Seeing this in the wild definitely inspired me to make this happen!
In June, a quilty friend of mine and I went for an excursion that took us to three National Parks. Along the way, we saw some amazing things, including these Yucca in bloom.
Decided to be super scrappy on this one, I dug through my huge tub of scraps to for all the fabric. Originally, I started with a pale background. I used a quilt as you go technique to make the background.
After sewing it together, I realized that my foliage would look great on it, but the flowers would fade into the background. So, I went back to the bin for darker colors. I will use this one in another project.
With the slightly darker background, I felt like the blooms would show better. Four gold fabrics were used. I kept with the Quilt As You Go method for the initial quilting.
Experimentation time – I used a small “s”- curve from the quilt stitches on my machine to create lines every 1 1/2″ or so. The quilting was functional, to keep the background relatively flat.
The first stem was added with fusible applique. I eye balled where to put it. Kind of centered – this background was oversized so would be trimmed down.
IMPORTANT NOTE – if fusing on a QUILTED background, make sure to use natural batting. Natural batting – bamboo, cotton, wool, etc. Do NOT use poly batting. It will turn into interfacing or fusible web. It will permanently SMUSH.
Once the stem was placed, I added the leaves and flowers in layers. They were secured with a simple straight stitch. I love how it turned out!
Now, it’s time to trim and bind!
If you would like to experiment with this pattern, it is available in our shop.
If you want to learn more about my techniques for making them three-dimensional, comment on this post. I will be hosting a beginner class soon!
Happy Quilting!
Love it!