I am so excited to be blog hopping along with these fun Elephants on Parade this spring! The blocks I've seen so far have been so creative and fun! And I love hearing other designers talk about their insipiration and process. Now it's my turn!
My Inspiration:
Shortly after signing up for the blog hop, I was out to dinner with my parents. They live in a small town in East Texas, and let me tell you, the dining options they have are AMAZING! There's just something about a small town mom-and-pop restaurant restraunt that big city chains can't match. We went out to dinner at one of those small town places and had to park a couple blocks away, around the corner. What did I see as I parked my truck? My inspiration for this block!
I knew it was meant to be when THIS was right next to it.
I mean, how could I not use that flower on the wall as my inspiration after seeing it was next to Mama and Baby Elephant? Nah, it was meant to be.
So, I got to work with my sketchbook and brought it to life.
While the Google consensus was that it was a generic "rosette", to me, it kinda reminded me of a gardenia. Gardenias are my favorite flower. When I was a little girl, my great-grandmother had gardenia bushes outside of her house and in the spring and summer, would open all of the windows in her house and the whole place smelled like gardenias. I was really close with her as a child and have very fond memories of my time at her house.
After sketching out how I wanted my block to look, I jumped into EQ8 and got to work. I absolutely love Foundation Paper Piecing, so I knew I wanted to use that method in my block construction. I just love how precise my blocks come out when I'm using FPP vs traditional piecing. Pretty points make me smile. :)
I did a few test runs of my block before the final completion. I also will be turing this block into a full size quilt pattern, to be released after the blog hop! Check out the end of this post for a sneak peek at the full quilt!
For the Gardenia Grace block, you will need the Foundation Paper Pieces, found by following this link.
You will also need a small scrap of yellow fabric for the flower center, scraps of cream or white for your flower, and some scraps of your background fabric of choice. You will also need the Elephant Block Pattern, found here.
To make this block, you will need to follow basic Foundation Paper Piecing techniques. If you're unfamiliar with FPP, I have a blog post that will help walk you through the steps and tools that I recommend.
This block is made in 9 units that are sewn together after they are completed. The foundation papers are all numbered in order of fabric placement.
And now for the sneak peek at the Gardenia Grace quilt pattern, which is a throw sized quilt and is perfect for cuddling up on the couch!
If you haven't yet, please visit the other blogs along the blog hop and see their wonderful creations! All of the links can be found on the blog hop home page as well.
Happy Sewing, y'all!
~Krista