If you’re into gardening, you might already know a bit about the poinsettia plant, because as it turns out it’s quite a famous ornamental shrub.

Native to Mexico and Central America, it’s best known for its vibrant red bracts that are often mistaken for flowers and was named after Joel Poinsett who, as the first US Ambassador to Mexico, introduced it into America in the 1820s.

Its real claim to fame, however, is as the Christmas plant, a name it was given thanks to a combination of being at the right place at the right time and a clever marketing campaign.

If you’re going to become the pin-up model for a huge event like Christmas, you’re going to need to be decked out in classic festive colours like red and green, bloom in winter (most of the population lives in the northern hemisphere) and have star shaped leaves that are said to resemble the star of Bethlehem.

You can see how the poinsettia was already a star in the making at this stage, but then the Ecke family, a prominent horticultural dynasty in the USA, began to see its true potential. They further improved the appearance of the poinsettia by using clever grafting techniques to create fuller and bushier varietals, perfect for decorative purposes.

Next, in the 1960s the Ecke family sent free poinsettia plants to television shows, such as The Tonight Show and Bob Hope’s Christmas Specials, that ensured the plant featured prominently during the holiday season and in turn reinforced the association between poinsettias and Christmas.

So now we know what makes the poinsettia a holiday season favourite – but what does any of this have to do with stitching?!

Lorna Bateman knows a thing or two about flowers. And embroidery. In fact, her ability to re-create spectacular gardens full of flowers using her needle and thread is legendary. Lorna is indeed one of the needlework world’s most admired and respected designers.

Yet, in perhaps stark contrast to a ‘classic Lorna’ design where you might expect to see a cottage garden in full pageantry, today’s feature project Poinsettia Heart is a very clever distillation of an iconic flower, the festive season and the true meaning of Christmas.

Using her signature technique of ribbon embroidery combined with bead embroidery, Lorna has created this stunning, heart-shaped hanging ornament embellished with silk poinsettia flowers and beaded jewels.

Worked onto gold silk dupion with gleaming, claret silk ribbon, the large poinsettia flowers are surrounded with ribbon leaves, beaded circlets in olive and topaz and petite gold cupped sequins.

Using tiny glass beads, the back of the heart is dotted with ruby spots and the perimeter of the front heart is encircled with a dainty picot edging.

Here in her own words, Lorna shares her thoughts on Poinsettia Heart:

‘This design incorporates my love of beaded embroidery with silk ribbon embroidery. It is aimed at an intermediate skill level. The poinsettias are symmetrical but the rest of the design is not, allowing one to fill in the background as you please.’

‘Included on the pattern sheet for the design I’ve added a few circles indicating where to add circlets of beads as well as crosses to indicate where to include the green looped leaves. These are just a guide with the idea that you can add as many more as desired, scattering them throughout until you are happy with the texture and effect.’

‘The ribbons, beads and sequins used are all rich and vintage in colour to reflect my vision of re-creating a vintage Christmas ornament.’

The finished design measures 6.5cm x 7cm wide (2 ½" x 2 ¾"), omitting the hanging loop and has been created using predominately Rivers Silks ribbons and Miyuki seed beads.

In this gorgeous piece, Lorna has harnessed the fame of the Christmas plant, subdued it into perfectly shaped ribbon delights, surrounded it with festive sparkle and framed everything in a heart shaped ornament, representing love and acting as an exquisite reminder to cherish those who are dear to us, each and every Christmas.

PS – If you’re yet to check out Lorna’s website, it’s well worth a look and you’ll also find more of her stunning projects on her Instagram page HERE.

Make Your Own Poinsettia Heart

Our Handpicked Ready-to-Stitch kit contains all the materials you need to recreate this project yourself, including the instructions.

If you prefer to source the materials yourself, this project is part of our Handpicked Collection 3, with instructions included in the printed book and available separately as a printed or digital pattern.