More About the Zinnia Quilt

Here is Melinda‘s lovely pink zinnia to inspire me. And here is mine at the end of class, ready to be put on the background fabric.

Out of my suitcase comes the pattern, instructions and the roll containing the partially completed zinnia and already fused fabrics. I move the zinnia to the background fabric and fuse the middle of it – petals will still need to be moved to arrange the highlight fabrics. I clear a table and sit down with the directions and the rest of the pattern pieces and fabrics…..there’s lots more cutting to be done!

Looking between the pattern and the flower, trying to decide which petal is which is making my eyes cross. I decide to number the petals with stickers and mark the pattern with red marker so I can easily see what petal I am working on. Look at all these bitty pieces…..lots and lots of them. I decide to cut each color and carefully place it on the petal.

As I move from petal to petal, I am placing the tiny pieces, moving them about and trimming them when I think they look odd. It’s not easy to do as most of the petals have so many highlights. Huh.

After some fiddling around, I realize that all the tiny pieces need to be on each petal and then I can arrange and cut them to fit. So (below) you can see it – all the little pieces are on the corresponding petal and it looks like the camera didn’t focus. What comes next is fiddling, making each piece look like it belongs on the petal. Melinda suggested in class that we be freer about cutting and placing the highlight fabrics…. I get that idea, but it’s not my pattern or my colors. For this first attempt, I am pretty much following her pattern.

I bring it upstairs to the kitchen table to watch/listen to the Sunday games. And then I realize that the light in the kitchen is better. However, I need to keep the cats from helping. Their little hairs get on everything….

And here it is, ready to quilt! It’s amazing how the highlight pieces make such a difference! Fusing makes me nervous – the top seems so fragile.When I get it quilted, then I can store it and feel like it is safe. I am pretty pleased with my zinnia!