Projects from Another Season of Beautiful Blooms
You can see the signs: big sunflower heads drooping under the weight of their seeds, the angle of the sun changing ever so slightly, bees rushing to finish their work before all the blossoms are gone. It’s the end of the summer, when the last of the warm-weather flowers take their final bows.
Right now in my garden: bees on cardoon blossoms
But the show doesn’t have to end. As the weather cools, bring the beautiful blooms of summer indoors with appliqué flower designs.
Of all the different types of quilt patterns, flowers seem never to go out of style. Whether abstract, realistic, or dimensional, there’s a flower appliqué pattern to suit every taste. This week’s sale books feature a variety of techniques and styles of flower appliqué. Try a new technique and create your own indoor garden.
In More Fabulous Flowers, Sharon K Baker folds, pleats, and gathers small bits of fabric into fantastic little blooms. The flowers are attached to background fabric, and then embellished with threads, beads, and fuzzy yarns. These dimensional little beauties are irresistible!
Cheerful sunflowers and bright marigolds from More Fabulous Flowers
Appliqué artist and teacher Jane Townswick shares her techniques for hand appliqué and unit appliqué—stitching preassembled units—in her book Artful Appliqué II. This stunning pansy blossom is just one of the 12 gorgeous blocks in the book.
Learn to use many fabrics to create an amazing depth of color in Artful Appliqué II.
Susan Taylor Probst was inspired to create her own appliqué flower designs when she lived in England. She filled two books with lush, hand-appliquéd quilts and pillows: Beautiful Blooms and Another Season of Beautiful Blooms. Just seeing these gorgeous photos makes me want to start stitching. Susan uses a clear plastic pattern overlay for foolproof pattern placement.
Big, showy hydrangea blossoms and a captivating fuchsia, from Beautiful Blooms.
Late-summer black-eyed Susans and a bougainvillea, both in Another Season of Beautiful Blooms.
Keep summer going in your home: stitch a flower appliqué quilt!
What’s blooming in your garden? Tell us in the comments!
My garden is full of asters and marigolds, hydrangeas and French lilacs
—Karen on August 31, 2015I have a bamboo that is growing in my garden…..I bought it when my husband asked me to marry him…..and it’s growing along with his sense of humor……now I’m using it to create an applique quilt…..
—Darlene Krystal on August 31, 2015