Barberton Daisy Needlecase

Here's the sprig of flowers I embroidered as part of the guild's stitch along, and which I wrote about in this blog post here. 

I finished it into a needle book with two felt pages.

I used a DMC pearl thread # 8 to outline the spray of flowers with Holbein stitch. It happened to be the exact same colour as the pink thread of the petals. Both threads were passed on to me years apart and by different people. What a coincidence!

The lazy daisy bullion stitches of the petals look as though they could be the petals of Barberton daisies. Barberton daisies, also known as Gerbera jamesonii, and indigenous to Barberton in South Africa, were the first gerbera to be scientifically described (Wikipedia). 

Gerberas and chrysanthemums

I have fond memories of my uncle proudly growing 'Barbertons' along his new front garden wall - the wall my cousins and I secretly walked along while my uncle was at work. We only got found out when the youngest cousin who could barely yet walk, climbed up, tried to walk along the wall and fell off! That was the end of playing on the wall.

'Till next time, happy stitching!