“My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern · ~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~...

~~~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~~~

2014 Geta Grama; www.RomanianQuiltStudio.com

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“My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern

Quilt size: 55’’ x 55’’

Flower Sphere size: 42’’ diameter

~ Please read all the instructions carefully before starting to make the quilt ~



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1. Materials List

Top background

White quilting cotton fabric - 4 yards (42’’ wide);

cut it into two 2-yard pieces; remove the

selvages and piece them together on the long

edges. Then cut out a piece about 62’’ square.

Or you could use a wide fabric that doesn’t need

piecing.

NOTE

Piece the top with ¼’’ seam allowances

Colored fabric for the flower sphere

Scraps of solid or tone-on-tone fabrics work great for this pattern. Use as many colors as you

like. Try to use light, medium and dark colors. The biggest flower in the center requires a 7’’

square.

BACKING – about 65’’ square, your choice of color; I used white.

BATTING – about 65”square.

If you use cotton batting, prewash it. Because of the relative small size of the design, the

shrinkage after washing may distort the design in case you did not prewash it and this might

be visible.

BINDING – You need one pieced strip 2½'' wide and about 250'' long (about ½ yard if you

use one fabric). More information at the end of the pattern.

Sewing machine needles

Jeans needles (#110/18 or smaller) for quilting over the fused design and Topstitch

needles (#100/16 or smaller ) for background quilting. You could try other needles too, I

had the best results with these ones.

Water soluble pen

Test how your marking pen reacts to

ironing. Mark a scrap of fabric, fuse a few

scraps on it then press.

This pattern requires a lot of pressing over the

marking lines. Press again. Then wash the

fabric (the same way you wash the quilt).

Before starting to make the quilt, make

sure the marking lines wash out

completely.



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Quilting thread in neutral color for the flower sphere; I used 50wt thread.For the

background quilting (outside the flower sphere), your choice of color.

Temporary glue - a stick is the best but other types of glue works too.

Fusible web: about 4¼ yds, 17’’ wide; I used Heat and Bond lite. Similar products are

Wonder Under, Vliesofix/bondaweb, Steam a Seam. Use the lite version.

I like Heat and Bond because the paper backing can be removed very easily. Also, it doesn't

gum up the needle.

I would have loved Wonder Under more. It is softer than Heat and Bond and doesn't add as

much stiffness and weight to the fabric. Removing the paper backing from Wonder Under is

not always easy though.

Try not to overheat your iron, too much heat or too long pressing might melt the adhesive-

follow manufacturer's instruction. And do not use STEAM!

Also, avoid repeated or excessive ironing to the already fused area.

2. Print the pattern Open and print the file “pattern-on-fabric.pdf” – 30 pages. Print in the original size. A test

square is included on the first page. Measure it to make sure that you print the pattern at the

proper scale. This pattern will be transferred on fabric.

3. Assemble the paper pattern Tape the pages together. To easily tape one page to another, remove the right margin of the

first page (cut on the red dashed line) and tape the first page to the second page, and so on

across the row. Use a similar method to

tape the rows together.

There are five rows and you have to tape six

pages for a row.

Here is how the paper pattern will look.



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4. Transfer the design onto the top fabric

Tape the full size pattern on the floor and lay

the white fabric on top of it (right side up), keeping it centered on the pattern (the fabric is larger than the paper pattern). Tape the fabric securely to the floor.

Transfer the design onto fabric. Use the water soluble pen. The design is drawn with a thick

line, you should be able to see it through quilting weight cotton fabric.

Transfer the flower’s numbers too, keeping

the placement of the numbers (the flower’s

center).

The outermost flowers are very small and the

numbers are also small. You might not be

able to see some of those numbers. After you

finished transferring of the design, check the paper pattern and make sure you transferred all

the numbers.

5. Print the templates

Open and print the file “mosaic-templates.pdf” on regular paper– 33 pages.

Print in the original size. A test square is included on the first page. Measure it to make sure that you print the pattern at the proper scale. At this point, select one of the flower design and place it over the large assembled paper

pattern (right sides together); they must match. This is just one more precaution that you printed everything at the correct size.

Transfer all the flower designs onto the paper side of the fusible web. Use a permanent marker.

Transfer the numbers too. The numbers are placed onto the center of the flower – keep the placement. Leave some space between flowers.

Do not confuse 66 with 99, as example; use a

full-stop after the numbers (66., 99., etc).



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6. Prepare the appliqué pieces and appliqué the flowers

Cut the fusible web out roughly. Repeat for all the flowers.

Using a marker in a different colour (permanent marker is fine), trace around the center

hexagon and copy the number on one of the hexagons surrounding the center.

For each petal, the drawn arc shows which edge is orientated toward the center of the flower.

Repeat for all the flowers.

Some flowers are incomplete, if there is a

center, do this step.

Some flowers don’t have a center, here is a

list, keep them in a separate stack.

24, 25 ,37, 48, 65, 66, 72, 73, 85, 86,

119, 134, 135, 136, 137

For these flowers you don’t need to copy the

numbers (like I did).



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Remove the center piece of all the flowers. Use a cutter and a mat. You don't need a ruler.

To easily find what you need, keep the fusible

web templates in different stacks (1 to 10, 11

to 20 etc).

Keep all the center pieces together.

7. Choosing the colours

Start working from the center toward outside.

First choose the colors of the three central rows (see the pattern transferred on fabric).

The very center row has flowers with numbers from 1 to 12. To the left of it there are flowers

from 13 to 24 and to the right there are flowers with numbers from 74 to 85.

Here is how I selected my colours. I folded my fabric and arranged them into a pleasant

composition. Label all the fabrics accordingly.

I used price tags

to write the

numbers.



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Select the fusible web templates (1 to 24 and 74 to 85) and to each apply the next steps.

Place the fusible web template, rough side down, to the wrong side of the corresponding

fabric. Press following manufacturer’s instructions. Then cut exactly on the outside edges.

To better understand the next steps, I

transferred only one flower design to a piece

of fabric.

Place the colored flower (with fusible web on

the back attached), fabric side up, to the

corresponding design on fabric (you will do

this on the large top fabric). They should

match.



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Mark with “1” one of the exterior pieces of the fabric flower. Mark the same piece on the

fabric (see the picture on the left).

These designs are not identical, one is the

reversed (flipped horizontally) of the other

(see the picture below).

On the paper backing of the colored fabric

flower continue labeling the other pieces with

numbers as shown. Go clockwise – it’s

important.

Do not transfer all these numbers onto

the top fabric, you don’t need them. I did

it only for you to understand that on this fabric

the numbers go counterclockwise.

All these steps help you know the placement and orientation of each piece of a

flower without unnecessary marking on the top fabric.



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Now that you have all the petals numbered,

cut them out; cut exactly on the line. Use a

pair of scissors with a long blade.

You now know the order of the petals and the

green arc shows which edge is orientated

toward the center of the flower.

To achieve the mosaic effect, you have to trim off a little along each side of each piece of a

flower.

Cut away about 2 mm, a little more than 1/16’’. See the picture below on the right.

The length between two markings of the ruler is 1/8’’.

Start trimming with the first edge after the one

marked with an arc (the edge on the left).

Continue clockwise. The last edge is the one

marked with the green arc. See the numbers

in this picture.

You don’t have to add numbers.

In this way you will avoid trimming one of the

edges twice.



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Here are all the petals of a flower trimmed off.

It’s easy to recognize a trimmed edge: there

is not any marking line left.

Here is how to trim the edges.

It might look difficult to trim this way but it is

not. You control better how much fabric you

trim away.

Expect a lot of these!



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Now you have to peel off the paper backing from all the pieces. Then place each piece in position, coated side down.

You have to do this one piece at a time (start with #1): take one fabric piece, note the number and the arc that indicates the edge oriented toward the center of the flower, remove

the paper backing then place it on the top fabric in the corresponding place.

The piece is

smaller than the

design drawn on

fabric. Keep it

centered.

Repeat for all the pieces of a flower.

Remember that you have only the number

”1” marked on the fabric and you have to

place the next petals counterclockwise.

When everything is in place, press well. Follow

the fusible web manufacturer’s instructions.

Do not use steam when pressing.



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Repeat these steps and create the petals for a

few flowers. Place them in the corresponding

place on the top fabric and press well.

Here is a close up.

NOTE

Do not worry if the white space between the

petals is, in some places, bigger than in other

places.

What is important, is to have white space; it is

better to have bigger space than to have the

petals touching each other. When you place

the petals, check this aspect and make an

additional trimming of the edge if necessary.

For the small flowers the tendency is to cut

away less than usual. Do not do this, you

need the same white space between the

smallest patches too.

On the right all the flowers of the three

central rows are fused.



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I made the center of the flowers out of different tones of yellow and a few orange fabrics.

You could add the center of the flowers at this

stage or you could add them all at the end,

after you fuse the petals for the entire design.

Select the templates for the center of the

flowers and fuse them on to yellow/orange

fabric.

I tried to pair light color petals with medium or

dark yellow centers and vice versa. On the

yellow flowers I added orange centers.

Now it is time to select the colors for the

adjacent rows- to the left and to the right of

the central rows.

I just folded fabrics and put them on the top

fabric, making a pleasant color palette.

Repeat the previous steps and prepare the

petals and fuse them in place.

NOTE

For the outermost flowers try to use bold

colours. The flowers are very small and

distorted and the bold colour will make

them more visible.



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Continue selecting the colors and preparing

the petals and centers until you fuse the whole

design.

NOTE

The pieces of the outside edge of the sphere need a special treatment.

In order to have a nice flower sphere with a

perfect round edge you have to place these

pieces exactly on the outside edge (and not in

the center of the drawn design, as usual).

Here is a close up.



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If you trim off all the edges as usual and then

place the piece on the outside edge, the piece

will be smaller than usual (the white space

between the pieces will be larger).

See the difference between the blue and pink

pieces.

You could avoid this by trimming off all the

edges with the exception of the most outside

edge, as shown. In this picture the red lines

are the trimming lines.

Mark these edges when it is time for trimming off and let them intact.

It is not a huge mistake at all if you forget to

do it. It’s just a bigger white space between

some petals.

Here is my whole design fused.

8. Quilting

Prepare the quilt sandwich with the backing on

the bottom (wrong side up), batting in the middle and quilt top on top. Baste and quilt as desired.

Tips for quilting

• Baste on the white space in between the patches; it is easier because you don't have to

baste through stiff fabric.

• Until the whole sphere is quilted, try to keep the quilt sandwich flat; the patches may

come unstuck and any fold increases this risk, especially for the smallest ones, placed

near the outside edge. Keep to hand a temporary glue stick (it worked better for me

than a liquid glue). If this happens, glue the piece when it is time to quilt it. Let the

glue dry and quilt.



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• A piece may come unstuck if the sewing machine foot slides under it - keep everything

flat!

• Place a table or two near your sewing machine to keep the quilt sandwich flat all the

time. Do not let it hang over the table.

• Some of my outside patches came unstuck.

Here is what I did to avoid this annoying thing: after I basted the flower design very

well, I secured the quilt sandwich in a few places ( I quilted on the white space

between the patches on a few diameters of the flower sphere). Then I quilted the

smallest outside flowers, all around the outside edge. Then I quilted some flowers near

the outside ones, toward the center. I wanted to have a quilted area and use that area

to move the quilt (along with the white space outside the sphere), keeping everything

else that was unquilted flat. It worked perfectly. The fusible web made the patches stiff

and the top became very stable. If you baste the quilt well, there are few chances to

develop creases during quilting from the outside toward the center.

Here is how I quilted the petals and the

center. Tutorial here on my blog:

http://cadouri-din-

inima.blogspot.ro/2013/07/how-to-quilt-

hexagons.html

To secure the edges of each patch to the

background I tried to quilt as close to the

edges as possible.

You can quilt anything, stippling is fine too.

Try to quilt the white space between the colored

patches too; because it is a narrow space, if you

leave it unquilted, it might pucker and shrink and

become smaller, maybe on some areas almost

invisible. The stiff colored patches have the

tendency to “absorb” it.



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Outside the sphere I quilted peebles and here and there I drew two concentric circles, with

the water soluble pen. On the smaller one in the center I quilted pebbles. On the remaining

space I quilted feathers (the same way I

quilted the flowers' petals).

9. Washing the quilt

Put the quilt in the washing machine, fill the machine with warm water then let the quilt soak for a few minutes. Only after that add a little mild detergent (completely dissolved in water).

Wash using a gentle cycle. Spin but leave some water in the quilt.

Remove the quilt from the washing machine and lay it on a clean floor. Smooth it (from the center toward the outside edges ) until it is flat. Make sure there are no

wavy edges. Use an iron and gently press on the back if you need to (I did and it helped immensely). Make sure the sole plate is clean.

Measure a few diameters and try to have a perfect circle. Smooth the quilt until you bring it to the desired shape.

Keep the quilt flat to dry. I put a sheet under the wet quilt to protect the floor. Turn it from

one side to the other (changing the sheet underneath if necessary) until it is completely dry.

10. Finishing the quilt

Square up the quilt, trimming 7-8'' away from the outermost points of the flower sphere.

Long rulers are very helpful at this step.

Use an air erasable pen if you have one to hand. If you make mistakes, you don't have to

wash the quilt again (like I had to do!).

Then bind the quilt.



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My finished quilt is 55'' square. For this size

for the binding I pieced 77 white+color fabric

sets.

White fabric: 3'' long, 2½'' wide (cut 77)

Colored fabric: 5'' long, 2½'' wide (cut 77)

I pieced them with diagonal seams (place the

pieces together as shown to the left; stitch on

the black line; cut on the red line, leaving ¼''

for seam allowances.

Then I pieced the sets together in the same

way. I pressed the seam allowances toward

the colored fabric.

~~ see the additional notes on the next page ~~



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Final Notes

1. Read about the washable markers I used for this quilt.

http://cadouri-din-inima.blogspot.ro/2014/07/washable-markers-for-quilting.html

2. Prewash all the fabric you want to use.

3. After washing my quilt was perfectly flat. When I added the hanging sleeve and hung it on

the wall, the weight of the flower design "contributed" to the 3D look. The flower sphere had a

slight tendency to "come out" from the background. After a few hours on the wall this

tendency reduced. It's almost unnoticeable now.

To avoid this, use Wonder Under fusible web. And add a second hanging sleeve and a rod to

the bottom edge of the quilt. It will help.

4. Start this quilt when you have enough time to finish it. There are lots of marking

lines and you press over them again and again. Quilt it and wash it as soon as

possible.

Or try a smaller version. If you purchased the

additional versions, print the following files:

additional-design-1.pdf – for the 20''

design with 54 flowers

additional-design-2.pdf - for the 15''

design with 36 flowers

Enjoy your new quilt!

Geta Grama

Geta’s website: www.RomanianQuiltStudio.com

Geta’s blog: www.cadouri-din-inima.blogspot.com

Email Geta: [email protected]

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Copyright Information: © 2014 Geta Grama

Home sewers may sell handmade items made with this pattern; please give credit to

Geta Grama for the pattern.

Mass production is strictly prohibited.

Copying and distributing of this pattern is prohibited.

Thank you for choosing my pattern!

“My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern · ~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~...

Documents

Transcript of “My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern · ~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~...

“My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern · ~~~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~~~...

Documents

Transcript of “My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern · ~~~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~~~...

“My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern · ~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~...

Transcript of “My Secret Flower Garden” Quilt Pattern · ~ My Secret Flower Garden – Quilt Pattern ~...