I am sure many of you have heard of Manuka Honey. As a young girl I remember eating this often. I also remember my father telling me about manuka trees, a native tree to New Zealand, and how his father before him would cut them down as a young man to clear areas for farmland. I remember my father using Manuka for axe and grubber handles, he always said you couldn't beat them for strength. Being a hardwood, it was a great source of heat from our open fire too. I would peal the bark off the logs to get the fire started. The Manuka flower has a very sweet smell and is an important source of pollen and nectar for native bees and other insects.
Today I love seeing the flowering trees as I go for a walk and think of these memories - definitely a block to include in my BOW flower collection. It's dainty flowers are either white or pink and completely cover this tree - a photo taken a few years back in my Mother's backyard - beautiful!
Flowering Manuka Tree
Manuka Flowers
Looking at the closeup of the flower I decided to draw a branch for my block. This block certainly needed more than just a few flowers as in reality each flower is less than an inch in diameter - probably closer to 1/2. I decided to use two pinks for my flowers, a light and a medium, adding a darker center as this is how they appeared to me.
I cut out all the pieces - there is quite a few for this block so it took me quite a while.
Cutting out appliques
Then after practicing the stitching for the flower center, I rather preferred the look of just the stitching and no applique center (shown in the flower on the right below). It looked more realistic to me.
Practicing the stitching
My finished block looked like this.
Manuka Block
I love these flowers. I think they are so pretty you can almost smell them and now wondering how they would look around the border of a big quilt. They could be appliqued or quilted!
If you would like to make these manuka flowers, you can find the block pattern as a download here: Manuka Flower Block.
.....or check out all my flower blocks.
