Sunflower design in Hardanger embroidery

Here is a design that I created and worked some years ago.  It is a sunflower in Hardanger.

What makes this unusual is that Hardanger is usually worked in white thread on white fabric, giving a lacy effect when the threads in the fabric are cut and withdrawn.  The fabric is stabilised by areas of satin stitch known as Kloster blocks; these prevent fraying and unravelling.  The bars of thread remaining (some only vertical, others only horizontal) are woven with a finer embroidery thread in the same colour as the satin stitch.  The embroidery is worked in coton perle (pearl cotton), which has a lustre.  Here I have used a range of different colours to create the sunflower and the leaves.  It is pictured against a terracotta background to highlight the areas of withdrawn threads.