I remember how much fun it is to make these flower blocks. It starts by researching the flower and hopefully taking my own flower photo, but not always. Today's flower photo was supplied to me by a friend who has a beautiful garden and lots of beautiful flowers. Thank you Barbara!
To make this block, I really needed close-up photos to get the details so further research was needed. I often refer to Wikipedea to see additional details. From there, I sketch my flower block and then scan that sketch into the computer to draw it (if you want to know more about this process, check out my workshop: Free Software for Quilters).
Usually, after the design is drawn, I draw the templates and write up the pattern. Doing this step prior to sewing allows me to see if adjustments need to be made. It also means I can calculate the amount of fabric instead of guessing.
Now comes the fun part... selecting the fabrics and threads - although the latter isn't done until I have cut out all the pieces and pressed them in place. For this block, I chose just four fabrics, although I could have easily used three.
After cutting them out and pressing each piece in place, it is time to start stitching.
First I stitch each piece in place, and then I add the details. I love watching how the details bring each flower to life.
- The leaves in this flower are so long and slender, that I only use stitching to create them - the photo below shows this in progress.
- Each flower has veins added.
- And finally the stamens are added. These are stitched with a small zigzag and free-motion - can you see them in the close-up?
.... and here is the finished block.
Linum Perenne is now available as a pattern. You can find the details here: Linum Perenne flower block
