Now here's a little flower that's near and dear to my heart, being the transplanted, native California girl that I am. I really can't think of a more appropriate flower to represent the golden state than these little dollops of satin yellow sunshine.
From February to September they scatter themselves freely throughout grassy fields and natural landscapes in the western U.S. throughout California and up into Oregon, southern Washington, and many of the southwestern states. In other countries they may be listed as an invasive species.
The California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), can grow to about a foot tall with delicate branching blue-green foliage. Flowers appear on long solitary stems, are silky-textured with four petals. Colors can range from white to dark orange, but are most commonly bright yellow-orange.
The flowers are drought-tolerant and sun-loving and have a curious habit of closing up at night or in cloudy weather, and open up again in the morning. In the right climate, they grow easily from seed, preferring full sun and sandy, well-drained poor soil. Animals and insects don't seem to bother them at all. Another plus in my book!
Sometimes known as the flame flower, la amapola and copa de oro (cup of gold), the early California Indians cherished the poppy as both a source of food and for oil extracted from the plant--the seeds were smoked and used medically as a mild sedative.
Its botanical name was given by Adelbert Von Chamisso, a naturalist and member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, who dropped anchor in San Francisco in 1816 in a bay surrounded by hills of the golden flowers.
In 1903 it was chosen as the state flower--and more recently; April 6th has been designated 'California Poppy Day', and since 1996, May 13-18 has been proclaimed 'Poppy Week', with festivals and fairs celebrating its spring arrival.
COLORS: Petals #741/720; center #725; stems & leaves #703
Stitches used were stem (for outlines), and satin stitching (for fills), and back stitch for the letters.
BLOCK SIZE: Images should be about 4 x 4-inches---to fit a 6.5" quilt block. To get the image:: RIGHT CLICK to save it as a file, or for size options--LEFT CLICK and use the flickr 'all sizes' link.
STITCH GUIDE: For general color and stitch guide; print out the original PDF Directions here:
That's it for now...I'm off to do the lovely Indiana peony next.