue Forget-Me-Not flower petals are made with two strands of silk floss double wrapped french knots. I used the same golden yellow pearl cotton for the centers. Single strand silk floss lazy daisy stitches were used for the leaves.

A smaller version of daisies made with pink silk floss with burgundy centers using the same method as the Shasta daisies completes this side of the design.

I've started on the other side of the design and will post my progress in the next couple days.

If anyone needs instructions for any embroidery stitches, I recommend going to Sharon Boggon's stitch dictionary at http://inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html It's an excellent source for any hand embroiderer.