Floral Sampler update and a call for group buy

Another two weeks+ have gone by since I posted about my floral sampler. Well, I've stitched a little more and considering that my lectures have started and Iam surrounded with 165 assignments to correct (55 students and 3 assignments for each) , this is quite an accomplishment.

This time, I've ventured into an area that Iam not quite comfortable with - needlepainting (long and short stitch) and shading.

The instructions specified 3 colors for the long and short stitch. I was not sure what the third color should be(my color sense is below par) and it looked a little too many for such small petals ,so I 'adjusted' with 2 colors. I put together the combination you see above with whatever colors I had .

For the petals, I did contemplate a combination of white and orange,but it just didn't look right- what do you think? Iam still not happy with the way shading has come out- have a long way to go to reach Trish Burr's standards!!!

In this flower, I varied the shading a little - instead of two strands of pink at the top , I tried one strand of pink and one strand of the darker shade at the top (just wanted to see if it looks more natural) and repeated the two strands of darker shade at the bottom. You can see the difference in this third picture below. Click on the image for a better view.

This is how the pattern looks at present. Which style should I go for the rest of the flowers? - first or second?

By the way,did I tell you source of this pattern ?The pattern is a free project available at Coats and Clark. Click here to download the pdf of the pattern and instructions.

Calling my fellow Indian readers for a group buy :

Since I've broached the topic of Needlepainting and shading, I thought of asking if someone would be interested in buying Trish Burr's Long and Short kits . Iam interested in getting a couple and would like to know if some one else would be interested. If you're ready please get in touch with me. We can place the order in bulk and thus probably share the shipping charges.Even if you don't want any, please go and have a look at her work - they are absolutely gorgeous!!!

Disclaimer : I've no business interests in this group buy. Trish burr doesn't even know that Iam planning something like this. I've been drooling over her kits for a long time and I badly want one.