Valentine Heart Embroidery

Just in time for Valentine's Day, I embroidered this floral heart from my Flower Fancy embroidery pattern.

Notice at the bottom of the heart - the big layered flower?  I tried so many different fill stitches for this was always disappointed with the result.  Finally I tried the Blanket Stitch ?!  I love the light, lacy effect.  The underneath flower is done in Straight Stitch. 

The dark raspberry circle flowers are all Straight Stitch with French Knot Centers.  The two-toned tulip is also Straight Stitch.  The green stems are done in Stem Stitch and the small leaves are Lazy Daisy Stitches.  The large green leaf is done in Fishbone Stitch with a Stem Stitch Center.  

The outline of the heart is done with Back Stitch and the pom pom flowers are done with French Knots.

Here are the color numbers of the floss from this project:

Arizona Embroidery Pattern Project - Part Two

I have an update to share from my Arizona embroidery project.  You may remember from my last post, I was starting to stitch the prickly pear or paddle cactus.  I had selected this green floss - DMC no. 986
  

but I felt that it was too dark and vibrant to go with the rest of the colors.  I switched to DMC no. 368 which is a sage green.  Much better!  It gives a more "sun baked" look. 

Next color decision is for the cactus flowers...I like these colors:

But they need to look good with the orange floss I used for the Arizona text!

When I have the color decisions made and the rest of the stitching completed, I will post with all my floss numbers and stitching information.