Hydrangea - Flower Temari Challenge

Fluffy poofs of lavender, purple, blue, and pink hydrangeas are my daughter's favorite flowers and are at the top of my list for the Flower Temari Challenge.

Hydrangea

The first post on Flower Temari Challenge gives info on making and marking the ball. 

Lovely shades of variegated Caron Watercolors thread makes this flower fun to transfer to a stylized design on a temari.  Once again, I've irreverently disregarded the shape of the 10-part pentagon.  Since I wanted to represent each petal with a small square, I stitched a grid with copper colored metallic thread, laying the lines 1cm apart and at right angles. Here's the diagram:

After stitching the grid lines, I placed groups of pins where I would stitch the squares to form each flower head. Threads used for the squares (all are Caron Watercolors): #232 African Violet and #267 Wisteria.

With #124 Sunglow, stitch French knots in between the squares and a few around the edge of each flower head. 

Then add more grid lines, this time on the diagonals. You can stitch under the flowers. Secure each intersection of grid lines with a small cross stitch (#271 Wasabi).  I guess you could add these diagonal lines and the cross stitches before stitching the flowers.

I love the way the French knots raise the stitched design so it looks and feels very textural. The grid in the background offers a contrast with its fine, almost elegant look.  I just wish my camera could capture that feel.