Motif Metamorphosis

Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif
Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif

I had the Flower motif from the Country Revival pattern** on my design wall for a long time without sewing it together. It wasn’t quite right and looking at it was the only way to figure out how to improve it. I knew I couldn’t use white in the place I had put it originally-leaf area around the outside. I wanted to use white as a background and the white as shown would be lost and change the shape of the flower motif completely. I also didn’t know what to do.

I often find that if I just do something, then I can get started improving a piece. 

Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif with leaves
Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif with leaves

The first thing I did was decide the white ‘petals’ needed to be replaced with green and become leaves. It was a good start.

I liked the addition of the green, but decided I needed more and different greens. In this photo there are two different Tilda fabrics. One reason is that I used some of the green on the tips of the flowers for a pillowcase for my friend. I didn’t have much left, but I wanted to include some so it would kind of match the pillowcase. I had just enough to make four leaves. 

Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif with leaves v.3
Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif with leaves v.3

I wasn’t 100% happy with the look and feel. I really wanted an emerald green solid. I didn’t have that so I tried some dots. They were close to an emerald green and looks like a great addition to the overall look.

I still felt like there was nowhere for the eye to rest, so I moved some of the tall, skinny pieces with the slightly curved tops around. Better, but not perfect.

I added in some of the Dovetail by Ghazal Razavi background I bought at Bay Quilts with Julie a few weeks ago. It is a bright white, which I like and the many colors go well. I know it is hard to see in the photo. You can enlarge the photo to see it better.

Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif with leaves v.4
Country Revival/Sad Quilt flower motif with leaves v.4

I can’t get away from symmetry, so I cut more pieces and changed the fabrics around so there was more symmetry, e.g. the piece looked more symmetrical.

I know the changes are slight and hard to see. I changed the corner fabrics and moved some of the other greens around. 

My eye was honing in on the pink dots. I wasn’t liking them, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to add more of the pink solid as I thought it would overwhelm the piece in general. For the moment, this is the final version of block 1. I may make some more changes, but I decided to work on a second block and give myself a rest from the pink.

I love that pink and blue Tilda fabric and it is now much less prominent. I’ll have to use it in another block.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this website.

Author: JayeL

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

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