Petal Perch....June assignment

Island Batik's Ambassador assignment for June--Modern Style and larger than 36" x 36". It should include open negative space, high contrast fabrics and strong graphic appeal.

Now, those requirements are quite far to the left of what I usually design!! But I do love a challenge!!

I started with inspiration from a traditional pattern of mine--Mixed Bouquet--you can find that pattern here on Craftsy.

Using the Orange Peel die #55455 from AccuQuilt. I cut out several petals from the Plum Delicious line by Island Batik. These are leftover fabrics from the Mixed Bouquet quilt.

I really did not have a plan at all when I started this morning!! I cut out the petals and had some left over backing strips of Heather--Eclectic Garden--then just started sewing.  And then some ripping--until a plan started to present itself!!

After trying 3 different colors for the "perches" I finally came to the perfect choice.

I used a Frixon pen and the 45 degree line on an acrylic ruler to make an X for petal placement.

I also peeled apart some scraps of Steam A Seam Lite 2 and placed them on the X.

Violla!! Perfectly easy placement for the petals!! I choose not to cover the backs of the petals with fusible web to keep the applique shapes soft and flexible as this quilt might end up to be a baby gift.

Loaded up the little quilt on the longarm and went to quilting. Since I am thinking it will be a baby gift for a sweet little girl I decided to go with ribbon meander freehand quilting. And then when I came to the petals I could sneek right in and do a double line of doodle stitching to applique and quilt at the same time!! Win for the time column!!

Strong south winds are never good for taking outdoor photos when living on a hill.....

 ...and trying to take photos by myself---there were several failed attempts!!!

 So lay on the grass it is for this photo shoot!!!

 Petal Perch!! Strong graphic appeal!! Super cute and super fast!!

 Thank you to Island Batik for supplying the fabrics for this project and to Aurifil for the thread!!