applique Archives - Gray Barn Designs

We are, of course in the throes of summer, but just a few weeks ago I snapped this picture of one of the early harbingers of spring. I was thinking about a new quilt project and I remembered a gorgeous poinsettia pillow from the Crafty Quilter. Inspiration struck — what if I could make a wildflower pillow?

A wild violet before it goes back to sleep.

Did you know that violets are edible? Here are few more violet facts.

I have to confess once again to my love of the color purple. This project gave me an excuse to find just the right hue of purple — not blueish, not pinkish, not mauvy –my fabric had to be just the perfect vibrant purple. I found a beautiful dotted Swiss for the flower and then stumbled upon an understated purple and green paisley to use for the background.

Love this fabric purchased from the charming Barefoot Quilter shop in Rushford, NY. It is so mesmerizing that I had to buy it twice ~~not~~ because I a made a cutting error…

I drew the pattern on freezer paper first, then decided to use fusible applique as the foundation. So I traced, labeled and cut out the pieces again.

Next I ironed the pattern pieces onto the wrong side of the fabric, using scraps for the stem and anther? stamen? I wish I knew more about flowers…

Sometimes I love my fabric so much I really hate to cut it. Does that ever happen to you?

Cut out the center of applique shapes to lighten the finished product.

Then I placed all the cut-out pieces on my 10.5″ background square, peeled off the paper back, and ironed the first layer of the flower into place.

This may look upside down, but it’s really not. It’s purposefully positioned as if you were standing above the violet in the forest. Or I can’t figure out how to make this picture rotate. One of these is the correct answer.

I used a zig-zag stitch to set them in the quilt. I added a few simple borders and now I’m ready to quilt.