Embellishing Your Quilting Projects with Fabric Flowers

Embellish your quilts and other projects with fabric flowers to make the design your own. Fabric flowers have been a trend in the quilting world in recent years. We’ve seen fabric flowers everywhere — from quilted purses and totes to wall hangings, pillows and even on bed quilts. Fabric flowers can cross over into other crafts as well. I’ve seen the use of fabric flowers in paper crafting and in sewing.

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The fabric flower on the quilted pillow above was created using a Clover Kanzashi Flower Maker and the pattern templates given in this article. You can make any leftover quilt block into a very special pillow by adding a few flowers.

What is so great about embellishing with fabric flowers? You can coordinate them with any quilting project. All you need is the fabric, and not a lot at that, and the desire to create. Your imagination is your only limit. You can take a very simple quilting project and make it as one of a kind as your personality.

When it comes to making fabric flowers, you have options for your method. I’ve seen them made from pattern pieces and with Clover’s product, Kanzashi Flower Makers, which is actually a form of fabric folding. Either method is easy. Your personal preferences and the overall look you are trying to achieve help you decide which method is right for your quilt or other project. I’ve found by combining the two techniques, you can get some fun and interesting results.

Clover’s Kanzashi Flower Maker offers a wide variety of petal styles to choose. It allows you to make just about any fabric flower you like. Plus you can layer or mix them for even more easy, fabric flower fun.

I received a couple samples from Clover. Once I started playing with the Kanzashi Flower Maker, ideas started exploding and before long I had a pile of fabric flowers sitting before me. I started making fabric flowers with plain tonal fabrics from my stash, and then moved on to wild prints. Small pieces of leftover fabrics worked perfectly. With this product, it’s easy to make perfect fabric flower petals every time.

The more I played with these fabric flowers, the more my ideas grew. I hope to live long enough to complete at least half of them. My weekend yielded the two quilting projects pictured and many more that are now waiting for my next project. I now have a box to store these extra fabric flowers until the next time I need a special touch or embellishment.

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You can also recycle buttons from Grandma’s button jar and using them for the centers of your fabric flowers. Or add the “something old” to a bridal garter. What a special touch that could be for a bride—a nice sentiment to keep loved ones close. Or maybe you want to use fabric flowers add a special touch to a remembrance project such as a memory quilt. Special touches like these make wonderful memories.

Next time you think your quilt project might need something more, consider adding a fabric flower or two — or a whole bouquet! Embellishing with fabric flowers is a great way to use fabric scraps, give a one-of-a-kind look to your quilting project, and it can be very inspiring. You never know what ideas you will dream up. Fabric flowers can be fresh new source of creative inspiration. Go ahead: Breathe in and give them a try!

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Here’s a Tip: How to Make Fabric Flowers

To make the fabric flower on the pillow shown, use the petal template and the circle below. With right sides together stitch the 1/4″ seam allowance, turn and press. Gather the petals with a basting stitch and pin into place. Applique the center circle using your favorite applique technique. Be creative.

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The leaf template was used on both fabric flower projects pictured. The templates are meant as a source for your creative embellishing, not as pattern to be given. This is an article about making your quilting projects your way.

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By Carolyn S. Vagts

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