Rotating Flower Blocks Quilt

Some quilts just evolve and my rotating flower blocks quilt is one such.

I love these flower squares - a design by Lynette Anderson. I just couldn't stop making them! I particularly liked the Suffolk Puff centres and the way Lynette had shadow quilted around the flower right to the edge of the square. The piece of plain fabric with the flower applique was cut 4" square, which includes the seam allowance, and each finished flower square with the added 1/2" borders, ends up as 7" x 7" including the seam allowance.

But how to use them in a bed quilt? I made up twice as many simple four patches to compliment the busy flowers. It's easy to make four patches the right size - you just make them a little bit bigger and then trim them to size once sewn.

And also another simple square with a centre square cut at 4" so that I could quilt the flower design on it. I was so pleased to be able to use up some of my favourite saved scraps for the little strips on two sides of this centre square. I made the same number of these as the flower squares.

I sewed 4 of the squares together as below to make my blocks. These are just two of them.

By rotating the blocks as I laid them out an interesting pattern started to emerge - I felt inspired!! ....................... but it was pure luck really!! I've drawn a square around some of the blocks so that you can pick them out more easily.

So this is the finished quilt 

and the eagle-eyed will notice I added extra 7" squares all down one side, keeping the pattern going, and that I ran out of fabrics before the quilt was quite big enough, so had to have some different pattern fabrics in the border of plain squares. This made the quilt a perfect fit for my bed.

I've just realised - I could call it my evolving, revolving flower block quilt!!**

Flowerpatch Quilters members made a double bed quilt to raise money for charity, which also had a flower appliqued on a square in one corner. These are just two of the blocks:

The blocks were rotated before being sewn together and two borders added - plain and then strips. This is the finished quilt and I love it.

I have written out some instructions for making this quilt and below is a link to the one page, printer-friendly pdf.

Flowerpatch Daisy Patch Quilt


I think this idea of rotating the blocks would look good with almost any square block with an asymmetrical design and I really must get around to trying it out again ....some day!!

Happy sewing - Anita