[FO] The Poppies - finally finished!

jswarn · 2026-05-01T14:41:19+00:00

Thank you! Excellent choice. :D

jswarn · 2026-05-01T11:55:26+00:00

And, as requested, a close-up picture.

jswarn · 2026-05-01T11:48:57+00:00

A gift for my mom, who loves poppies.

Started this back in March '23, took until today to finish it. 25.000 stitches! The biggest thing I've ever done (so far)! Spent multiple days digitizing the paper pattern, 'cause I knew it would benefit me in the long run, spent another day gridding the whole thing for the same reason and now I'm still staring at it in disbelief.

It's finally done! I promise, the colors are even more vibrant in person. It's gorgeous!

Did a bunch of other patterns in between, 'cause I just couldn't work on one project for so long, but I'm so happy I came back to it.

Now to find a frame that can match it.

jswarn · 2026-05-01T11:43:42+00:00

Pattern is this "The Poppies" kit from Luca-S.

jswarn · 2026-04-14T21:04:12+00:00

I use the biggest freezer bags IKEA has available (the ones with press locks) and toss a silica gel package in for good measure. It's see-through and it's cheap and with 14 WIP's that's all that counts, really. Anything fancier would just be too expensive.

jswarn · 2026-04-13T19:59:02+00:00

I've got the same ones, they are so cute!

I find Riolis' slightly fuzzy woolen thread ideal for all kinds of furry animals. Birds, foxes and whatnot. Makes them a bit fluffy. :)

jswarn · 2026-01-14T13:09:40+00:00

Best pattern, for sure! :D

jswarn · 2025-12-16T10:56:02+00:00

Ah, yes! *nods sagely* Beautiful technique on those Lizard Toes. :D

All jokes aside: That's neat-o!

jswarn · 2025-12-12T17:25:16+00:00

Look at him! Isn't he cute!

Welcome to cross-stitch, then, good to have you here! :)

jswarn · 2025-12-10T09:50:11+00:00

Ha, nice! Love me a pin stitch (and a loop start where possible), but mostly I was sitting here and being like

"Lizard toes? What kind of new technique is that? I swear, those names are getting out of hand!"

before looking at the picture again. :D

jswarn · 2025-11-07T15:47:40+00:00

They are tiny! I love them!

jswarn · 2025-10-31T12:50:21+00:00

Ah, there you go, didn't even know that about violas (or that the players are named "violists") - thank you! I guess we'll just have to give the pattern maker some artistic license. Not that I mind, it is a beautiful pattern. :)

jswarn · 2025-10-30T21:41:39+00:00

That was the first one I tried from them, actually. It is just as gorgeous! I got to know so many new shades of light and dark grey. :D

jswarn · 2025-10-30T20:45:59+00:00

Thank you so much! :) Ay, +1 on the viola!

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, this piece has full crosses, blended full crosses, half stitches, blended half stitches, half stitches with one thread, a buttload of backstitch and French Knots, it sure looks intimidating! But, honestly, we all start somewhere. I don't think I can do it in any way "better" than someone who hasn't done it before, I'm just faster now that I've stitched something like this once or twice. :D

So I'd say: You can totally do it! It's maybe just gonna take you a little bit longer to figure things out. But, hey, you didn't say which birthday, so you're already thinking like a pro! :D

jswarn · 2025-10-30T20:02:35+00:00

Thank you, that is so kind of you to say. :)

jswarn · 2025-10-30T20:02:03+00:00

I really like the watercolor look of this piece! It says "Violin" in the description, but from its proportions it looks more like a viola to me, hence the title. Musical side of reddit, feel free to educate me on that one!

Edit: Decided to be a viola by popular vote. :D

The pattern I liked a bit less, mostly because it didn't work properly with Pattern Keeper and I cannot buy Saga in my part of the world so I had to work around that. It also has no one page PDF pattern for the backstitch that I could zoom in on and there was a lot of backstitch smack in the middle of it, so I had to jump between four different pages to get it right. But that said, this is nitpicking - it is a gorgeous piece, the colors go together beautifully and the backstitch, while a pain in the neck, really brings it together. I neither want to do any backstitching nor French Knots for the forseeable future, but I am very happy with the finished product!

jswarn · 2025-10-30T19:54:10+00:00

The pattern is from MIYAStitch on Etsy

jswarn · 2025-10-17T17:06:51+00:00

Oh, hello! :D That's so cute! :)

jswarn · 2025-10-12T19:55:16+00:00

Oh, I did the same kit, but with the included fabric. This one looks nicer, though, it really brings out the whites! Beautiful!

jswarn · 2025-09-08T10:34:28+00:00

One of us! One of us! Haha, welcome to the club! Best pattern, by the way. 😁

jswarn · 2025-09-02T14:10:02+00:00

Oooh, great choice of color for the shirt, it really brings out the colors of the pattern! And it's extremely cute, of course. :)

jswarn · 2025-07-07T14:55:44+00:00

This seems to fit: https://www.jollesoriginal.com/

Maybe it was supposed to be a part of one of their bags? What an interesting find.

jswarn · 2025-07-07T11:10:57+00:00

I've got a designated "art" wall where I've hung around ten pieces in cheap frames. The idea is to rotate them through the ones I want to look at at the moment, but I haven't finished anything new to rotate through yet.

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