Thank you so much for all the kind words .I really do appreciate it. I wll try and answer your questions.The poppies are appliqued with a narrow satin stitch. I have used a bit of thread painting to achieve the "realistic" effect but only using black thread for shading.The background fabric is heavily quilted with free-motion stipple which makes the poppies stand out. I love doing applique and mostly use fusible woven interfacing when doing large ones.I make most of my patterns ;either by using free stained glass patterns etc or from simple colouring page images,I then create my own picture.I am posting a link for a really great free resizing programme. I have found it very useful Your lovely comments inspire me. Thank you.
http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/