Tulip

Before I dive into today's piece, I want to share a very exciting An Embroidery a Day milestone: yesterday marked the 100th piece! Of course, I completely forgot to include this in the actual post yesterday, so we'll celebrate today instead. Thank you for following along for the last 100 days. I appreciate the comments, laughs, and encouragement. It means a lot. Our next milestone: April 25. This will be the day I stitch the same amount of pieces I made in 2020. Very exciting.

Onto today's piece. I don't live that far from Old Town Alexandria, but I don't really visit much anymore with the pandemic and the fact that it is a little further from my house. I happened to be in the area twice this week, and noticed on both occasions some beautiful tulips in the front of Alfred Street Baptist Church (I think). Route One divides into a one way road through Old Town at Duke Street, and I think that's the church on the corner if you're driving north through the city. I wasn't able to take a photo either time I drove by because I wasn't stopped at the light at Duke Street. They were this pretty orange-y pink color. It made me happy to see. If you live in the area or find yourself near Duke and S. Patrick Streets, stop to check out the tulips. 

Yesterday I was thinking about the tulips and thought to myself, "Tulips are easy to draw. I can do this." My first attempts looked like blobs, so I Googled "how to draw a tulip," and found some very helpful tutorials (links at the end of the post). It's not a perfect tulip, but it gets the job done. I happened to have the orange thread in my secondary thread collection (threads that aren't on bobbins). It's pretty close to the color of the tulips. I love spring. It's so pretty and such a great inspiration for this project. I have at least two more flower posts planned for April; I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them. 

Sketches - the one that's in color is one of my last blob-like attempts. The others are all based on the tutorials I watched.

Details:
Stitches: satin, fishbone, and back stitches
Thread palette: SS 401, 502, DMC 350 (3 strands)
Inspiration: Thank you to the Alfred Street Baptist Church for such pretty flowers (I think that's the church). Tutorial 1 and Tutorial 2