i really wanted to keep things super simple with the stitch club design for march, so i created it almost completely with straight stitches.

by varying the thickness of the thread and by adding an extra stitch here and there, we can achieve a lot of different types of flowers, even though they are all just straight stitches:

+ for the tiny flowers, i used 3 strands and straight stitches.
+ for the medium-sized flowers, i started with a colonial knot in the center, and then (again using 3 strands) made 2 parallel straight stitches for each petal.
+ for the coral flowers (i haven't stitched them yet, in this photo) i am planning to use a single strand and a few knots in the center.

the blue stitches are basically a fly stitch with one tail and 2 wings on each side:

+ first make your tail (1 straight stitch)
+ bring the needle up on the top right side, pass under the tail, and then take the needle down at the top left corner. (the tail stitch should catch the wings)
+ repeat for the second set of wings.
+ i also posted a quick (and shaky!) video of this on instagram yesterday.

if you need a little refresher for some of these stitches, check out my 'basic stitches for hand embroidery'