The final, FINAL sheet of flowers

Well, the big day is finally here: I have finished stitching all of the flowers for the Banner.  This is momentous enough to be documented in detail, I think, so here goes.

The last sheet of flowers to do is the cowslip that'll go in the centre of the top panel:

I outlined the cups at the base of the individual flowers in buttonhole stitch in Madeira stranded cotton 1409, and added detail in split stitch, using three strands of 1410:

I then filled in the rest of the cups in split stitch, using two strands of 1409:

I then outlined the flowers themselves, using Madeira 0105:

To give a sense of the 'inside' of the flower, I filled in the central section of each one in a slightly darker shade, 0106:

I then added shading, using one strand of 0106 and one of 0105:

And filled in the rest of the flowers with 0105:

I then filled in the little gaps that are too small and fiddly to cut out in red, Madeira 0510 (you can't tell when they're on the velvet background, honest!):

Then the same process for the leaves - the outlines, in Madeira 1410:

The leaf veins, in three strands of 1412:

And then filling in the rest, using a combination of 1411 and 1410, to give a shaded effect:

And that's it!  No more flowers.  Wow.  I still have to add them to the background fabric and do all the goldwork, of course, but all the same, this is a major milestone.  Not long to go now!