Poppies always mean spring to me. The humble field poppy to be exact (aka common poppy or more correctly papaver rhoeas) is that most welcome early herald of warmer days when nature still seems well in the grip of an inevitably tiresome winter.
That tell-tale glimpse of joyous red popping up suddenly around the end of winter is a sure sign that spring is upon us.
This spring I found myself making different versions of this humble yet lovely little flower (which is in fact an agricultural weed!), perhaps wishing to hurry on the sunshine and the warmer weather.
Most of my poppy versions are red and this may well be my favourite of the bunch. It is definately -and intentionally- the most life-like of them with a dark moss green cotton centre for the distinct poppy capsule and a plethora of black tulle strips in lieu of the black stamens around it.
They're quite large at about 10 cm or 4 inches across and much bigger than a real poppy of this type would be in nature. (Though I later also made a smaller version.)
I've attached these to brooch pins and even given a couple away as Easter presents. A friend wore one on a white shirt and the contrast was just perfect and so very dramatic!
I'll be posting the different poppy versions over time in the blog and I'm hoping to make a tutorial or pdf pattern out of these flowers soon.
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