Good Morning, Quilters!
Today, we have a tutorial for another flower motif, the Fantasy Flower. Stitch this fun motif as a background in any size, from small to very large. I think an 12 inch Fantasy Flower would be beautiful in the center of a quilt block!
The Fantasy Flower in the above photo was stitched next to another flower favorite , The Easy Breezy Flower.
(The Easy Breezy Flower and a few variations can be found in the Spring chapter of More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3!)
The motif’s center is similar to the Plenty of Sunshine motif.
To begin, stitch a small circle. The size of the circle will depend on the final size of the motif. In the sample here, the circle was a little smaller than a dime.
Next, closely echo stitch the circle two or three times.
Then add a small ring of triangles around the circle.
To create a larger flower motif, add one or more rows. Stitch a row of scallops, then echo stitch the scallops.Once you’ve complete the first motif, add an echo stitched circle and begin the next flower.
NOTE-Subsequent flower motifs will be a partial pattern with the edges abutting the previous flower.
Add More Interest
Add even more interest to your machine quilting design by occasionally adding an unexpected motif within the flowers. Slight design variations add interest to the quilted line and are more fun to stitch! Just like a few yellow dandelions make our green lawns more interesting–LOL!
Your Quilted Garden
What about YOU?
What’s in YOUR garden?
Are you gardening or quilting this week?
Do you have one flower in YOUR garden or many?
Are YOU willing to change thread to add a little design interest?
We’d LOVE to hear!
Signed,
Lori, Lori Quite Contrary
PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to Lori Kennedy Quilts. For all other purposes, please contact me at lori@lorikennedyquilts.com. Thanks!
6 comments
Kerry Davidson
Hi Lori, love these flowers, and I think I could do them without too much drama – even better. On another subject, I seem to be back on your email list twice, just thought I’d let you know. Keep up the great work.
Kathie Banks
This is yet another amazingly doable motif. I love to quilt flowers, but sadly there are more males in my life than females. I love to garden and have a yard full of perennial flowers that greet me throughout the growing season. I promise to get out there and begin planting annuals as soon as the rain lets up. Still, It might be nice to move the sewing machine out to the deck to watch both my planted and my quilted flowers bloom together.
Doreen Sherk
I love the way you break down the steps of the flowers and your other designs. It makes it so “doable” for me.
Thank you
Doreen
Cathy Willoughby
My husband worked in horticulture, both outdoors and greenhouses, for over 30 years. We don’t have any lawns, just perennials and a large vegetable garden. We look for unusual plants for the pots on the patio.
I used some of your flower designs from the AQS magazine to quilt the multicoloured batik borders of my wallhanging called “Lookin’ Out My Backdoor”. They were very easy to learn and just like in nature, the flowers didn’t have to be perfectly identical. I used different variegated threads for each flower design.
Suzanne
Garden? What Garden?
I am NOT a gardener – mostly because I’m oversensitive to sun and heat, but I’ve managed to get a very pretty yellow perennial to take over against the back fence. About 4 years ago a friend gave me a few of them to plant around my shed and they just took over. I have no idea what they are but both the blossoms and foliage are very pretty so that’s fine with me. With them, the ferns and the hostas, that area pretty much manages itself. It’s shady, so those plants like it.
Out front, well, I’ve got more perennials: chameleon flowers, ball flowers, sedum and iris. They’re also well-established so I have little to do but weed somewhat and give away the excess. I have way too many irises. On the sides of the house I have a big lilac (my favorite) hydrangea, mock orange, rhododendron, azalea, and more hosta. So except for the normal pruning, they don’t take much work either (thank heaven).
We tried growing tomatoes a few years ago, but it turns out there is some sort of virus in our soil that kills the plants. It turns the leaves black and any tomatoes that develop become malformed and dry up. So much for that sadly. We could grow them in a container but we’re just not incented to do it. Oh well.
We’ve been having rain since last week so I’m definitely sewing, trying to catch up on some WIPs & UFOs, finish the new curtains for my laundry room and roman shades for my sewing room. MUCH more fun than gardening!
I never thought of changing threads for design interest, but only if I’m quilting in areas with drastic color difference such as white and red. Sounds neat though, and I think I’ll try it.
A belated Happy Mother’s Day and thanks for all of your fabulous ideas Lori!
Betty Yarbrough
Lori, the fantasy flowers is the most beautiful quilting motif I’ve ever seen. It took my breath when I saw it. Thank you for sharing your amazing talents!
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