STITCHING SUMMER

It seems it will never stop raining. Ever. I haven't been able to take dragonfly pics now for two whole days. I could be cranky about it, but I've decided to be inspired by the photos I already have and stitch something instead.
Started with a blank canvas of linen, layered with cotton batting. 

Then, I had a rummage through my vintage fabrics, and found these sad, tattered little flowers.

There were only a couple, they were fragile, the colors didn't quite please me, but still I kept going back to them. I decided to start from scratch and stitch my own. I wanted them to look like zinnias, which I LOVE, so I pulled out my best perle cotton zinnia colors and made up this stitch, which I think captures the texture of the real thing. It pleased me. I made several. 

I appliqued some leaves from an old tablecloth to the linen background and added the flowers. It still needed something. A dragonfly? Using one of last week's photos for inspiration, I stitched this...

Nothing says summer like zinnias and dragonflies, right?
If there is any interest in a how-to for the flower stitch, I will do a tutorial. Easy-peasy.
Every needle tells a story. XO.