The fragrance of Summer - Poppies, Asters, Cornflowers and Wheat

"Summer set lip to earth's bosom bare,
And left the flushed print in a poppy there."
~Francis Thompson, "The Poppy," 1891

Nothing would describe this piece of embroidery I made, better than this poem. A beautiful piece of embroidery, I picked up this pattern from the famed Anna magazine, in the August 1984 issue.

Closeup of the center

The motif consists of bright red poppies, sparkling white asters, shocking blue cornflowers and of course wheat straws to form a group of fresh fragrant summer blooms.

Hmm, I can smell them in my mind right now...

The stitches I used are satin stitch, long and short stitch, french knot, stem stitch and chain stitch.

I used vibrant silk threads for the embroidery, and the recommended Anchor shades are White 2, Golden 306, Red 47, Grass green 245, Birch green 253,,  Cobolt blue 133, Porcelain blue 149 and Black 403.

Here are pictures from the original issue of Anna magazine..

So, after embroidering, do as Susan Polis Shutz says, 

"Let us dance in the sun, 

wearing wild flowers in our hair.."