Telling Stories Through the Needle's Eye: "In the Garden"

Thursday, May 10, 2018

"In the Garden"—Hummingbird and Fuchsia

We are back In the Garden this week with the latest block of the month in our series. What better time than spring—at least here in the northern hemisphere—to think about what to plant to attract those cheerful, bright hummingbirds? Fuchsia seemed the obvious choice, with their vibrant colors . . . and they are fun to create, as well! We had a fabulous time blooming fuchsia in our class this past Sunday. You, too, can join in the fun; the pattern, complete with ribbon, pistils, and a metallic twist, is available on our website!

Here is how this block came together.

I (Teri) first stitched the branch and leaves in place. I used a matching green wool for the leaves, as my wool had a herringbone design and didn't really need veins. You could, however, embroider some veins if your wool is a solid.

The hummingbird's ruby throat is stitched down using Painter's Threads Metallic Twist, by Threadnuts, with a chain stitch. Ribbon stitches in 7mm silk ribbon are stitched below for his white breast. Green feather-stitched feathers are stitched on his body. The wings and beak are embroidered with a dark floss. His French-knotted eye is topped with a white bullion.

The Fuschia

I used two pistils, folded them in half, and tacked the pistils to the center of my purple satin ribbon.

Then, I folded the purple ribbon around the pistils at 45-degree angles, above left, and did a running/gathering stitch across the ribbon, above right.

To secure the gathers and shape the center of the fuchsia, I often take another stitch through the gathers on the back, left, and then knot the thread. You can trim the fuzzy edges above the gathering stitch, right, but not too close to your gathering stitches.

Three centers, waiting for the outer petals

Using 1 1/2-inch wide wired ribbon, fold the ribbon in half to find the center, and fold each edge toward that center fold, as above.

Tack the purple flower center to the center of the folded ombré ribbon, using a strong or doubled thread. (Pretend that the white center above is purple, please!) Note that the raw edges of the ribbon is the side where you tack your center. I leave my thread in place.

You will do a running stitch in the shape of a diamond as indicated by the arrows above, going through both layers of the ombré ribbon, but NOT stitching the flower center. Be sure that when you come to the points, your thread wraps around the edge of the ribbon, from front to back, or vice versa.

Note that I even need to wrap that thread from one side to the other at the bottom, beneath the flower center, to create the gathers needed to make my petals. Do not knot off your thread yet.

Hold your finger on the flower center and gently pull your thread to gather the top petals. Pull from the thread near the flower, rather than with the needle, to prevent breaking the thread. As you gather, the stitches begin to line up horizontally, and you can gently pull to the side. Gather fairly tightly, and knot it off on the back. Turn the flower over and shape it, using the wired edges.

To make the bud, remove the wire from the light edge and fold the ribbon in half so that the wired edges are together. Take a running stitch in a U shape, from the wired edge down one raw edge, along the folded edge, and up the other raw edge. Gather tightly and knot. Shape it, creating a point on the side opposite the gathers.

Use matching thread and stitch the flowers in place with tack stitches in the gathers, so the stitches don't show. Continue to shape the flowers and use the stitches to keep the flower in shape. Embroider the stems, and you are finished!

So many lovely blooms were created in our class at Primitive Homespuns Wool and Needleworks on Sunday. I can't wait to see some of their finished blocks next month!

Hummingbird and Fuchsia

To read about the other blocks in our In the Garden Block of the Month series, click on the links below. All patterns are available on our website (www.needleseyestories.com), both in digital and hard copy format. The hard copies come with any ribbon needed to complete the blocks, as well as a detailed list of the threads we used. Won't you join us In the Garden?!