Flower Temari Challenge - Forsythia

Forsythia stitched on a Japanese temari

 

Finally! Diagrams for forsythia! Time flies when you're having fun, right? Well, I've been having lots of fun for the past few months since I consider teaching temari fun :)   Now, it's time to catch up with a lot of other projects that have been on hold.

Divide each short line
into six sections.

So here I am, back to diagramming flowers. Forsythia has lots of tiny yellow flowers and is absolutely one of my favorites!

Guidelines - thin metallic. I used Treasure Braid Petite High Gloss Copper (PH13) by Rainbow Gallery to add the guidelines. I love this thread! It is strong yet fine and looks just like metal on the ball. Hint, hint - there are some 300 yard spools left in my shop if you hear it calling your name!

Yellow flowers - variegated yellow/orange. I used Caron Watercolors 275 Daffodil (separated to one strand). Filled with light yellow Caron Watercolors 131 Banana.

Brown twigs - light brown. I used the browner parts of variegated Caron Watercolors 189 Gingersnap (separated to one strand).

To make all the little flowers, I decided to subdivide the pentagon. The first step is to measure a short line, divide by 6, and place 5 pins along each line to divide each one into 6 sections. Then pretend like this is a multicenters temari and add guidelines until all of the pins are connected and you have a grid of tiny triangles all over this C10 pentagon. If you were dividing the entire temari like this, it would have 482 centers.

Stitch to connect pins and
create multicenters.

The next step is to find the smallest shape in the center - it's a pentagon. Stitch a tiny herringbone around that center with the stitches placed on the long lines, inside the pentagon. Place stitches on the short lines just outside the pentagon.  Then locate the five hexagons surrounding that tiny pentagon.

Stitch a tiny herringbone.

When stitching the hexagons, you will stitch inside the hexagon on each guideline. Place stitches outside the hexagon just over the flat side of the hexagon. There won't be a guideline there for you to use to place that stitch so just eyeball it and place it out over the side of the hexagon. Extend it past the side a couple of needlewidths so you'll have room to interlock it when you stitch in the hexagon next door. Interlock all shapes as you stitch by weaving under and over.

Using the same thread, fill in most of the hexagons with the exception of a few in each corner where you can place brown pine needle stitches to represent the twigs on the forsythia bush.

The last step is to stitch around each of the hexagon centers (one row) with light yellow to add a bit of fill for those flowers. I love the look of all these teenie flowers. Hope you do too!